pilar valdes transcript
Kerry Diamond:
Hi, everyone. You are listening to Radio Cherry Bombe, and I'm your host, Kerry Diamond, coming to you from Rockefeller Center in the heart of New York City. Each week, we talk to the coolest culinary personalities around, the folks shaping and shaking up the food scene.
Today's guest is Pilar Valdes, chef, culinary contributor to The Drew Barrymore Show, and co-author with Drew of the cookbook, Rebel Homemaker. Perhaps you've seen Pilar on Drew's show, or maybe you spotted her on the cover of Cherry Bombe Magazine last year. She and Drew were on the cover of the cooks and books issue, one of my favorite issues.
Anyway, Pilar is joining me in the studio to talk about how she moved from the nonprofit world to private cheffing, her surprise career on daytime TV, her Filipino heritage, and more. Pilar is one of the sweetest folks around, and I'm excited for you to learn more about her.
Today's episode is presented by Lenox and Foxtrot. Lenox has a beautiful wine glass collab with star sommelier, Victoria James, that is out now. Victoria is going to tell us a little bit more about this project.
Victoria James:
Hey, there. I'm Victoria James, sommelier and the author of the memoir, Wine Girl, which chronicles how in 2012, at the age of 21, I became the youngest sommelier in America. I've been fortunate to try the best wines the world has to offer, and I've learned how a simple wine glass can make or break the experience. It's hard to believe, but it's true. The size and shape of a wine glass help capture aromas, control a wine's temperature, and enhance a wine structure.
When Lenox approached me about collaborating on an exclusive stemware series, I was so excited. I knew I wanted to move beyond the traditional idea of red and white wine glasses and focus instead on terroir, that sense of place that truly defines a wine. To capture the essence of terroir, Lenox and I have created the Signature Series Wine Glass Collection. Together, we've designed one glass for wines from warm regions, think Chardonnay from Napa Valley or a malbec from Mendoza, and one glass for wine from cool regions, perfect for a Burgundian pinot noir or a grower champagne. The glasses are affordable, something that's important to me, and high quality.
Lenox has been creating heirloom-worthy home and tabletop items since 1889 for presidents and first ladies in the White House to everyone in your house. I'm honored to be part of this rich history. To learn more, visit lenox.com/signatureseries. I hope this special collection brings more joy to your wine drinking.
Kerry Diamond:
Thank you, Victoria. Check out Cherry Bombe's Instagram for a chance to win some of the signature series glasses and a signed copy of Victoria's book. If you'd like to purchase the glasses, they do make a great gift for someone or for yourself, visit lenox.com.
Today's show is also presented by Foxtrot, the modern corner store that's redefining convenience. Foxtrot is looking for the next best thing in food as part of its Up & Comers Awards. Could that be you? If so, the application is now live foxtrotco.com/upandcomers. You can find that link in our show notes. You have until April 4th to apply. Winners will receive a spot on Foxtrot shelves, plus funding, marketing support, and mentorship from some of the biggest names in food.
The Foxtrot Up & Comers' judges include myself, yeah, I'm a judge, Milk Bar's Christina Tosi, Top Chef's Kristen Kish, and many others. Last year's hero winner was Omsom, the brand known for its Asian recipe starter packs and founded by sisters, Vanessa and Kim Pham. But only 10% of the applicants last year were female-founded brands. Can you believe that? So we're excited to be helping Foxtrot because we know there are some amazing female-founded brands out there waiting to be discovered.
Also, tomorrow is our event with Foxtrot at their Fulton Market store in Chicago. I hope to see some of you there. Check out our Instagram for more details, and head over to Foxtrotco.com for lots of great eats and cool brands.
Now, for some housekeeping. Team Cherry Bombe is busy working on the next issue of our magazine. It's all about entrepreneurs. Thank you to everyone who pitched story ideas to us. We received more than 400 pitches. You can pre-order the issue on cherrybombe.com or check with your favorite local bookstore or magazine shop. Learn about the amazing folks changing the food scene coming soon.
Now, let's check in with today's guest. Pilar Valdes, welcome to Radio Cherry Bombe.
Pilar Valdes:
Hi. I am so excited to finally be here. I can't believe it.
Kerry Diamond:
Finally is the operative word. This has been a long time in the making.
Pilar Valdes:
It's true, but we made it.
Kerry Diamond:
We've been trying to cook this up for a while.
Pilar Valdes:
Yes.
Kerry Diamond:
So, all right, let's jump right in. Speaking of cooking, I want to go back to your childhood. Tell me what was the first thing you cooked as a child.
Pilar Valdes:
Oh my gosh. The first thing I cooked as a child was probably from... It was one summer. Me and my younger cousin, Martina... I probably was like nine or 10, I think. And there was a Mickey Mouse cookbook. It was, whatever, Disney-sponsored, but I think it was... A spaghetti and meatballs was the first thing. It turned out so well that the whole summer, we were so emboldened to cook together. We cooked through the whole cookbook.
She's maybe two years younger than me, and I promised her, next summer, we're going to find another cookbook and cook through the next thing. But, alas, the next summer, I think I was a little older, and I had other friends. She was no longer as cool, and I sort of abandoned that story. It was really funny because we were chatting recently and she just reminded me. She was like, "Do you remember that one summer-
Kerry Diamond:
Aw.
Pilar Valdes:
... we spent cooking together?" That was the first thing-
Kerry Diamond:
The next summer when you ghosted me.
