nº 5- September 10, 2026
Carla Lalli knows what she likes, and she isn’t particularly interested in following the rules. The chef cookbook author, and food writer has built a career around an approach to food that feels instinctive, generous, and refreshingly unfussy. With her new book, Food Is a Feeling, Carla turns her attention to the way we actually eat: guided as much by appetite, mood, memory, and pleasure as by any recipe.
For HERE/SAY, we sat down with Carla to talk about the meals that feel most like her, the cooking rules worth ignoring, feeding a perpetually hungry teenager, and why everyone needs to calm down about protein. We also ventured beyond the kitchen, into dating, the pleasure of being cooked for, and the particular sensory experience of lying on Carrie’s treatment table.
Carrie: What’s the meal that feels most like you, not the one meant to impress?
Carla: Would have to be a pot of beans and greens, with a side of fried sourdough bread and some delicious red table wine. There’s a recipe in the new book called “Personal Pot of Beans and Greens” that is scaled for one, but can be scaled up for cozy friends!
Carrie: What’s a “rule” in cooking that you think is completely overrated?
Carla: Home cooks do not have to be doing “mise en place.” I think that is one of those restaurant-y things that became super popular as a cooking technique for regular folks, but can actually slow cooks down immensely. There’s no reason why you need to portion out every single ingredient before you start cooking—with the exception of a stir-fry or a baking recipe. It’s more streamlined to think about the parts of the recipe that take the longest—such as, making a pot of rice to go with the rest of the meal—and then do other chopping and sautéing while that’s cooking.
Carrie: Walk us through a very normal dinner at your house on a random Tuesday.
Carla: Really depends whether I’m home solo or it’s a week when my younger son is here. But let’s say it’s the two of us. He is hungry in the way that only 16-year-old boys and pregnant women can relate to, so it’s usually a meat-and-three situation. Could be steak with crispy roasted potatoes and a Caesar, or pork chops with caramelized bok choy and rice, or pasta with broccoli and sausage. When I’m alone, things get weird. Is home-made popcorn and a salad dinner? Pasta with an entire bunch of kale is a favorite. Or I might do a fridge clean-out and turn that into some kind of random pickle platter. If all else fails, fried rice, kimchi, and an egg!
Carrie: What’s a food trend you’re ready to move on from?
Carla: Oh my god everyone please stop with the protein. I feel attacked.
Carrie: What’s one ingredient you think instantly makes food better?
Carla: MSG.
Carrie: You’re so tuned into taste and texture, what stands out to you in a facial experience here at Carrie Lindsey?
Carla: First of all, it smells amazing when you walk through the door. But the entire experience of touch during treatments is heightened because your eyes are closed. I remember the first time you put the freezing cold orb on my face—it felt like a frozen lightbulb—I dream about that. I also love having products painted onto me with the flat brush, now I know what a pie crust feels like when it’s getting an egg wash. I wish I could just lie still and fully succumb to your touch, but I want to talk to you the whole time! That said, there was at least one time when I fully fell asleep on the table!
Carrie: As a single 50 something New Yorker dating, is it he cooks for you, or you cook for him?
Carla: LOL well, I’m not cooking anything for anyone until at least the fourth date. That said, I love being cooked for, and if I’m dating someone who wants to make me a meal, they automatically get extra points for confidence.
