In the last year, chef designer and entertaining superstar STEPHANIE NASS (aka “Chefanie” to her 123K+ Instagram followers) has married the man of her dreams and published her first book Swing By: Entertaining Recipes and the New Art of Gathering. TED HILDNER catches up with Nass – the Millennial Martha Stewart – as she jets around the country on a whirlwind book tour.
First off, congratulations on your marriage!
We met in East Hampton at a party and got married in Westchester in June of 2024. My husband and I just wanted to be married, and we didn’t want a huge party. I always dreamed of getting married at my parents’ house. We had 34 guests at one long table. We did a 28-foot cake that spanned the length of the dining table and we peppered it with flowers in lieu of a traditional floral centerpiece. All our cousins and everyone just dug into the cake, which was different flavors all the way through.
And cheers on Swing By – what an entertaining and resourceful book.
The message of the book and the movement I want to create is really the difference between serving a microwaved potato on a paper plate and serving the most special potato prepared with the utmost love on the best china they can afford. The difference of that experience isn’t about affordability – it’s about creativity and love. What I stand for is putting all the consideration and care into food. And making people feel loved by feeding them and setting the table and making the flowers. Something as simple as folding a napkin doesn’t cost anything, but it changes the whole vibe.
Did you always want to cook and make entertaining a career?
My mother is an amazing cook. We had meals together every single night growing up. When I was 16, I moved to France and took cooking lessons. From then, I knew that I wanted to cook professionally. I went to Columbia, took all my classes on two days of the week, and worked in restaurant kitchens on the other days.
Any culinary idols?
Rozanne Gold is a mentor of mine. She was a chef at Windows on the World and for Mayor Koch at Gracie Mansion when he was mayor. She has written many cookbooks and won James Beard awards. She really helped me with this book process and throughout my career.
Holiday party time is here. Can we get some entertaining tips?
I am really interested in soups, which can be prepared in advance, so the host doesn’t need to do all the work immediately before the event. You can do a garnish station and put everything in teacups or bowls. People can have soup standing or sitting. You can bake bread or buy beautiful bread to go with different soups, so it’s a versatile food category. Butternut squash soup is cute because we prepare it in bowls of squash, which is not so hard to do, but makes for a beautiful presentation.
Your tabletop business is booming.
I was a caterer in my twenties and started making custom linens for my clients. I had my own embroidery machine, and I would take a logo and embroider it on white linen. In 2019, I started making my own designs, and now I have hundreds of different kinds of napkins, plates, and flatware on chefanie.com. My tableware business has become my core business.
You’re involved with Social Impact.
I reached out to the Department of Social Services, and we put together a program of plant forward recipes. I went to different shelters to provide meals and teach culinary techniques like how to cut an onion, cook garlic, how to season. Everyone should contribute to society. What I like about teaching a skill is it’s an opportunity for someone to gain employment and change their life as opposed to just providing a meal.
Before you go, we must get some insider Chefanie food shopping intel.
Cheeses from Di Palo and pasta from Raffetto’s on Houston Street. There’s an amazing chocolate shop called Stick With Me on Mott Street. It’s the former pastry chef from Per Se, and the chocolates are literally perfect.
Order a copy of Swing By HERE
