Chef Kristen Caroselli and I first met and worked together during COVID, also known as what was basically an apocalyptic time for the hospitality industry. Originally from Bloomingburg, New York, she had just moved to Huntsville from Tuscaloosa to run the new kitchen at The Poppy and Parliament, and I was bursting at the seams to help support anyone wanting to have a serious wine program. In January 2023, just a few days before I moved to Nashville, I sat down with her at the butcher shop above The Poppy and Parliament, where we said our goodbyes and I told her about my future plans and CHUM. We let down our professional wall for the first time and talked like friends. Within minutes of us just shooting the shit, I asked her if she would be interested in being interviewed for CHUM and she said yes, so here we are. So much has happened since then, including her becoming the first winner of Rocket Chef (Huntsville’s culinary competition) since before COVID. The winner just before COVID, Chef Angela Ozbolt of Good Company Cafe, was the first female winner back in 2019. They are both graduates of Johnson & Wales University, home to one of the best culinary programs in the country.
I was stoked to learn that Chef Kristen is into zines and was even more excited for the opportunity to interview her for mine. She told me about one of her friends from college, Pete, who has a photography zine, and how he always sends them to her. “Now I have a collection,” she said. “When I found out you were the one who did CHUM, I was so excited.” I woke up an hour before I normally do to interview her over the phone, catching her on her drive to the airport to attend a wedding in New Jersey. We enjoyed the following conversation and I’m stoked to share it with you.
Jordan Murphy: In lieu of us having coffee together, tell me how you would take your coffee if we were.
Chef Kristen Caroselli: It depends on my mood. Sometimes I want hot, sometimes I want cold. If cold, I like an iced latte with vanilla, usually regular milk, but sometimes oat. I like Gold Sprint Coffee. If hot, cappuccino, lightly sweetened. I don't actually like coffee that much; I like espresso.
JM: How has Huntsville changed since you’ve been there?
CKC: Oh gosh, it’s grown an enormous amount. The restaurants and food and beverage spots have almost doubled in just three years. New things are opening all the time. It’s a move towards educating and influencing the culture here in a positive way, and it’s very exciting.
JM: What was it like competing in Rocket Chef?
CKC: Oh my god it was so much fun. I wasn't nervous until the day of, but then my boyfriend and our families came into town, my sister flew down, and my friends were hyping me up. I got to the pub and I thought I was going to pass out. I sat down and had some water and then blasted music in the car with my sister. After that, I wasn’t nervous anymore. There was such an enormous support group. I didn’t realize how much I was actually supported until then. It was such a good feeling being able to raise so much money, too. We raised like $29,000 for such a cool cause, doing positive things for kids who don’t get the chance (Food Bank of North Alabama and the Merrimack Hall Performing Arts Center). I love being involved. The networking and feedback since then has been so awesome. 10/10 would recommend going and competing. There used to be this component that I didn’t like, where basically whatever chef raised the most money got bonus points towards their competition points, like it was a popularity contest. I didn’t want any bullshit like that. I wanted it to be fair. I wanted the guys to get beat by a girl fair and square. If not, then I wasn’t going to do it. They took that component away, so I was in.
JM: Describe yourself culinarily in your own words.
CKC: I’m definitely very structured. Probably undiagnosed OCD. Very clean. Super passionate. I want to pass on my knowledge, and I want the guests to understand the love that goes into food. I’m a little bit of a control freak. Female, Italian, New Yorker, chef, I mean…come on. That all plays into what I'm doing. Extreme passion plus extreme attention to detail. Without that, I wouldn't be good at what I do.
JM: Fucking right. Is it safe to assume you like cheese?
CKC: Oh I love cheese. There's not really any cheese I don't like. I like the funk on crazy blue cheese. Trader Joe’s has a little triangle of mushroom brie that’s like $7. I can't go in there without buying it.
JM: How about any favorite herbs?
CKC: I love all fresh herbs. Not huge on dried herbs. Tarragon is something I've really gotten to use more especially with English, Irish, and European cuisine. It’s like sweet licorice, but savory at the same time. Also I love Maldon salt. Not an herb, but it’s so good.
JM: If you had to pick three meals to eat forever on a desert island, what would they be?
CKC: Potstickers. I would eat those every single day of my life. Next, spaghetti and meat sauce, easy. Last, probably something Greek like gyros or anything with loads of tzatziki sauce. Does it have to be a full meal? I honestly could just eat tzatziki sauce.
JM: What is your absolute favorite knife?
CKC: I have two. So my fancy knife would be a Shun vegetable knife. That's a Japanese brand and it's expensive. My easy to get, like buy it off Amazon knife, is Victorinox. It's like a swiss army knife in that I use it for everything. It’s serrated, like a little bread knife.
I never, ever used to use it, but when I met Chef Barry, he used a serrated knife to cut everything. I was like, are you really using a serrated knife to cut meat? Really? Now I can't get away from it.
JM: What was one of the worst food experiences you’ve ever had?
CKC: The most memorable disaster dining experience was in Koh Samui in Thailand. A group of five friends and I had booked a super fancy prix fixe dinner on the actual beach, and with high hopes we all ended up wildly disappointed. We paid $130 per person and the menus we chose seemed really good but they just completely ruined it. We were served lobster spring rolls…but they forgot the lobster. So it was literally just rice paper with unseasoned raw salad vegetables. The duck breast we were served was cold, improperly cooked, and so chewy. But honestly I was with a group of very close friends dining on a beautiful beach right next to the water in Thailand so how bad can it really be? I’ve had many bad food experiences but I usually try my best to find positives or appreciate food even if it isn’t the best.
JM: Where are a few of your favorite places to go in Nashville?
CKC: Ooooh. Folk. I absolutely love Folk. My favorite bar would be The Fox. I recently went to a tapas place called Barcelona and it was unbelievable. Love that place. I love Nashville, love live music, I love bouncing around, but every time I go, I go to Folk. I've never had anything bad there or a bad experience.
JM: Speaking of Music City, do you find that there’s a connection between music and food?
CKC: Absolutely. I think that in multiple ways. From my perspective, food is my entire world. From a musician’s perspective, music is their entire world. That’s the way we both express art. They go hand-in-hand. Plus you can't go into a bar and it be dead quiet. You need the right music there for the ambiance. Food and music are absolutely symbiotic.
JM: Who are some of your favorite bands or musicians?
CKC: I’m obsessed with Ed Sheeran. Most talented individual human in the world. But my music taste is all over the place; I’ll go from super old school country like Johnny Cash, bounce over to Disney, and listen to Eminem five minutes later. But the bottom line is Ed Sheeran. He goes on stage with a loop pedal by himself. Go see him even if you don't like his music…it’s life-changing to see someone so talented.
JM: We can’t wrap this up without talking about wine. How would you describe the role it plays in your life?’
CKC: I used to be into super sweet wine when I was getting started as a kid in college. Like Franzia blush. Then I grew up and got my actual ID and now I'm into bolder flavors. I've learned a lot from you and through relationships with my wine vendors. Recently, Josh Nunn introduced me to pet-nat. I could crush an entire bottle. I love the funk! I love wines that have crazy fun notes like “barnyard”. I don’t think there's anything I don't like or at least appreciate in the wine world. Across the board, there's a beautiful pairing for everything. As long as they’re balanced, I can occasionally even drink sweet wines. My favorite category though is Italian reds. I've learned so much that I've been able to branch out and appreciate everything I try, one way or another.
