An Interview With Martita Mestey
You should have slept BEFORE you started this dream! The early hours combined with the worry are definitely NOT conducive to 8 hours of sleep!
In this interview series, called “Chefs and Restaurateurs Helping To Promote Healthy Eating” we are talking to chefs and restaurateurs who are helping to promote and raise awareness about healthy eating. The purpose of the series is to amplify their message and share insights about healthy eating with our readers. As a part of this series, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Geri Terry.
Geri Terry is a 13+ year professional pastry chef with a lifetime of experience. During this time, Geri has worked in restaurants and bakeries all around Houston, Texas. She loves bread, Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
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’ve always loved being in the kitchen. I devoured Kitchen Confidential when it came out 20 years ago. I’ve always considered Anthony Bourdain ‘the mentor I never met.’ Years ago, as a Christmas present, my husband sent me to The Culinary Institute of America to attend a week-long ‘Career Exploration Boot Camp’. A week in California where you learn to “Cook, bake, think and taste like a professional chef.” Can you imagine before that I didn’t even know what a professional pastry chef tasted like?? In any case, I was hooked. I came home and started researching culinary schools. (At 50 years old, I figured I was a little long of tooth to work my way up through the kitchen brigade.) I chose Culinary Institute LeNotre, getting my Associates in Baking and Pastry.
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?
As a pastry chef, I’ve been called on to make everything from candied bacon to croissants, sabayon to wedding cake. But my dearest love is bread. I remember as a teenager having to ask my friend Mark for ‘the recipe’ for grilled cheese! I could bake the sandwich bread but needed instructions for putting 2 slices of American cheese on it! Somehow, I could always bake bread.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that has happened to you since you started? What was the lesson or takeaway you took out of that story?
When I first got out of culinary school, I made specialty cakes. It is not something I particularly like doing, in fact, I can’t stand it. But I’m actually fairly good at it! Anyway, that’s what I was doing when a friend from LeNotre was opening his restaurant Ganache. Mike asked if I’d like to work a couple of days a week so his head bread guy/pastry chef could actually have time off. “You’re one of the only pastry chefs I know that’s really into bread,” So I said yes! (Like I said, I really hate cake!)
Within a week, the head baker quits, and there I am, fresh outta culinary, runnin’ the show. But I loved it! Ciabatta, baguettes, Danish! I’d get to work at 4:00 am to laminate the croissants, not because we opened that early, but because the kitchen was so small it was the only time I could open the sheeter without crowding out the chefs. Anyhow, that mostly got me out of the cake biz. And the rest, as they say, is history! LOL.
None of us can be successful without some help along the way. Did you have mentors or cheerleaders who helped you to succeed? Can you tell us a story about their influence?
Without question, my family has been my cheer squad. Granted, they eat well, although my husband teases me about what he calls ‘experimental cooking’) but they’ve put up with the awful hours of the baking and pastry business and every holiday that is preceded by hell week, prepping for the holiday!
My husband has been a huge supporter of mine, no matter how sleep-deprived, grouchy, or just all-around bitchy I am!
In addition, I am in business with my son. So obviously, he has been instrumental in my journey from standard baking to Keto baking. In fact, he is the reason I started Keto baking in the first place! He’s been on keto for 10 + years and was the inspiration to start keto myself. When I first started figuring out how to make bake with keto ingredients, he’d say, “Mom, if you keep making this delicious food, I’m gonna make you quit your job and start a Keto Bakery with me!” It was John’s belief in me and in Ketonia that allowed us to quit BOTH our jobs and start Ketonia full time!
In your experience, what is the key to creating a dish that customers are crazy about?
In ketogenic baking, it’s pretty simple. People want bread that tastes like bread. Cookies that taste like cookies. Not something that tastes “pretty good for keto”. Customers have frequently given up foods they’ve loved since childhood in order to maintain their blood sugar or a healthy weight. If every time you have a grilled cheese sandwich, you’re reminded of all you giving up, well, how are you going to maintain that? You can’t make it your lifestyle if you are always disappointed! Food is so much more than just fuel for your body! It is enjoying family, friends, and life! When I create something, I want people to say. Wow. That’s amazing. Period.
Personally, what is the ‘perfect meal’ for you?
Perfect meal? Fried chicken. Mostly wings! I will ALWAYS make a pig of myself on fried chicken.
Where does your inspiration for creating come from? Is there something that you turn to for a daily creativity boost?