Pilar Valdes:
Yes, exactly. She was like, "You were too cool. You were hanging out with your friends." You were hanging out with your friends. So that was probably the first things that I remember cooking, but I do have a very early eating memory. The first thing I remember eating is actually okra. I must have been two, two and a half years old.
Kerry Diamond:
And you remember that? It's so interesting.
Pilar Valdes:
And I remember, and I loved it. I would ask for it. They'd be like, "What kind of snack do you want?" I'd be like, "Okra." I adore it. I actually have a huge okra plant on my back tattooed in honor.
Kerry Diamond:
You do?
Pilar Valdes:
That was probably my first eating memory.
Kerry Diamond:
I didn't see that because we had you in a one-shoulder dress for part of the shoot. You were very...
Pilar Valdes:
It's true. It-
Kerry Diamond:
You were like, "This isn't the kind of dress I would normally wear, but I'm going to go for it."
Pilar Valdes:
I was very short.
Kerry Diamond:
It was very short and one-shouldered and had cherries on it.
Pilar Valdes:
I know. So much fun though.
Kerry Diamond:
That was fun.
Pilar Valdes:
I appreciate it was really nice to dress up. I was still, "I'd really love to be able to dress up and not smell like garlic."
Kerry Diamond:
But I don't remember seeing an okra back tattoo.
Pilar Valdes:
We've been doing it in parts, so it might have been smaller.
Kerry Diamond:
Got it.
Pilar Valdes:
Now, sorry, mom, it's pretty full-blown.
Kerry Diamond:
I love it. Well, hopefully, I will get to see that one day. Okay. Well, that is the cutest thing, you and... Well, I'm sure the okra tattoo is cute, but you and your cousin.
Pilar Valdes:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Now, you kind of had a long and winding road into food. You weren't one of those people who was like, "I want to be a chef. I'm going to get myself on the chef path."
Pilar Valdes:
No, absolutely not. I was always a really good eater. So I knew food was going to play a pretty central role, not necessarily a professional role, in my life. And there was times, like I remember this one story, when I was a kid. We had family friends that were nuns, and we went to hang out with them for one... Again, it's always during the summer.
I was born and raised in Manila just to sort of put that out there. We had family friends that were nuns, and I must have been 11 at this point. They made us pizza. They taught us how to make pizza, and I thought it was the most fascinating thing. I was like, "What do you mean? You mix the yeast, and the flour, and the water, and the salt, and it becomes like the most glorious thing."
My takeaway from that experience was not I want to be a cook. It was I want to be a nun so I get to spend my days making pizza in this glorious kitchen because they had chickens, and they would harvest eggs. They had a little farm, and they had vegetables. I think I should have put it together probably sooner, but I spent a lot of my childhood... I was doing dance. I did a lot of film.
And then in my professional life, I worked in the nonprofit world for about 10 years, I think, before I made the very late in the game, switch to a culinary. A very winding road indeed.
Kerry Diamond:
Though I could kind of see you in a convent somewhere. It's like some kind of reverse Sound of Music situation.
Pilar Valdes:
Yeah, I think I would be really happy. I'm such a-
Kerry Diamond:
Just singing nun, making pizza.
Pilar Valdes:
I know seriously. But I'm a city girl. I was born and raised in Manila, and then I moved directly to New York. So all my life, I've lived in these very dense, bustling cities, and it's a very comfortable milieu for me. But I have such an imagination for a country life, if you call it country life, and I'm like, "I think I would do really well there," but I've never lived that. So a girl can dream. I'm dreaming for a shack in the woods. That's my target.
Kerry Diamond:
Isn't that funny? I'm the same way. Grew up in New York City, but somehow in my brain, it's like, "Oh, it'd be so nice to have a little farm or this or that." And then I go upstate, and I'm like, "Oh my God. It's so dark. I'm so freaked out."
Pilar Valdes:
Yeah, and so quiet.
Kerry Diamond:
And so quiet. The pitch dark and perfect silence freaks me the F out.
Pilar Valdes:
Yeah, absolutely. I think I'm with you on that.
Kerry Diamond:
Now, I have to ask. You're going to hate this question.
Pilar Valdes:
Uh oh.
Kerry Diamond:
Are you a total celebrity in the Philippines? Because we got some kind of news alert the other day for CNN.
Pilar Valdes:
Oh, really? Oh, right.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah.
Pilar Valdes:
I think there's a lot of pride, hometown pride, which I'm so incredibly humbled by and grateful for. I think they're just really, really excited. Of course, because a lot of my public work at least is with Drew, and people really love her in the Philippines, and it's just like they're over the moon. They're super, super excited.
I haven't been home to Manila since all of this has happened, so it's kind of happening in this strange vacuum. There's sort of pockets here and there, but my folks are really proud. I think for them when they see the show because they touched on YouTube... Obviously, it doesn't air live over there. When they see me on The Drew Barrymore Show, I think to see my name and to see their family name really brings them a tremendous amount of joy.
Kerry Diamond:
That's really sweet. You did get to see your mom though.
Pilar Valdes:
I did. She finally made it here right before Omicron broke out. We were just like, "I don't know if she's going to make it or not." Literally, all these planes kept getting canceled, but she did make it here last December right before the holiday. She was here for five weeks, I think. It was just the most special, special time.
