Today we’d like to introduce you to Luca Ponti.
Hi Luca, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
From a young age, I was drawn to the relationship between food & culture. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, I spent my youth devouring Mission-style burritos, exploring Boba bars & my own ancestral heritage. I graduated from the University of Oregon in 2014 with degrees in Political Science & Business. My studies focused on political philosophy, business & environmental sustainability have been the catalyst for my culinary curiosity.
I then learned my trade by working within the industry. I worked stints at esteemed Portland establishments Veritable Quandary & St. Honoré Patisserie before settling in at a North Portland neighborhood cafe Sweedeedee where I quickly aligned creatively and philosophically. Over the next 4 years, I honed my craft and found my love for educating and experimenting with food.
I now have a very diverse work-life as a Chef in Portland, Oregon.
– I teach Cooking Classes at Cookshop where I host public and private classes designed for the home chef.
-I am the owner of Cookwise: part recipe club, part cooking school designed to inspire, educate and empower you to gain control of your own kitchen.
-Lastly, I am the Creator & Chef of Squirrel Meals PDX, a local meal prep service where I make 3 meals a week in an effort to be a solution for the ‘midweek meal’ problem.
The story of Squirrel Meals started when it felt like the end… April of 2020. The pandemic was in full swing & the café I managed had to temporarily close. During those haunting yet beautiful days, like many of the ‘early-quarantiners’, I felt inspired to connect with my community in anyway possible… from the safety of my own home.
Between one of my many Sourdough ‘Door Drops’ or Netflix binges, a family friend, who’s childhood nickname was ‘Squirrel’, reached out to ask me to cook his family some meals. I devised a plan for him to pick up 3 meals, every Tuesday to feed his family during the middle of the work week. There was just one catch: I’m cooking WHATEVER I want!
In just a few weeks, our simple idea became routine. The meals became more refined. The instructions became more clear. A few neighbors caught wind of my doings and decided to join in on my weekly spread. Just like that, Squirrel Meals was created.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Of course not!
Squirrel Meals has been through 2 renditions. The beginning, which I described earlier was exciting! Filled with so many joyful moments and lessons. But the exhaustion kicked in after a year. I was doing it by my lonesome…every grocery run, label, ingredient, container and package had my hands on it. I quickly ran into burnout. I ended up stopping Squirrel Meals because I was running myself ragged week in and week out. That was difficult because it led to some soul searching questions. Did this business have a future? Was this even something I wanted to do long term? Is it as sustainable as I once hoped it would be? It even led me to questioning my own self worth in the process… Am I even worthy to do be running a business? Do people even like my food? At the bottom of my heart, I always knew there was a place for Squirrel Meals. There was no only a distinct ethos and intention behind it, it also filled a niche. I just needed sometime and clarity in order to run it the right way.
I put the business on hiatus and worked on a few other projects. During that time, I kept cooking…but more importantly, I continued to observe. I’d study people’s preferences. What they liked to eat. What was their perceived value of food. What other businesses were doing that we success and sustainable. What other failures were people making along the way. I saw businesses come and go in the meantime and decided to ask myself how to make not only this business, but my life sustainable.
During this time, I faced a few tragedies in my life. My first born daughter was stillborn at 41 weeks. I faced a grief I wish upon no-one. 2 years later, my mother suffered a TBI and was comatose for 2 months just as my second child was about to enter this world. She luckily survived and is living a good life, all things considered…but it made me question everything. During my visit to the hospital, I had some real heart to heart conversations about my future with my father, who was facing a conundrum of his own. I realized that I needed to return to squirrel meals. I had a staff of people I’ve met over the last 2 years who would love to help build this business with me…so we turned it back on
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a Chef and instructor. I run a small business called Squirrel Meals where myself and my team make meals every week for folks to eat during the middle of the week. In the meantime, I teach cooking classes and host private events. I am known for my philosophy in the kitchen. I teach people to cook with their heart, to use being in the kitchen as a creative tool. To experiment and make mistakes…as long as we are learning from them. I believe that food is a catalyst for connection and love. I’ve taught thousands of people in the Portland area how to cook…but the techniques or fun facts I’ve shared with them are far from the most important thing. My whole thing is finding community through food. Serving people is an act of love. Cooking for yourself is an act of self-care. Even how we shop for ingredients helps build our community. That message is felt in every class I teach or ever meal we produce. The way we create a world we want to live in, is by being active participants in it.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
The food industry is a tricky one to project over time. I don’t see any massive shifts, but food and going out is getting increasingly more expensive. The overhead cost in a restaurant is only getting worse, and in order for restaurants to survive, they have to pass those costs onto customers, which of course is never a good look. Therefore, I believe we are in for a redistribution of food systems and restaurants in the next 10 years. I think there will be an increase in food carts/shared restaurant spaces and Facebook meal drop-offs and a decrease is sit down restaurants. I think the value proposition of a sit down restaurant is going to become increasingly difficult to manage, so the best restaurants will survive. The cheaper/efficient restaurants will too. But the middle ground might suffer.
Pricing:
- $75 per person for subscribers. This gets you 3 meals: 2- one course dinner and 1- three course dinner including a dessert.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://squirrelmealspdx.com
- Instagram: @squirrelmealspdx
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Squirrelmeals-PDX/100066940540169/?mibextid=wwXIfr&rdid=VGAqefKS5cq6RQTs&share_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fshare%2F1EKHBTrU4y%2F%3Fmibextid%3DwwXIfr
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@squirrelmealspdx796/shorts
