Behind the plate: Chef Jason La Iacona focuses on sustainable, seasonal cuisine
A native of New Hampshire, chef Jason La Iacona found his way to Nashville via Chicago — arriving in 2014 to work for TomKats Hospitality. He was promoted to different roles within the group, serving as sous chef at The Southern, chef de cuisine at Saffire and executive sous chef in charge of procuring fresh seafood sustainably, “from catch to cooler” at Fin and Pearl.
In 2019, he went to work for M Street restaurant group, but after a year, stepped back to assess his career. Since November 2020, he’s been the executive chef of Miel, Seema Prasad’s west Nashville gem, beloved for its seasonally driven cuisine, unique wines and dedication to being an eco-conscious citizen.
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What sparked your passion for the cooking life?
The short answer: My love of eating! I’d watch my mom in the kitchen and eventually got into experimenting on my own. One Christmas, I got a wok and a user’s manual and started cooking Chinese for the family. I took home ec instead of shop in school, simply to get closer to the food. And then, I took jobs in kitchens — my first was in fast food. I progressed out of that into franchise restaurants and then fine dining. I went to culinary school at the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago (a division of Le Cordon Bleu) by accident. A friend of mine was supposed to go and changed his mind. In a strange twist of events, I got offered to take his place.
My thought was to do this until I figured out what I was really supposed to be doing. Then, one day, it dawned on me that this was it!
Who were some of your mentors and how did they influence you?
I was so fortunate to have a few, and not all were in culinary. Ron Keen was a Vietnam vet who owned a limo company in Chicago, and I worked for him as a dispatcher. Trust me, there are many similarities with that job and expediting orders in a restaurant kitchen. He taught me to take a step back and take in the big picture. Never be afraid to ask for help. And never ask someone to do something that you wouldn’t do yourself.
Leon Trevino was one of the first big chefs I worked under. That was at An American Bistro in Saint Charles, Ill. We had such a strong crew, talented and professional, which he led with imaginative curiosity. He’d ask the questions: How can we take a classic and push it; how can we make it better?
Matt Farley and I immediately connected when we first spoke on the phone. We share a love of making music. It was a big leap for me to come to Nashville, and he set things up for a good landing. He’s got extensive knowledge, and he’s so accessible. He’s without artifice. This is about doing the work. Everyone should have something to bring to the team. When our Fin and Pearl team cooked for the James Beard House, he gave me the opportunity to speak about responsible sourcing from the sea. I’ll never forget that.
Tell us about a go-to ingredient in your culinary arsenal.
Vinegar. When I was preparing my tasting for chef Farley, I stumbled on an interview where he was asked a similar question: What is the most undervalued or underutilized ingredient in cooking? That was his answer. And it has stuck with me. There are so many fun vinegars available and they have to ability to bring a dish to life, when used judiciously. A background player. It needs to be there, but not in a way that you can really identify.
Any observations or lessons from the pandemic you’d care to share?
It is touchy. There are people we lost, and people who will never be the same. It took a government order to make us chefs stop. Our personalities dictate otherwise. But that shutdown pulled back the curtain, exposing the negative parts of our industry. So much burnout. I know, I went for years without taking a vacation. You don’t take time off. You put in 60, 70, 80 hours a week. You’re hardly with your family. You’re working holidays. You work when you’re sick. It’s not sustainable. It’s madness. It’s been an enormous wake-up call for our industry. Quality of life: What does that look like? We see that there are alternatives!
I wish there was an all-encompassing word to describe who we are in hospitality — passionate about making and serving delicious food — it is something in our blood. You can’t fake this. It has helped weed out those who don’t fit in here. We have a labor deficit in the industry. At the same time, wages have increased, although in some instances the quality of work is not commensurate. That said, we have a fantastic team at Miel that I am so proud to work with.
What are you working on now?
We’ve been getting amazing mushrooms from Henosis, with some types that I’ve never seen, let alone cooked before. It’s ramped up my education and we’ve been excited to include them on the menu.
On Aug. 3, we’ll be having our annual Summer Harvest Dinner. It’s a celebration of the season, and we‘ll be highlighting produce from Villa Acres Farm, Rock Bridge Farm (Farmer Dave) and our personal garden. I'm even more excited about our “Trash Fish Dinner” we are holding on Aug. 24. Most people like to eat shrimp, salmon and tuna. There are problems with overfishing. Sustainability issues. However, there are many species that we’d like to introduce you to, such as barrel fish, trigger fish, opah, wreckfish, that are so delicious. The market is weak for these incredible “trash” alternatives. We want to educate you. Expand your palate. All while honoring our planet. To me, that is the ultimate responsibility of a chef.
Miel
343 53rd Ave. N., Nashville
mielrestaurant.com; 615-298-3663
Food: Locally sourced, seasonally driven cuisine
Hours: 5-8 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday; 5-9 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; Happy hour 4:30-6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday
Reservations: Accepted
Alcohol: Full bar
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Behind the plate: Chef Jason La lacona focuses on sustainable, seasonal cuisine
