For Chef Jeremy Sewall, good food has never been just about what’s on the plate—it’s about how you make people feel when they sit down to eat it. As the chef and partner behind Boston’s beloved Row 34 and the author of several cookbooks (including his latest Everyday Chef), Sewall has built a life around hospitality, family, and a deep love for New England’s waters. His approach to cooking is refreshingly unpretentious: keep it simple, cook with intention, and never underestimate the power of salt, fat, and good company.
In this conversation, the Boston native and lifelong seafood expert shares his best tips for cooking like a pro at home, the ingredient he swears is criminally underrated, and why the key to great hospitality, whether in a restaurant or your own kitchen, is simply making people feel comfortable.
In the Kitchen with Chef Jeremy Sewall
You’ve built a life around hospitality. How do you define “good hospitality” today, both in the restaurant and at home? Just make people feel comfortable! Welcome them warmly, be attentive to their needs and give them an opportunity to relax. Ultimately we just want people to enjoy themselves and if we can accomplish that we are also enjoying ourselves. When we are given the opportunity to learn something about the guest, do so and use it to make them feel more comfortable the next time they visit. Keep it simple.
Do you remember the first meal that made you fall in love with food? I don’t remember any one particular meal that made me fall in love with food but I do remember several times I ate a meal when I was young that makes my mouth water to this day. Eating piles of lobster at a picnic at my Uncle’s house (he was a lobsterman) dipped in warm butter sitting along the York River. The first time I ate sweetbreads in a mushroom cream sauce at a fancy restaurant or when I ate foie gras at my first real job after culinary school. All of those moments are seared in my brain. Each bite made me fall more in love with food.
You’ve cooked everything from fine-dining plates to family dinners. What’s one trick that instantly makes a home-cooked meal taste restaurant-level? Salt and fat. Don’t be afraid of salt and fat. Good olive oil, butter, cream and seasoning correctly are generally the difference between how food tastes at home and at a restaurant. You can use these things in moderation but use them.
Seafood can intimidate even confident cooks. What’s your best advice for buying and preparing seafood at home and any “don’t ever do this” rules? A couple general tips. Buy seafood the day before or the day of the meal. Don’t let it sit in your fridge for too long. Buy from a busy place that sells a lot of seafood. Frozen can be good quality so don’t shy away from it but give it time to thaw properly. Starting really simple, baked or steamed fish might be a good way to start at home. Most important; have a plan. Know what you want to do before you go to the store and be a little flexible if the seafood you wanted isn’t available. Don’t be afraid, fish is amazing!
What’s one thing you learned the hard way in the kitchen? Fire is hot.
Is there one underrated ingredient that deserves more love? Something you always keep around that most people overlook? Lentils. Don’t sleep on lentils, they are easy to cook and delicious. There are several types but the old school de puy lentils are my favorite.
If someone wants to upgrade their home kitchen, what’s worth splurging on? Get a Vita Mix blender. I use it for soups, pesto, sauces and vinaigrettes. It is an essential part of my kitchen for both home and work.
If we opened your fridge right now, what would surprise us most? It’s pretty empty. My boys have launched into the world and it is just me, my wife and 14 year old daughter. Like any self respecting chef I have hot sauce, bread and good cheese.
After a long night in service, what’s your ultimate wind-down ritual? Well it has certainly changed over the years. When I was a younger man it was a big meal and cold beers. A very unsustainable approach to living as we get older. I don’t work as many big services as I used to but still bang pans on occasion. Now it’s lots of sparkling water, walk on the treadmill and maybe some ice cream; a man’s gotta live.
You’ve written several cookbooks, and your latest, Everyday Chef, what can readers expect from this one and how does it differ from The Row 34 Cookbook or The New England Kitchen? Everyday Chef was very much a home cookbook. The others are mostly restaurant recipes I tried to teach people to make at home but this was all about home cooking. I feel blessed that covid happened in some way; my whole family was home. I got busy cooking for them and the book was born from that moment.
You’ve built restaurants, written books, and mentored countless cooks. What’s one lesson you wish every young chef understood early on? There isn’t any one thing I would say that stands out but what I would say and do say to young cooks is be patient, be humble, be consistent and understand it’s a long road.
