Nancy Silverton Proves Covid Can’t Keep a Good Chef Down

The James Beard Award-winning chef and restaurateur talks to Shondaland about resiliency, resolve, and the future of the restaurant industry.

new york, ny   october 18  nancy silverton attends a perfect pairing hosted by nancy silverton and april bloomfield as a part of the bank of america dinner series during the food network new york city wine  food festival presented by food  wine at noir nyc on october 18, 2014 in new york city  photo by michael n todarogetty images for nycwff
Michael N. TodaroGetty Images

While 2020 was undoubtedly a tough year for everyone, it was extra challenging for Nancy Silverton. The Michelin star chef not only had to close her restaurants because of the pandemic — several of which were vandalized during unrest in June — but she came down with Covid-19 in March before authorities could get any sort of handle on the situation.

But Silverton, a master baker known best for her restaurants Mozza, Campanile, and La Brea Bakery in the Los Angeles area, faced the challenges with characteristic determination. After experiencing little to no symptoms of the coronavirus, she teamed with Chef Edward Lee and his LEE Initiative to convert her restaurant kitchens into relief centers for out-of-work restaurant staffers. And, amidst it all, she managed to open two new restaurant concepts last year, her first restaurant openings since 2013: The Barish and Pizzette.

Shondaland sat down with Silverton to talk about the roller coaster ride of 2020, her thoughts on the restaurant industry’s future, and how breadmaking taught her to be resilient.

CHELSEA GREENWOOD: When you contracted Covid-19, what was the first thing that went through your head?

NANCY SILVERTON: Back then, we knew it was serious, but we didn't know how serious. It was around that time where the medical community was not in total agreement if we should even wear masks. We were only at that stage of possibly distancing — that maybe that would be a good idea.

So that was how early I contracted Covid. But I knew enough to realize that, because I was potentially exposed by somebody I was working with, I better find out if I have it. I was lucky enough to be able to get a test because, in those days, if you were asymptomatic, which I was, you couldn't get a test. I had a connection with a doctor that had a clinic that I was able to get one in.

When that test came back positive, I was like, “Wow, I’m shocked.” I was just super surprised. Then, for the next 14 days, I thought every night before I went to bed, “Maybe this is the night that I’m going to get those symptoms that people are talking about.”

CG: Did you?

NS: No. I never had a fever, never lost taste. One night, I had the most excruciating backache. That was it.

lssilverton9is721nancy silverton on phone at the maitre d's station in her restaurant campanil
Nancy Silverton at her first restaurant, Campanile in 1996.
Iris SchneiderGetty Images

CG: What were your priorities after the diagnosis?

NS: I remained inside my house for two weeks with a mask and gloves on. And it was super important for me, for the safety of my co-workers, to close down Mozza2Go, which was operating. So I got diagnosed right after the restaurants were closed for dining-in anyway. We had kept Mozza2Go open for cooking and selling food to be picked up and delivered, but we were also using the kitchen for our restaurant workers’ relief that we had just started. But I closed those down immediately.

CG: Why did you decide to start providing that kind of relief?

NS: For all of my co-workers in the restaurant industry, in the hospitality industry, it’s in our blood to serve people in all different ways. When we got shut down in March, I felt like my identity, my purpose in life got just yanked out of me. So, when I got the call from Chef Ed Lee, whose foundation, The LEE Initiative, was supporting restaurant workers through himself and Maker's Mark, to be kind of the Los Angeles liaison to this fund, I was so thrilled because it made me feel like I was able to take care of people again. And I was really honored to do it.

CG: How has the experience been overall, weathering the storm of the pandemic? You were dealing with your health and worrying about the livelihoods of your employees — and now California is under lockdown again.

NS: I have to say that I have tried through the whole process to be strong and to try to be as positive as I can and try to find that silver lining whenever I can. And, when it's not obvious, I try to dig a little bit deeper — not only for myself but definitely for the handful of co-workers I’ve been able to retain. I think it's really important, including trying to be very sensitive to their fears. They're all here because they want to help out and their love for Mozza. That is just so heartfelt for me, to see the amount of people that, even during these scary times, still want to be here and still want to contribute and still want to fight to keep this restaurant open.

CG: What would you say is your general approach to overcoming obstacles?

NS: I think the approach has to be — what I think maybe is sort of obvious — is to adapt, right? That's really important. To be able to adapt and be flexible and strong. I’ve tried to look at what's going on around me and not to let it eat me up and drown me and force me to give up. But just to keep on fighting, keep that spirit.

I know this is going to end — that's the thing. There is going to be an end, and there is going to be healing, and there is going to be a rebirth. And that silver lining is that we're going to come back, as Joe Biden says, better and stronger. I think we're going to be more appreciative. At least, I know I will. I’m going to be more appreciative of that new normal. If you had told me back in January or February, as some people did, that there's going to be a pandemic, I was not one of the believers. I never would have thought that what has happened to the world has actually happened. I would have said that's in the movies; that's not a 2020 kind of possibility.

la loves alex's lemonade 2019
Silverton in 2019.
JB LacroixGetty Images

CG: Where do you get your persistence? Do you think it's something innate?