Because she was here for so long, I was just telling someone the other day, it was so nice to be able to be pick up the phone and be like, "Hey, mom. I'm headed home. Do you want to come over for dinner?" We just tried to spoil her. She was staying at my brother's. He lives maybe 15 minutes away from me. So it was such a nice time, and we cooked together.
She cooked with my husband a lot, which is also really cute. Then for me to be able to take care of her, and cook for her, and to get her take on my cooking because I don't get to cook... When I'm home in Manila visiting, I'm not allowed to cook, right? I-
Kerry Diamond:
Tell us more about that.
Pilar Valdes:
The home and the kitchen back in Manila is her realm, and I tread very lightly out of respect, and I know it's good for me. I sort of just let her do her thing, but when she's here, I'm like, "You're in my ground. Then I get to take care of you." Hearing about her take on my cooking... For me, I think obviously I'm cooking all the time.
So the way I combine ingredients or the way I approach things, I think, feels very intuitive and natural to me. But she kept on saying for her, it's very different. It's lighter. She was like, "It's almost exotic." She was like, "There are these familiar flavors, but there's something about it that sort of lands differently." She was very pleased, and that was really nice.
And we also were able to bring her to a segment on Drew's show, so she came to The Drew Barrymore Show. I was shooting a segment, and she was like over the moon. That meant a huge, huge deal to me. It was good for her to see me work.
Kerry Diamond:
Absolutely, absolutely. That's really special. What are some of your mom's signature dishes?
Pilar Valdes:
Oh my gosh. And it's funny because her dishes, I try not to remake because it's this weird territorial thing. I don't know if other folks have this with their moms that cook. There's certain things I will not touch.
She makes a really wonderful seafood stew that I love. Her roast beef is really, really great. She does this mussels dish that is baked. You shuck the mussels, and then you put them back in their shells. And they're bathed in this spicy, garlicky, coconut milk broth basically.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, sounds so good.
Pilar Valdes:
And then it's topped with all these crispy garlic. That is delicious. It was one of my brother's favorite meals growing up, I think. Way before I started cooking, way before I knew what I was doing in the kitchen, my brother was going to have a birthday party here in New York, and I volunteered to make it. I think I was crying by the end of it because I was shucking 300 mussels on my own.
Kerry Diamond:
You're like, "How did my mother do this all these years?"
Pilar Valdes:
I know. I was like, "What the? No." I was like, "I don't know if I love you that much, Martin," but it was good. There's certain things that are such touchstones of my mom. She makes a mean sukiyaki too. I remember all the-
Kerry Diamond:
Tell us what that is.
Pilar Valdes:
Yeah, the Japanese nights at home were always really special. It was always themed. The sukiyaki is basically a... It's a cross between a soup, I guess. It's a Japanese dish, and it has glass noodles, and thinly sliced beef, and onions, and mushrooms, and tofu. It's sort of like a hot-pot-y kind of version. It has a sweet soy-based sauce that's just really, really delicious.
Whenever she busted that out, you knew it was a special time. I feel like she usually made it around Valentine's. We'd get that, and then she'd have these shakes, and we had these spirally straws, hard straws with stars and stuff. It was really sweet.
Kerry Diamond:
Aw, mom tried to make things festive.
Pilar Valdes:
Yeah, she did.
Kerry Diamond:
All of those dishes just sounds so homey and comforting. It's interesting. If there's one sort of common denominator I can pull from my Filipino friends, it's that they all talk about their comfort food and how they can't find their comfort food in America. So many of the folks I know, that's why they started food businesses. I don't think it's the same for you, but a lot of folks I've interviewed over the years, Yana Gilbuena from SALO Series really missed-
Pilar Valdes:
... the cooking of home. Absolutely. Yana's amazing. Actually, she and I have just recently connected. It was really wonderful to connect with another Filipino here. It's true. I think while I didn't start cooking Filipino food initially, the sort of desire to entertain and I think to cook for people was very much about hunting for that feeling, sort of the comforts of home and sort of what that felt like to have people, and to have community, and break bread in a certain way. I think that's why I started also cooking here because you were just like, "I want to have that vibe. I want to have that energy, both in my home and then also with other people." Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah. Yana was so dead set on it. She sold everything, quit her job, did Filipino dinners in all 50 states.
Pilar Valdes:
She is amazing. Yes, and I just got a copy of her... I think she self-
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, No Forks Given.
Pilar Valdes:
No Forks Given.
Kerry Diamond:
She self-published, yes.
Pilar Valdes:
Yeah, she self-published that book. I have such admiration for her. It was funny because when we were talking, we realized that we were at the same university back home in Manila at the same time. She sent me her book, and it's just been really wonderful to connect with her.
We were sort of sharing our stories, our very different stories, right? She's self-published, and Rebel Homemaker, I did with Drew. I just have such admiration. It was so wholly hers. I was just like, "Dude." I was like, "You got to celebrate that."
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah, she's remarkable.
Pilar Valdes:
She's based out in the Bay now, and I'm really hoping to be able to meet her and to cook with her really soon.
Kerry Diamond:
I can't wait. I really hope that happens. Longtime listeners might remember Yana from a show years ago. Then we just had Lisa Ling on the podcast a few weeks ago, and the very first episode of her new show is the Filipino community outside of New Orleans.
