starring
Ellen Bennett of Hedley & Bennett
*Proper Bad Ass LA Made Aprons*
photo cred –Hedley & Bennett’s IG
Episode 9 of The Food Podcast is all about Ellen Bennet. Ellen is the Apron Lady. She lives in a colourful house in Los Angeles with a turquoise door. She has a potbellied pig. Her aprons are made in a big warehouse with colourful walls. Warehouse tours include ice cream and hugs. Her office is in a treehouse.
Ellen is twenty-eight.
I first met Ellen at The Cherry Bombe Jubilee in NYC. We bonded over jumpsuits and House of Honey. (Can you believe her LA kitchen designer is from Halifax?) Anyway, there just wasn’t enough time. I needed more, so a few months later I patched Ellen in from the Hedley & Bennett treehouse HQ. The conversation went like this…
The Highlights:
-Pink linen apron from Ceramica Blue
–Fogg linen apron from Season 1 of Love Food
-The waxy blue @Birdkagestyle apron featured in the donair episode, season 2 of Love Food
-Pale Blue linen half apron, Season 3 of Love Food
–The Cherry Bombe Jubilee – the most fabulous one day women in food conference in NYC hosted by the team behind the indie food magazine for women, Cherry Bombe.
–Providence, the LA Michelin starred restaurant where Ellen’s chef career began
–Renée Lavallee representing Hedley & Bennett at Canada House in London
-Ellen’s favourite motto -‘when the door isn’t open, climb through a window’. Reminds me of Sarah Blakely and SPANX
–Alton Brown tweets about his love for Hedley & Bennett
-The power of confidence
-The connection between recipe testing and designing aprons
-David Chang on how chefs are atheletes, and executive chefs are coaches – the Bill Simmons Podcast
‘I wanted (the Hedley & Bennett factory) to be happy, but happy AND hustling, cause it takes a lot of work to make dreams come true’
‘I want to kill someone during the triathlon but after I’m very happy’
‘I take vitamins. I sleep 8.5 hours a day. Religiously. I think all of that is really important so you can maintain your sense of cool in the midst of a shit show’.