Allow me to reintroduce myself 👩🏻🍳
hi I'm Kate Burr and this is A LA MODE
When you hear “a la mode” what comes to mind? I assume like me, you go straight to the classic: a fresh baked brownie or cookie, served warm, with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream. What many don’t know is the other meaning of a la mode: in fashion, stylish. All, take a minute to say hello to your new fave polysemous word.
Why a substack? Why now? The inspiration for a la mode came from a new, but familiar “felt like I’ve known you forever” friend who quickly caught wind of my passion for all things food, cooking, dining, etc. After a lunch with him, and many others constantly urging me to start “something,” I decided to marry my well-known passion with my enjoyment of writing. Welcome to the birth of A LA MODE.
It started at a young age. For those of you reading who know me, I don’t need to tell you, but for those of you new here, allow me to say hello 🙋🏻♀️. I’ve spent my entire professional career, and personal life for that matter, dedicated to the world of F&B. I eat, sleep, and breathe it. I can talk about it for hours and spend the same amount of hours creating restaurants lists, cooking, reading up on the latest food news, and driving to the best spot in town for [insert food item here].
I’m a culinary consultant, a connecter, a brand builder, a marketer, a manager to culinary talent, a cook. Everything I do, I do through the lens of food.
But Kate…WHY food?! A la mode has a core mission. It’s the same core mission that fueled my interest and the reason I dedicated myself to hospitality in the first place:
To create a moment. A moment in time where you're able to escape the chaos of life. You can laugh. You can enjoy the company of another. A moment where you can just be present. It's about the feeling. The shared experience.
In real life, I like to call it THE MEAL. It’s not about eating, it’s about how you feel. When you’re dining with friends, a loved one, or even surrounded by strangers, by new friends. It’s the action of being present and allowing you to let go of life’s worries for a few hours. It’s simply about good company, whether physically or in this newsletter. All of that joined by great food and great beverages. Food as the vehicle to that special place.
I want A LA MODE to be your escape. A belly warmer for your inbox, light hearted content with food as the throughline.
You can expect to see:
I ATE WITH KATE: places you should be eating and what you should be ordering
KATE’S KITCHEN: exclusive access to my recipes, chef friend recipes, and recipes I love
KB’S INSIDER INTEL: new openings + coming soon, new products, food news you need to know, lists for all kinds of things (date nights, birthday dinners), and more. The food world buzz you can’t find on Eater
OPEN WIDE: quick fire questions and brief banters with people whose taste you should trust, whether food adjacent or deep within the culinary space
Most importantly, a big thank you for subscribing and for supporting. I see you all 😍 xK
And because I couldn’t leave you here without a little something from Kate’s Kitchen 🧡
Gingery Honeynut Squash Soup For the Soul
Flavorful, sweet, and nutty, the honeynut squash is one of my favorite of the season. I make this soup often and not because it’s so damn delicious, that’s a bonus for sure, but rather because it’s fool proof and easy.
What you need:
blender
baking sheet
2 honeynut squashes
1 sweet yellow onion
bone broth (or vegetable broth)
knob peeled ginger
2 tablespoon curry powder
1 shallot
4 carrots + 4 celery sticks
1 head of garlic
evoo, salt, pepper
few sprigs of thyme
optional: sometimes I chop up and throw in japenese sweet potato
How to make:
Preheat the oven to 400. Rough chop and lay all the vegetables in your baking sheet. For the honeynut squash, cut in half, remove any seeds, and lay inside facing down. Make sure everything is covered nicely with olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme, and any other seasons (red pepper flakes, rosemary, etc). Roast everything for an hour. You’ll want the squash to be tender to touch. Allow everything to cool down a bit and when cool, throw it all in a blender. Add in your ginger (I like mine gingery), broth, curry powder, and power up. Blend until smooth. I like this soup on the thicker side, but you can always add a touch more broth to thin out. When serving, finish with a drizzle of your favorite evoo and a sprinkle of maldon. Pictured above, I added some crispy pancetta for a little crunch.
It’s a perfect soup to impress. Filled with lots of good for you things from the vegetables to the bone broth. And for all you lazy fucks: the clean up is quick 💪🏻
Failed to render LaTeX expression — no expression found