An Interview With Martita Mestey
Take care of yourself… because your body is needed for a long time. This is a physical job no matter how you slice it. Don’t abuse it just because you’re young and you can– it’ll come back to haunt you!
As a part of our series about the lessons from influential ‘TasteMakers,’ I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Caroline Glover Chef and Owner of Annette and Traveling Mercies James Beard Foundation Awards “Best Chef: Mountain” — 2022 Food & Wine’s “Best New Chef” — 2019
Caroline Glover is the chef and owner of Annette and the soon-to-open Traveling Mercies located in Aurora, Colorado.
In February 2017, Caroline founded her first restaurant, Annette, which was named one of the “50 Best New Restaurants” by Bon Appétit and “Restaurant of the Year” by Eater Denver that same year. Annette has been on 5280 Magazine’s list of Denver’s 25 best restaurants each year since it opened.
Caroline was featured in the 2019 class of Food & Wine’s “Best New Chefs,” celebrating the unique culinary point of view honed through her past experience and celebrated at Annette. In 2022, Caroline won the James Beard Foundation Award in the “Best Chef: Mountain” category.
Caroline graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, and spent an additional two years in NYC at The Spotted Pig, a pioneering gastropub run by famed British chef April Bloomfield. Seeking to expand her food system awareness, Caroline went on to spend several years working on farms in Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Colorado, experiences that inform her cooking to this day.
Winter 2023 brought the opening of Caroline’s second project, Traveling Mercies, a neighborhood oyster and cocktail bar. In her free time, Caroline enjoys running, watching trashy TV, and hanging out with her daughter, Franny.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to ‘get to know’ you a bit. Can you share with our readers a story about what inspired you to become a restauranteur or chef?
I fell in love with restaurants during a trip to San Francisco when I was 18. I have always loved restaurants and good food as food was always a big part of our house growing up. But we had dinner in one of Gary Danko’s spots and something just clicked in me. I wanted to be a part of this. The ability to create an experience for someone and transport them elsewhere is just pure magic. I knew I wanted in. I wasn’t sure in what capacity. I had worked as the to-go girl at the chain Chili’s but really didn’t have any other restaurant experience than that.
Do you have a specific type of food that you focus on? What was it that first drew you to cooking that type of food? Can you share a story about that with us?
I feel like the way I cook is ever-evolving based on what is getting me excited at the time. I love reading food reviews and cookbooks, which serve as sources of inspiration for what and how I cook. The seasons always play an important role, too. I get really inspired by things that grow together — like carrots and peas — because it just makes sense to cook them together, too! I also really try not to manipulate the ingredients too much. There is so much beauty in simplicity.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that has happened to you since you became a chef? What was the lesson or take away you took out of that story?
This isn’t a one-time story… but every kitchen I’ve ever worked in we get a kick out of scaring each other. It sounds funny to say out loud but never underestimate the power of crawling into a lowboy or hiding inside the walk-in and scaring the crap out of someone! It’s always a good reminder after an intense service to lighten up. We aren’t performing surgery, it’s not life or death, we’re here to cook good food and make people happy.
Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey? How did you overcome this obstacle?
When I finished culinary school and moved to NYC, it was an incredibly rough patch for me. I was lonely, working long and odd hours, and was totally intimidated by the city. For the first couple of months, I wanted to move home and be in a familiar place. But then I started to get my rhythm and leaned into the friendships that I created at the restaurant (and still to this day have) and pushed harder than I ever had. I was totally immersed in the restaurant world in a way I had never experienced. Once I got past the loneliness it was intoxicating. I was learning more than I ever had… eating better food than I ever had… going to more farmers’ markets than I ever had. Sometimes you have to push and get comfortable in the uncomfortable.
In your experience, what is the key to creating a dish that customers are crazy about?
I think it’s really important to cook what you love. I truly believe that comes through in the food. Don’t make something just because it’s trending on Instagram… when you make a dish that you really stand behind and enjoy, it translates to the guest.