I get inspiration everywhere! I won’t lie, I look on Pinterest and instagram! I look at blogs! Even the grocery store. But the best inspiration is my local Farmers Market! Saturday morning at Urban Harvest Farmers market always gets my creative juices flowing! Fresh veggies and local fruit, Heritage pork, specialty meats, and cool mushrooms! It’s always fun to cook with new ingredients!!
Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? What impact do you think this will have?
I am working on keto laminated doughs like puff pastry and croissants. I’m also working on a keto pizza that is to die for! Imagine a keto pizza that doesn’t taste like cauliflower! It’s probably not what the average cook is going to tackle, but if I can get it into the freezer section of your local supermarket, how awesome would that be? Convenience Keto products would be a game changer for so many people!
Ok super. Let’s now jump to the main part of our interview. You are currently leading an initiative to help promote healthy eating. Can you tell us a bit about what you and your organization are trying to change in our world today?
Over 40 % of adults in the US are considered obese. Even worse, over 22% of kids are as well! Keto can be an effective way to control your weight. The health benefits, as well as the weight loss benefits of the diet, are substantial and verified. As keto has gained popularity, the problem has been that a lot of the keto foods available in stores simply don’t taste all that great. They taste like artificial diet food. That’s where Ketonia Foods comes in! Ketonia Foods is all about making sure you never feel deprived of your favorite foods just because you live a keto lifestyle. To make that lifestyle sustainable, you have to have a variety of foods! The instant you make something “forbidden”, the more you want it! (Remember Eve and the apple?)
I want to take these “forbidden foods” like bread, cookies, crackers, and yes, even croissants and make them not only keto and delicious!
Can you tell us the backstory about what inspired you to originally feel passionate about this cause?
Well, as I’ve said, my partner is my son, John. He has had to watch his weight since he was a kid. He started keto in college. At about the same time, I graduated from culinary school. By the time he was out of school for good, I was a full-time pastry chef, and he wouldn’t eat any of my creations! Pretty embarrassing, right? So I had to figure out a way to transform the pastries, desserts, and breads to be keto friendly!. At the same time, I started my Keto journey and lost 50 + lbs. This has made Ketonia not just professional but personal as well. We eat our own creations on a daily basis, and we know it works.
Without saying specific names, can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was helped by your cause?
Two people I know have been helped greatly by keto. One of them is me! I no longer get heartburn. One less pill to take on a daily basis! My joint pain has all but disappeared. Goodbye to taking aspirin throughout the day. And goodbye to the brain fog I’ve battled since menopause!
The other is my son; with the help of keto, he has been able to help manage his bipolar as well as conquer an eating disorder. Keto has given him the tools to have a healthy relationship with food.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
Absolutely, politicians could stop lying about the health benefits of sugar. We could change the food pyramid so that we aren’t teaching our kids that they need to poison themselves with processed, sugary foods. We stop vilifying fat as a society and teach Americans how to both lengthen and improve the quality of their lives with healthy dietary choices.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started as a Chef or Restaurateur” and why? Please share a story or an example for each.
Hmm, 5 things I wish someone had told me when I first started as a chef?
1) No matter how brilliant, innovative or delicious your food is, it’s still going to take way longer than you thought to “take off”! LOL. John and I thought our food was sooo good, we were sure it wouldn’t take longer than 6 months to Hit the Big Time! (We’re still waiting FYI!).
2 )You should have slept BEFORE you started this dream! The early hours combined with the worry are definitely NOT conducive to 8 hours of sleep!
3) If you’re not passionate, get out now because your passion is what gets you through the crazy hours, the financial crises, and the soul-sucking lack of confidence you sometimes feel. As a woman-owned small business, or ANY small business for that matter, the time you spend second-guessing yourself is incredible. When you own your own business, the buck stops HERE! You are in the kitchen till the job is done. And don’t get me started about current supply chain issues and ingredient costs!
4) It’s not about what you like. It’s about what the customer likes. It simply doesn’t matter that you love your mom’s recipe for stuffed cabbage. No one cares. They want what’s on Instagram.
5) This is going to be so much work! So. much. work… Need I say more?
What’s the one dish people have to try if they visit your establishment?
Our Keto Coconut Macaroons, They’re our first Amazon best seller and a pillar of our business?
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
I would have loved to hang out with Anthony Bourdain. Sadly, that can never happen. However, I would love to meet Paul McCartney! And Billy Joel!
How can our readers further follow your work online?
We are on all social media @ketoniafoods or KetoniaFoods.com
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!
How Geri Terry Of Ketonia Is Helping To Promote Healthy Eating was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.