fave five #18: harrison chapin

featuring antiquing

this week i’m happy to bring you harrison chapin’s fave five.

Harrison

and i don’t know each other personally—substack brought us into each other’s orbit. he’s a new york city born and raised writer and ex fine dining line chef behind the secret ingredient. his newsletter adapts hit restaurant recipes for easy home cooking; an idea that personally strikes a chord as many of my own recipes are inspired by restaurant dishes (see examples one, two and three). i definitely have more than one of his “dupes” on my list, including dae café’s misugaru latte.

harrison is also the new moderator of the food writers' forum, a private network hosted on here on substack where 200+ food writers uplift one another’s writing, make connections, and grow their audience. if you write a food-related newsletter, feel free to join. enjoy his fave five and see you next week with a new recipe!

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harrison chapin’s fave five

1. Donald Judd's SoHo NYC home and furniture, especially his dining table (third photo in the post). His home is now preserved as a museum (they offer guided tours and tickets sell out weeks in advance). Something about his design philosophy feels like the perfect companion for California cuisine. It's a dream of mine to one day make replicas of his furniture as a way to nurture a conduit of hospitality between the food and people I love.

2. My film camera (the Nikon L35AF). If anything rivals my love of food, it's adventure sports, particularly thru hiking, skiing in all its forms (cross country, alpine, waterski), kayaking, and bikepacking. Film photography is the way I like to document my adventures, whether that be my thru hikes of the Pacific Northwest Trail or when I built my own wooden sea kayak and paddled the Saguenay River in Quebec, Canada alongside beluga whales. Check out my Unsplash profile where I post my adventure photos!

3. Currently, my hobby for antiquing (clothing and homewares) is blossoming. I believe the good things find me, not vice versa. Recent items that have found me include a 19th century brass hogscraper pushup candlestick tray, and a faded black Hugo Boss lambskin bomber jacket. I also love Bijan Royal, an antique store in NYC. That place gives me a magical feeling like I'm in the Room of Requirement.

4. My brother has a collection of Haiku Masters chapbooks. My favorite is this one by Hatano Soha, published by The Economy Press.

5. All the music I love. As a fun exercise I pair each recipe I write about on Substack with a song it reminds me of. Check out my Spotify!