Personally, what is the ‘perfect meal for you’?
One that I can share with friends and family. When you work a lot of hours and cook for others it’s easy to feel drained for me. Cooking for friends and family (or better yet WITH) really recharges me. It’s a bonus if there is nice weather and we can cook everything outdoors.
Where does your inspiration for creating come from? Is there something that you turn to for a daily creativity boost?
I think inspiration comes from all different places at all different times. I really find a lot of inspiration from cookbooks, specifically Elizabeth David and Alice Waters. Their cooking is filled with integrity for the ingredients which is incredibly inspiring and rejuvenating.
Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? What impact do you think this will have?
We just opened a cocktail, wine and oyster bar called Traveling Mercies. It’s been a real labor of love and our first project since Annette. It’s allowed other people in our company to be creative while also allowing me to play with a different style of food and product. We are just getting started but think it’s been a great addition to the Aurora/Denver scene.
What advice would you give to other chefs or restaurateurs to thrive and avoid burnout?
This is a tough question and something that I still battle with. Owning a restaurant is hard. It really takes up the majority of your mental space and that’s just a fact. I do think finding time to do things that bring you joy is really important to balance out all the hours you put into the restaurant. The problem is… there just aren’t that many hours!! But I’ve always found traveling to be incredibly inspiring and rewarding. Even if it’s just a 24-hour whirlwind trip. Do it. Eat the foods, drink the drinks and soak up other people doing what they love.
Thank you for all that. Now we are ready for the main question of the interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started as a Chef” and why?
- Take care of yourself… because your body is needed for a long time. This is a physical job no matter how you slice it. Don’t abuse it just because you’re young and you can– it’ll come back to haunt you!
- You can have a life outside of work you just have to work hard to create one. This one is really important to me. I came up in the industry when everyone treated restaurants as “family.” You hung out together and spent all your free time together because we work odd hours and it’s easier to do that. But I think it’s really important to try to create friend groups outside of the restaurant. It can be incredibly isolating. When I met my husband, Nelson, he didn’t work in restaurants. And it made me have to exercise new muscles and immerse myself in things other than food. That has been incredibly important for me.
- If you can, travel and work in a country (or countries!) that inspire you. This is one of my biggest regrets (and it’s not to say I can’t do it now) but I wish when I was younger and had fewer roots that I would have found a way to work in Europe. I think that experience and knowledge that would have given me would be invaluable.
- Don’t take cooking too seriously… meaning, if your life is only about looking down you’ll miss out on other inspiration. Yes, putting your head down and working hard is incredibly valuable. But make sure to look up every once in a while, you might just see something that inspires you.
- Freeze your eggs. It’s not talked about enough. Being a woman in this industry is hard and usually thinking about a family doesn’t come until much later if you are wanting to climb the ranks. More states are requiring fertility treatments to be included in insurance policies. After I went through my own fertility battles I told every single one of my female-identifying employees to freeze their eggs. One day you might want to start a family, and doing that while working in restaurants is hard enough. Don’t let your career get in the way. Be proactive.
What’s the one dish people have to try if they visit your establishment?
I’m partial to the half roasted chicken with bitter greens and PX sherry sauce we serve at Annette. When a roasted chicken is done right… there really isn’t anything better. If I see a roasted chicken on the menu you better believe I’ll be trying it! There isn’t much to hide behind with a dish like this so, to me, it says this kitchen knows how to cook.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
I think there are so many incredible chefs spearheading so many movements. I think what Dan Giusti is doing with Brigade is so admirable. Also, finding a way to provide meals for kids during the summer months or vacations has always been something that has weighed heavily on my heart. As well teaching kids how to cook and get excited about food. It all starts with them… right?
Thank you so much for these insights. This was very inspirational!
Caroline Glover Of Traveling Mercies: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became a Chef was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.