Pilar Valdes:
I had no idea about that. I mean what's sort of crazy is that it was with shrimpers, right? Did a shrimping village. What I'd known about that history was actually from mostly Vietnamese or Cambodian folks, so other Southeast Asian people that had come into New Orleans. That, I was aware of.
I was unaware completely about the Filipino community there. I'm sort of embarrassed to say, and I remember seeing part of that episode. I was texting my family and friends and just trying to figure out did anyone else know about this. Very few did. So I'm really glad for Lisa's story sort of shining a light on that too.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah. It's a fantastic show. It's on HBO Max if folks haven't seen it yet. A common refrain from the folks she was interviewing was just this desire for the food that they grew up with.
Pilar Valdes:
Yeah, for sure. I know my mom when she came and visited, smuggled bottles of-
Kerry Diamond:
Did she?
Pilar Valdes:
Oh, yeah, she did.
Kerry Diamond:
Good work.
Pilar Valdes:
I was like, "I'm glad they didn't stop you."
Kerry Diamond:
Good work, mom. I love it. So you talked about volunteering to cook at your brother's birthday party, and this volunteering to make things is what kind of led to your culinary career. If I remember correctly, at work, you would be the one who would volunteer to make something for the baby showers, the going away parties. How did that lead to your culinary career?
Pilar Valdes:
Well, as I said, I was working in nonprofits. I think that it was because of a lot of maybe self-doubt or not really sort of valuing the culinary experience. I didn't go to culinary school. I hadn't worked in restaurants. I just knew I like to eat a lot, and by that point, I was cooking a lot. I was cooking for 30 to 40 people on a very regular basis.
Then one day, someone was like, "Oh, I have an acquaintance that is looking for a caterer for their..." I think it was a baby shower or a wedding shower. And they were like, "Would you consider doing it?" And I had never been paid for cooking for anyone, and so that sort of just took me aback. I was like, "No, I would never do that." I was like, "I can't do that."
Kerry Diamond:
Money?
Pilar Valdes:
I know. Money? What do you mean? He was like, "Let them at least reimburse you for the ingredients and just see how it goes." I was like, "Okay. How bad could it be? It's really low stakes. There's only 20, 25 people. It's not going to be awful. If you don't like how it feels, then you just walk away." I was like, "Fine." So I did it.
During that party, people were coming up to me and asking me for my business card. I was just like, "I work in the nonprofit. Do you want that business card?" They were like, "Maybe this is something to consider." It was like a light switch, and it was that external validation from people to be like, "Maybe." That was just like a little bit of a crack in the door, and apparently, that was all I needed.
Kerry Diamond:
But it became your side hustle. It didn't become your full-time gig for a while.
Pilar Valdes:
It was totally my side hustle. I went home. I called one of my good friends that was also working in nonprofits. She and I met in the same organization, and I knew she was transitioning out of that organization. Her name's Binh Lee. I was like, "Do you want to do something in food together?" Because we eat the same things. We gravitated towards the same sort of palette and energy around feeding people.
I was like, "Do you want to try and do something?" And she's like," What are we going to do?" And I was like, "I don't know. It doesn't matter, but I don't want to do it alone. And if I do it, I want to do it with somebody." That's how our company Kickshaw Cookery was born and how we initially conceptualized it was based after CSA basically. So we had people sign up that were "members". They would prepay for I think it was like four weeks at a time. We would deliver boxed lunches to them all from the farmer's market, a lot of like Southeast Asian influence too.
We were like lunch ladies, crisscrossing the city. We would have conversations, And we would have conversations, Kerry, being like, "Okay, how many clients can we take on?" And it was like, "How many boxes can you carry literally?"
Kerry Diamond:
On the subway.
Pilar Valdes:
On the subway. Okay, fine, we were-
Kerry Diamond:
You were schlepping things-
Pilar Valdes:
We were schlepping-
Kerry Diamond:
... across the city via public transportation.
Pilar Valdes:
Yes, exactly. This is pre-Uber, pre all these delivery apps. She and I were actually both still working. We still had our sort of full-time jobs. Basically, I worked it out with the organization I was working at to give them the hours they needed, but I didn't have to be in the office necessarily the whole time. So on two days a week, I would be either at my home or at Binh's home. How we decided where we would be cooking that week is what we were cooking. So I had a very big fridge, but small stove, and Binh had a big stove, but small fridge. It was like, "Do we need more prep, or do we need more cooking space?" I mean, yeah, we were doing that for a couple of months.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh my gosh.
Pilar Valdes:
The folks that were signing up were very, very kind and very supportive. They totally knew we were doing it under the table at our own homes. Then one Sunday, it was very odd. I guess there was an article that came out in The New York Times, and both Binh and I, I think, got sent that article, I don't know, five, six times by different people. It was to apply to an incubator space up in Harlem called Hot Bread Kitchen.
So Hot Bread Kitchen is a nonprofit that, at the time at least, had a bakery, but did job training program. The incubator program that they had conceived of was specifically for immigrant and women-owned small food businesses, so very much like ours. So we were like, "Okay." They were like, "Write a business plan." We're like, "Binh..." I mean we both were nonprofit people. We're like, "What? What is that?" Like financial projections. Thank God, I handled all the accounting and bookkeeping, so I knew how to work with numbers. It was really this sort of insane learning moment.
We applied, and we got in, and that was sort of a game-changer for us in terms of our catering company because then you just had, one, access to a industrial, commercial kitchen, which we had never been in before, I mean for ourselves professionally, and then business support, access to other small businesses that were very much growing pains in the same way we were experiencing.