NS: Yes, I think I always have had it. I would say it's very close to when I set out on my journey teaching myself how to make a loaf of bread. I felt like I was alone then because it was not like it is today when there are so many resources for you to learn how to master this very difficult process of making a loaf of bread. So, I know that when I decided back pre-1989 to include sourdough bread in my repertoire, it was a challenge. And I got to tell you: It was a difficult one. I feel like this year has been very similar: the sleepless nights and the obsession. And that perseverance for accomplishing that. I feel like that definitely gave me the foundation for this year.

CG: What do you think about the sourdough baking craze that happened during the pandemic?

NS: There are several people that have asked me, and they’d say sort of tongue in cheek, “I guess you're not baking bread.” And it's true. But I could certainly see why people drifted towards that process. But I didn't need to do it. I didn't bake one loaf of bread.

CG: But I’m guessing you would encourage people in trying something like that for the first time?

NS: Yes. Especially because not only did people have the time to attend to their breadmaking, but the results are just so nurturing that I think that it was such a great time for people to tackle. I have a feeling that, for a lot of people, the idea of making or teaching themselves to bake a loaf of bread was on their bucket list anyway, and they finally had the time, and they didn't have the excuse that they were too busy. So they attacked it. And I think that is a great silver lining for a lot of people. A lot of people could say that my year was miserable; I was stuck at home. But guess what? I got to bake a loaf of bread.

CG: What are your thoughts on the future of the restaurant industry?

NS: There are so many thoughts about it. The big one is how unfortunate it's going to be to see the ones that aren't able to come back. That's going to be really unfortunate — a huge loss to our industry nationwide. But, particularly, it’s a loss to Los Angeles, because so much of what makes the food scene here so special and so unique than the rest of the country is the small restaurants.


But in talking to the restaurant community across the country, what we've learned is that we need to make our operations much tighter, and we can survive by doing that.

CG: What would you say to someone who's working on a business or a project, perhaps a small restaurant owner, that's on the brink of failure and wants to give up? What kind of advice would you give someone?

NS: Well, it's not just wants to give up, because, for some people, it's not going to be a choice. It's not going to be a financial choice if they want to; they're going to have to. The industry has been dealt a terrible deck of cards, right? So I don't think it's going to fall into the categories of people that are able to overcome it and people that are not able to overcome it. It's all going to be about being able to pay the rent, pay their suppliers to reopen.

Those that are discouraged, I think, are probably people that were maybe ready not to continue their businesses anyway. Because the part that is challenging right now, and obviously discouraging, is out of our hands. It doesn't have to do with issues that are just pertinent to the restaurant business, like it's really hard to find good help these days or there are so many restaurants opening, or rents are high. Those aren't the issues that are immediately facing us. What's facing us is that we can't open and we can't serve the public, right? So I think it's a little bit different. I think again that line is going to be the people that have been able to weather this storm and the ones financially that couldn't.


CG: As a master baker, what are your thoughts on the gluten-free bread craze?

NS: It's interesting because that reminds me of 1989, when La Brea Bakery opened. Maybe a year into it, there was a craze for not eating carbohydrates. So the question reporters were asking was: “What’s your answer to all these diets coming out and saying eliminate carbohydrates?” It didn't seem to really affect my business whatsoever.

So the idea that people are cutting out baked goods because of gluten intolerance — it's not a segment I’m trying to compete with. I mean, there's a lot of great people out there that are offering gluten-free products, and I think that they are definitely being able to cater to those that are looking for that. I’ve just really not participated in it for, oh, not any other reason then I feel like it's just not something that I want to do.

CG: Where do you think California cuisine is headed over the next 10 years?

NS: California cuisine has been a leader in setting the standard and the trend throughout the country for so many years. The reason why is I think us cooks and restaurateurs in California have been obsessed for so long about the freshness, the quality, and the sourcing of our ingredients. We set that bar, and the rest of the country caught on. It's just going to be even more embraced. Eaters keep us on our toes, as far as making sure we are sourcing the best. And sustainability is a huge category for people in not only California but the younger generation.

CG: What are you working on now and next?

NS: Well, during these crazy times, I’ve managed to open up two new concepts. One [The Barish] only lasted about a month before having to close down because there was not a to-go option. That was redoing the dining room, the lobby at The Hollywood Roosevelt hotel. Then my other restaurant I opened, Pizzette, which is a quick-serve concept, opened a few weeks ago and is operating because it has takeout and delivery. So those are the two projects that I’m really looking forward to being able to fully realize in the capacity that they were built for in 2021.

Chelsea Greenwood is an award-winning lifestyle writer and editor whose work has been featured in InStyle, Teen Vogue, SELF, Racked, Vulture, Brit + Co, SheKnows and Vice. Follow her on Twitter @cpgreenwood.

Get Shondaland directly in your inbox: SUBSCRIBE TODAY

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
More From Food & Travel