The Nalley Fresh Dance
By age 10, Chef Greg Nalley had a "kitchen and restaurant."
In his bedroom.
He was progressively experimenting with flavors by his mid-teens. He never felt confined to a box. His mind was always outside the norms.
To this day when Greg is experimenting in the kitchen, he calls it a dance. He never uses recipes from books. "I don't like color by numbers." He may look at ingredients and ratios but he loves to experiment from there.
And Greg doesn't watch cooking shows.
For instance, some time ago he was harvesting lemongrass, lavender, fennel, basil — 4 very distinct flavors, all what he calls "lead actors." So he wanted to take these 4 strong personalities and combine them into a vinaigrette. "It took a lot of toil to get these lead actors to work well together. Especially with Lavender, the Diva," smiles Greg.
Like the vast array of colors emanating from your screen, there must be something like 16 million possible flavor combinations. Right? But as peanut butter may not pair well with mayonnaise, we all know that not all potential flavor combinations work.
(Editor's note: When I floated this draft past Greg, he wrote back, "One remark..... Mayo and Peanut Butter do go well. I'll make a recipe and let you decide." Challenge accepted.)
Chef Greg has found that the best dance moves are a mix of calculation and experimentation — of knowledge and whim. And it may take a lot of failure on the Flavor Lab's dance floor before a new move can be perfectly executed.
We believe that it's this dance that led to our win in the lunch category of Baltimore Magazine's Best of Baltimore 2016.
So if you're tired of decades-old dance moves like "The Robot" or "The Bump" then make your way on out to Nalley Fresh to learn some fresh new steps.
Our mantra, Express Your Inner Chef™ is all about your foray onto the dance floor as well. Sure we have our recipes. But we invite you to think outside the box too. Step on to our dancefloor.
There are something like 16 million possibilities waiting for you at Nalley Fresh today :)