Kerry Diamond:
And you're still friends with some of those folks to this day.
Pilar Valdes:
Ohm yeah, absolutely. It's such a tremendous, tremendous community. A lot of-
Kerry Diamond:
Anybody you want to shout out?
Pilar Valdes:
New York Cake Pops does really beautiful cake pops. It was like there was a slew of us in the beginning that were all around. Our good friend, Alex, who used to run Canteen... I think they've since closed, but they were in Carroll Gardens. There's Mini Melanie who is really amazing, and then one of my dear friends, Yemisi Awosan, who does Egunsi Foods, who does West-African line, so-
Kerry Diamond:
And you aren't interviewing her for the next issue of Cherry Bombe.
Pilar Valdes:
I am. We're so excited because she and I met in the hallowed halls of Hot Bread Kitchen probably at five o'clock in the morning. She was doing an overnight shift producing vats and vats of her amazing soups and simmer sauces, and I was coming in for a catering job probably. We really clicked. We, I think, bonded over a lot of commonalities in our story. We're both sort of self-taught cooks and trying to figure out how to navigate this entrepreneur life.
We've always wanted to do something together. We've been trying to get together and cook together or do a video or something. And we're really excited that in the next issue of Cherry Bombe we're actually going to be interviewing her.
Kerry Diamond:
You have this Hot Bread Kitchen experience. When do you make this your full-time job?
Pilar Valdes:
I think it was probably a year and a half in. I'm a little more cautious, but this is how I think of myself. Although someone recently was like, "Dude, you left your home. You moved halfway across the world. You switched careers at 30, and now, you're on national TV without any prior experience." They're like, "I don't know if I would describe you as cautious." I was like, "All of sudden, there was-"
Kerry Diamond:
I have to agree with them, Pilar.
Pilar Valdes:
I know. I was like, "All of a sudden, it was a mirror." And I was like, "Wait. You're shaking my image of myself." Yeah, so a year and a half in, and then we ran it as a larger... We weren't delivering to 20 people anymore. Actually, it was Jessamyn, who was the founder of Hot Bread-
Kerry Diamond:
Jessamyn Rodriguez, yeah.
Pilar Valdes:
Founder of Hot Bread Kitchen and then executive director was like, "It's really great that you're doing all these tailored meals for these individuals, but that's really hard to scale, guys." She was like, "Why don't you take that model, but work with companies and corporations?" Again, kind of a light switch.
Sometimes when you're working on something so hard, it's so close, it's really hard to see the bigger picture. It was so critical for her to point that out. And so we pivoted ever so slightly, very similar ethos and approach, but started working with larger companies. That's how we were able to scale the business. We did that for a good... I feel like it was seven or eight years, kind of full steam.
Then Binh had her little daughter, Quinn, who's a sweetheart. I can't believe she's seven or eight. She had her daughter and then decided that they would move to Texas because Binh's whole family was in Austin, and that made complete sense. I was heartbroken because she was one of my dearest friends. Just we were business partners obviously, but we were friends first, and that was really important to us.
She sort of transitioned and left New York. I was left here with Kickshaw, and I did it for more years. Then I think it really took a toll. Anyone's who worked in events or catering knows that it's not the greatest thing to do on your own. I think there came a point where I was really trying to slow things down and reconsider actually shifting away from the food world, being like-
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, I didn't know that part.
Pilar Valdes:
Oh, yeah. I was just like, "I'll wrap up Kickshaw and step away from this. Maybe I can go back to nonprofits and-"
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, wow. Because I know you moved into the world of private cheffing.
Pilar Valdes:
Yeah, so that was sort of the-
Kerry Diamond:
I didn't know you were considering getting out altogether.
Pilar Valdes:
That was the interim step to sort of scale back while I was really trying to wrap my head around what it meant to close my business that I literally bled for. I was talking to a colleague in the industry, and they're like, "Why don't you try private cheffing?" And I was like, "I don't know if I can do that." But they're like, "Just try it. Check this place out. It's very low-key." So I was doing it a little bit here and there. That's when I met Drew and sort of this-
Kerry Diamond:
You got this email that... You thought you were being punked.
Pilar Valdes:
I wake up at 4:00, 4:30 in the morning. I feel like that's my best energy. It's not my cooking energy, but it's my best thinking energy. So I usually do recipe planning, and shopping lists, and answering emails. You've probably gotten an email from me at like 5:30 in the morning being like, "What is this lady doing?"
And there was an email one morning as I was getting ready, and it said, "Chef with Drew Barrymore." I totally thought it was some spam. Then I was like, "That's a really weird and hyper-specific thing to spam someone with." I was like, "They're very effective because I clicked on it." I woke up my husband first, and I was like, "Do you think I should click on it?" And he's like, "What the hell?" And he's like, "It's five o'clock in the morning." I'm like, "Okay. Nevermind."
Kerry Diamond:
It's malware. It's a malware link.
Pilar Valdes:
I know. Seriously. Anyway, long story short, Drew is moving from Los Angeles. She was in a very big inflection point, I think, in her life, and she was leaving her Los Angeles roots, and moving full-time to New York, and was looking for someone to work with a little bit here and there around food and developing a plan, a meal plan for her. That's how we met. It started really kind of in earnest and slow. I feel like she was just wrapping up maybe Santa Clarita Diet, and then we were able-
Kerry Diamond:
I mean the way Drew tells it, she was getting divorced.
