All photos courtesy of Jackie Carnesi.
Not just any chef can reopen a 98-year-old classic American diner and make it feel relevant in 2024, much less a 24-hour operation on the brink of bankruptcy. Enter Jackie Carnesi, the Texas-born chef who managed to do just that by overhauling Brooklyn’s iconic Kellogg’s Diner, complete with a revamped personality and all-new, Tex-Mex-inspired menu—a nod to her childhood growing up in a border town. Today, Carnesi leaves behind the “pink palace” of Kellogg’s to tackle the New York waterfront, crafting shellfish towers and seafood-based cuisines at the recently opened Bar Susanne in Williamsburg. To celebrate the restaurant’s debut with Carnesi at the helm, the thriving chef took a crack at our questionnaire, revealing her comfort meals, condiment must-haves, and the one food rule she lives by. —BRENDAN KENNEDY
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What’s the last thing you ate?
5 saltines, 4 poached shrimp, and a little preserved lemon aioli. For breakfast.
What do you love to eat alone?
White trash nachos. Tostitos tortilla chips and shredded cheese, nuked in the microwave, and an entire jar of pickled jalapeños.
What dish do you wish you’d invented?
Toaster strudel. I’d be so rich.
What do you think when someone sends back a dish?
“How do we fix this?” Regardless of whether or not I agree with someone’s opinion of my food, the ultimate goal is to ensure guests leave happy. While the customer is most definitely not always correct, there are ways to navigate situations so people leave feeling heard and happy.
What’s the one food trend you’re relieved is finally over?
Stunt foods, and foods in general that are made more for a photo/ the algorithm, rather than actual consumption. And the constantly climbing cost of food, a big contributor to making it wildly difficult to own/operate a restaurant. That trend stinks!
What’s the one food trend you’re embarrassed to admit you love?
Long John Silver’s. I grew up eating it, and in high school I would get a dozen hush puppies for $1 after school sometimes. I still dream of those little crispy fried bits under the fish.
What’s a food hill you’ll die on?
People need to have less rules about what other people are eating or doing with their food. I don’t care if someone is putting bacon in their carbonara, or cooking their steak well done, or putting beans in their chili, or breaking their pasta. Do you and eat what you like. Food doesn’t have to make anyone happy other than the person eating it.
What won’t you eat?
Canned tuna or cantaloupe. An aversion to foods that have the word “can” in them, I guess. Both taste and smell like rotting flesh to me.
What do you drink too much of?
Kiwi Guava Celsius. It’s truly my most shameful and disgusting habit.
What do you eat straight from the fridge?
Good Culture cottage cheese, straight out of the container. They’ve really changed the cottage cheese game.
What’s the first thing you notice about a restaurant when you walk in?
It’s hard to pick one thing. My job is to notice literally everything in my own restaurant (is the music too loud or the wrong vibe, is the lighting right, are the cooks getting crushed/need a project to work on, are plates coming back clean or is food being left, are the tables set properly, is everything clean), so typically, there are many, many thoughts happening simultaneously when I walk into a restaurant.
What’s the most underrated city to eat in?
My hometown, Brownsville, Texas. It’s a great representation of Northern Mexican and Texas cuisines. Matamoros-style street tacos, barbacoa cooked in a pit in the ground, super fresh shrimp and fish from the Gulf, tortillerias on every street, and great little mom and pop restaurants that serve breakfast tacos the size of a toddler. It’s definitely not the Tex-Mex associated with some of the cities further north, it’s a culinary landscape very specific to South Texas.
Where do you eat on your night off?
My boyfriend and I love Hellbender. It’s such a great neighborhood spot, and Chef Yara is just a killer.
What did nobody tell you about owning a restaurant?
I don’t own a restaurant…yet.
What’s a dish that defines you as a chef?
When I was at Roberta’s, I made a dish that was spring onion bulbs, slow-cooked in dry-aged beef fat, grilled, and finished with an ‘nduja vinaigrette, cherries, and fried garlic. I think it’s really representative of how I like to cook because I love vegetable cookery, and something I call “seasoning with meat.” The onions and cherries were the star of the show, but the ‘nduja and dry-aged beef fat were important backup dancers.
What do you do in the hour before you open?
Kitchen and front-of-house pre-shifts, eat family meal, reset the kitchen (cleaning floors, wiping surfaces), check mise en place and check in with the cooks (“Are you feeling ready for service? Do you need help with anything?”), make sure I have water, and ensure my own station, expo, is fully set up.
What is the ingredient you could not live without?
Cilantro and lemons. I put them in/on/around so much of the food I eat and make.
What do you eat when you’re sad?
Everything. I’m a Taurus and a chef. Food is both a source of celebration and comfort for me.
What’s the restaurant everyone should go to before they die?
The one down the street from your house. Supporting your local restaurants and learning about the food that is being created by your neighbor is so crucial. Restaurants are such an integral part of building and sustaining communities, and keeping them alive is important, now more than ever.
What’s the cookbook everyone should own?
Start Here by Sohla El-Waylly. Even as a chef with many years of experience, I love reading through it because it is SO thorough! It teaches cooking principles and skill, so you know why you’re doing what a recipe says. It’s a great book for all skill levels, but especially for people who are just starting their cooking journey.
What’s the dish everyone should learn to make?
Rice and a good vinaigrette.
What’s the one condiment that changes everything?
Salsa macha. I put it on everything. Eggs, vegetables, meats, yogurt. There are few loves as strong as the one I have for salsa macha.