Pilar Valdes:
She was getting divorced.
Kerry Diamond:
She had a broken foot.
Pilar Valdes:
Oh, gosh. That's right. The-
Kerry Diamond:
She was in a bad way.
Pilar Valdes:
Oh my God. It was really funny because the first time I met her, she was in this bootie. I was like, "Okay, hi." She walks in, and I was already cooking in her home. She was like, "Is that Pilar?" She just from the get-go had this sense of sort of openness and then real curiosity around the food, which I really appreciated, and kept me on my toes as well. And-
Kerry Diamond:
She's into food.
Pilar Valdes:
She really is. I mean she's-
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah, yeah. Some celebrities pretend to be into food. Drew is. She loves cookbook writers. She loves restaurants and chefs.
Pilar Valdes:
And she knows it. She loves her pasta. She takes great joy, I think, of finding and tasting new things. We sort of bonded over that. The friendship side of it, I think, started in earnest. She was here, and then she would travel, and that sort of thing.
Then we got into a rhythm where after her kids would be off to school, she and I would be at the kitchen island, basically little breakfast nook, and we would just chat, and share stories, and dream up what she wanted for the day. That was a lot of fun. I think those were really special bonding moments for us. I'm looking back at it nostalgically because we don't have the same sort of time together now that she shoots the show in the morning. We're always trying to clamor for time here and there together, but-
Kerry Diamond:
So let's talk about the show. You do a lot of segments together on the show.
Pilar Valdes:
I do.
Kerry Diamond:
You're big culinary contributor to the program. You now have this TV career with no previous experience.
Pilar Valdes:
Apparently. I'm really not badly-
Kerry Diamond:
But you seem very natural on there.
Pilar Valdes:
I'm mostly terrified, Kerry. That's the thing.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. That's the secret.
Pilar Valdes:
I mean it's hilarious. People are like, "You're really natural." I'm like, "I'm literally clutching the kitchen counter." It's funny because I'm beside Drew who's been doing... She's been in front of a camera literally all her life, and she is so comfortable. Literally when the camera comes on, sometimes you're just really nervous. You're just staring, and blinking a lot, and smiling.
Kerry Diamond:
I don't see that. I don't think you're giving yourself much credit. You two do have very different styles when you're doing culinary segments, and it cracks me up watching the two of you.
Pilar Valdes:
Yeah, absolutely. I mean it's kind of hilarious because we're phenomenally different people. My husband always jokes. He's like, "I don't think you could have found anyone more diametrically opposite than you." She's a real sort of go get and very whirlwindy, and I'm there going, "Drew, no, no, no. We have to organize that." It's really funny that the universe sort of pushed us together, but it works for us.
It's been really tremendous to be on the show. I have such admiration for the work that they did. They launched during the pandemic. They took a chance on me. It could have been really disastrous. They keep asking me back, so I think I'm doing okay. We come, and we share a lot of the recipes from the cookbook, which is really nice.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah, let's talk about this cookbook-
Pilar Valdes:
Yeah. I know.
Kerry Diamond:
... because the friendship also led to this great cookbook, Rebel Homemaker.
Pilar Valdes:
Yes. I can't remember if I've seen you since it's come out actually.
Kerry Diamond:
No.
Pilar Valdes:
Yeah. It came out-
Kerry Diamond:
Well, we've seen each other over Zooms.
Pilar Valdes:
Over Zoom, right?
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah.
Pilar Valdes:
Yeah, so it came out in early November, and it's been sort of a whirlwind. It's been really wonderful to have it out in the world. I was not expecting all the feels that come with it, and you're sort of productive, and proud, and nervous. You just hope that it lands-
Kerry Diamond:
You find yourself walking into bookstores and rearranging shells.
Pilar Valdes:
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I'm slightly-
Kerry Diamond:
Not that I-
Pilar Valdes:
I'm-
Kerry Diamond:
Not that I ever did that. No.
Pilar Valdes:
I always get embarrassed, but my friends are like, "Don't be embarrassed. We're doing it." They're just bumping it up. I make sure not to cover anyone else.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, you're a better person than me-
Pilar Valdes:
I'm totally like, "Don't cover the other thing."
Kerry Diamond:
... and my mother. I think my mother was... When our book came out, she was completely rearranging Barnes & Noble's shelves.
Pilar Valdes:
I love it. I love it. Yeah, it's been really, really incredible. I'm just humbled by the experience and really happy to be able to share it with people.
Kerry Diamond:
And it's a fun book. I mean you really can tell... I don't want to say anything bad about cookbooks, but sometimes cookbooks come out, and they're fairly generic, but you can tell you two really had a good time working on this book. It's so reflective of the two of you.
Pilar Valdes:
Absolutely. Drew was really adamant that we include the personal photographs and sort of pull the curtain a little bit behind. So it's not just the beautiful food photographs, of which we have many by Graydon and Harriet. And they're such an amazing team, but she also wanted to show... She was like, "People know that I'm not the best cook." This is Drew talking. Drew's like, "I can't just have something." She was like, "I don't want it to feel fake. I want it to feel like what we do here in the kitchen in my home together." It sounds like that's landing with people, and I'm really pleased about that.
Kerry Diamond:
So the book has been out long enough that something has to have emerged as the most popular recipe at this point.
Pilar Valdes:
I feel like there's a few. What's crazy is now with the internet and social media, I'm getting messages from all over the world, which is really incredible. The lemongrass beef skewers are really landing, which I actually think... were they in-
Kerry Diamond:
I think we excerpted that recipe.
Pilar Valdes:
Yeah, yeah. Those have been really, really popular, and the roasted poblano tomatillo soup as well-
Kerry Diamond:
Nice.
Pilar Valdes:
... which is really delicious. It's really nice. I feel like there's a few sleeper hits that I'm just waiting for people to discover, but it's crazy. You wake, and you get a message from Singapore pretty Switzerland or Malaysia. It's just really, really great, and from the Philippines as well. Everyone is super excited except we can't get poblanos in Manila. I was like, "We'll have to figure out a substitute."
Kerry Diamond:
What's the substitution for our Manila friends?
Pilar Valdes:
I know. I have to think good and hard about that one.
Kerry Diamond:
There are so many substitution questions, right?
Pilar Valdes:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
People love a substitution, but I understand it. You want to use what's in your pantry and your fridge. Okay. Let's talk about Pilar off-duty. Rock climbing, one of your favorite activities.
Pilar Valdes:
Oh my gosh. Kerry, I haven't been to Rock climbing. I know. I know. It's really sad. As soon as the book came out, I basically had not gone Rock climbing up until last weekend. I'm pretty sure I injured myself, but I was so, so freaking happy. It's really annoying because all my other friends at rock climb continued to do so. So they're really fit and really strong, and I'm like, "Don't mind me. I'm just hanging out on the mats." But it brings me so much joy. I can't wait also to go back to dance class, which I haven't done a really long time.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, I didn't know, your dancing side.
Pilar Valdes:
I know. I've... on and off ever since I was a kid.
Kerry Diamond:
What kind of dance?
Pilar Valdes:
As a child, I did jazz and tap. Yeah, my mom... I had-
Kerry Diamond:
We see some jazz hands pulling up.
Pilar Valdes:
Oh, yeah. Totally jazz hands. Anytime, I'll bust those out. I was talking to someone about this story recently. I had asked my mom to enroll me in a tap class. I was very young, and she found a very small tap class for me. There were only two other students, which was great, but they happened to be adults, and they happened to be professional dancers. They were part of the premier jazz troupe in Manila that needed to take tap classes. I'm like, "Mom, I'm eight years old. I can't keep up."
Kerry Diamond:
There's baby Pilar.
Pilar Valdes:
Yeah. I was like, "That taught me a lot about tenacity, and keeping up, and putting in hard work because they didn't slow down the class." They were just like, "Come on, Pilar. Keep up." I'm like, "I got this." Yeah, so I did a lot of-
Kerry Diamond:
I'd save that scene for the biopic.
Pilar Valdes:
I know. Seriously. Yeah. Tap, and jazz, and then a little bit of modern later on, but on and off, but all throughout my life probably. Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Drew Barrymore, if you're listening, I want a segment of The Drew Barrymore Show where you force Pilar to tap dance-
Pilar Valdes:
Please-
Kerry Diamond:
... in public on television.
Pilar Valdes:
She's going to do it. Please don't say that.
Kerry Diamond:
I know she will. I know she will. I know she will. I might have to send a little text about that. Talking about that, I was just thinking I was having a conversation with Paola Velez from Bakers Against Racism, another Cherry Bombe cover girl. Paola said to me that she really feels like culinary-wise, this is the year of mental health. I know you do the rock climbing for mental health reasons-
Pilar Valdes:
Absolutely.
Kerry Diamond:
... and the dancing, I would imagine, as an adult. How else do you take care of yourself?
Pilar Valdes:
That is a good question.
Kerry Diamond:
Or if you do. I mean I know a lot of us-
Pilar Valdes:
I was like I mean I feel like I have to-
Kerry Diamond:
... haven't done that great a job taking care of ourselves.
Pilar Valdes:
I definitely have to get better about that. My husband is really, really wonderful about kind of clocking like, "You actually just need to stop, and put that down, and rest, and recharge because that's not sustainable in any way. It's not good for you in any way." But I think we can all get a little bit better.
I'm just thinking about my week. I mean I was running on empty at this point. And to check in and to see friends... That's been really difficult. I feel like I need to get back to that schedule because it feeds everything, right? It feeds the creativity. It feeds the soul. It feeds your mental health. I was like, "It's just a really good reminder." I feel like all of us need to help each other out with that and just be like, "Okay, time to stop. Time to put it down, and shake it out, and, yeah, take a breather."
Kerry Diamond:
Good advice. Let's do the speed round.
Pilar Valdes:
All right.
Kerry Diamond:
Treasured cookbook in your collection? You and Drew, you've got like 8 million cookbooks.
Pilar Valdes:
I'm like, "Only one?"
Kerry Diamond:
Doesn't have to be the book, a book.
Pilar Valdes:
Oh my goodness. Essentials of Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan.
Kerry Diamond:
A song that makes you smile?
Pilar Valdes:
Anything by Otis Redding.
Kerry Diamond:
Last pantry purchase?
Pilar Valdes:
Oh my God. A lot of spices from Diaspora.
Kerry Diamond:
Don't you love?
Pilar Valdes:
They're amazing.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh my gosh.
Pilar Valdes:
I mean I could just stare at the color of that turmeric all day long. Anyway, I love them.
Kerry Diamond:
Their saffron.
Pilar Valdes:
Yes.
Kerry Diamond:
You really have to stop yourself from-
Pilar Valdes:
Oh my goodness. The saffron, yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Favorite kitchen tool?
Pilar Valdes:
Oh, gosh.
Kerry Diamond:
Or most used?
Pilar Valdes:
Most used probably an offset spatula, mini-offset or a microplane.
Kerry Diamond:
Kitchen footwear of choice?
Pilar Valdes:
This is horrible. I was like, "I've done the Birkes route, and now I'm just in boots." I'm like, "They're nice. They're comfy."
Kerry Diamond:
Steel toe?
Pilar Valdes:
Preferably not always because those are really heavy, but the Birkes... I did it for a really long time, and then I've sort of put them aside for now. Maybe I'll circle back. Maybe it's my knees. I'm not sure.
Kerry Diamond:
I say that as someone who has dropped a knife on her foot.
Pilar Valdes:
Oh, God. Oh, God. No, no, no, no, no. Yeah. Please, people that wear sandals or barefoot in the kitchen... I mean it's so easy, breezy, and it looks wonderful, but I'm so stressed every time I see it because I drop things all the time, and I'm just like, "I would not have any more toes or limbs really."
Kerry Diamond:
Save those toes. Favorite food smell?
Pilar Valdes:
Roast pork.
Kerry Diamond:
You have a background in film. What are you streaming right now?
Pilar Valdes:
Oh my gosh. What am I watching? I just started watching Lisa Ling's series, so that has been on. I'm like, "I'm sure I'm streaming so many things." I'm like, "British Bake Off." There's like six things always on loop. I feel like I always have it on, and then I pass out. That is the grand... I can't watch a movie past 4:00 PM, and I really can't watch a TV series past 4:00 PM because as soon as something's on TV, I'm out like a light. That was a really lame answer, but-
Kerry Diamond:
You also do wake up at 5:30 in the morning.
Pilar Valdes:
It's true. Thank you. I feel slightly better about it, but not really. I'm always embarrassed because people are like, "Let's do dinner at seven." I'm like, "Oh my God. That's so hard."
Kerry Diamond:
You can hang out with me and my girlfriends because they keep pushing it further and further.
Pilar Valdes:
Oh, gosh.
Kerry Diamond:
And I'm like, "Is this a late lunch?"
Pilar Valdes:
Yes. Yeah, I-
Kerry Diamond:
I was like, "This is not dinner."
Pilar Valdes:
Yes, a lunch dinner. It's one big, beautiful meal a day. That's kind of how I roll it up on weekends.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah, because of them, I'm having dinner at 5:30 tonight, and I would eat dinner at... I'm a night-
Pilar Valdes:
Hey, that's later than I am.
Kerry Diamond:
I'm a bit of a night owl.
Pilar Valdes:
I see.
Kerry Diamond:
I would have dinner at 9:00-
Pilar Valdes:
Oh my goodness.
Kerry Diamond:
... midnight.
Pilar Valdes:
I was like then you're on Spanish time. I'm like, "I could never-"
Kerry Diamond:
That's me.
Pilar Valdes:
I could never do it. I could never do it.
Kerry Diamond:
Dream travel destination?
Pilar Valdes:
I was like, right now, I would go home. I would go back home. I know.
Kerry Diamond:
I knew you were going to say that.
Pilar Valdes:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Last question. If you had to be trapped on a desert island with one food celebrity, you can't say Drew, who would it be?
Pilar Valdes:
One-
Kerry Diamond:
And why?
Pilar Valdes:
One food celebrity?
Kerry Diamond:
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Pilar Valdes:
Oh my God. Jacques Pépin. I love him. Sorry, was that weird? I'm like, "I can watch that man break down chickens and make omelets all day." I feel like he would be really resourceful, really low-key, and make really delicious food.
Kerry Diamond:
Great answer.
Pilar Valdes:
Is that strange?
Kerry Diamond:
Not at all. He's great.
Pilar Valdes:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah.
Pilar Valdes:
He really-
Kerry Diamond:
He's a legend.
Pilar Valdes:
He really is. I'm like, "I will climb the tree to get whatever, but you got to crack it open and make your magic."
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, well, Pilar, you make a lot of magic too, so thank you so much. It has been such a delight getting to know you over the past year, and I can't thank you enough for being such a great member of the Bombe Squad.
Pilar Valdes:
Oh, thank you for having me. Such an honor.
Kerry Diamond:
That's it for today's show. Thank you so much to Pilar Valdes. Catch Pilar on The Drew Barrymore Show. You can also pick up a copy of the cookbook Pilar and drew wrote. It's called Rebel Homemaker, and it's in stores right now. If you don't have the issue of Cherry Bombe Magazine with Pilar on the cover, well, you know what to do. Pick up that too.
Thank you to Lenox and Foxtrot for supporting today's show. Visit lenox.com to learn more about the Victoria James Signature Series Wine Glass collab, and check out our giveaway on Instagram. Then you could also head over to foxtrotco.com and check out what Foxtrot is all about.
Radio Cherry Bombe is a production of Cherry Bombe Magazine. Our theme song is by the band, Tralala. Thank you, Joseph Hazan, studio engineer for Newsstand Studios, and thank you to our assistant producer, Jenna Sadhu. And thanks to you for listening. You're the bombe.