Alisa Petrosova & Oliver Jaskowski
Brooklyn
Big Love Supper Club has everything you could ever need: regional dishes cooked with passion, highly conceptualized dinners, informative climate story-telling, and, of course, lots of love. As they put it, Alisa & Oliver fell in love “through cooking local foods” and have allowed us all to partake in their world with the introduction of Big Love Supper Club. In the past, they’ve hosted incredible dinners, wine tastings, and even sidewalk sales, and we continue to stay enamored with each idea as we follow along with what they have in store.
Full name, age, where are you from?
Alisa Petrosova, 24, Los Angeles.
Oliver Jaskowski, 25, New York.
What is your title and where do you work?
Alisa: Associate Director of Climate Research and Consulting Programs, Good Energy.
Oliver: Photographer and jewelry consultant, Freelance.
Was food a big part of your upbringing?
Alisa: Yes, my grandparents were a huge part of my upbringing and they were cooks in a theater in Moscow after they fled from Azerbaijan. They really taught me how to cook. I grew up with lots of Armenian and Eastern European food and big, long tables filled with family, friends, and lots of herbs, lavash, and feta. My parents always hosted, and as an only child I loved helping and staying up long past my bedtime to hear what all the adults had to say.
Oliver: Yes, cooking food together and sharing meals was a very big part of my growing up. We almost never ate out.
What are your earliest memories of dining out?
Alisa: I remember some days my dad would pick me up from school and we would go to this sushi place in a strip mall in Sherman Oaks – almost all good food in LA is in strip malls.
Oliver: I remember going to Zen Palate on Long island. It may be the place where I ate a whole ball of wasabi because I thought it was avocado. I need to ask my parents.
If you could give a piece of advice to someone who wanted to pursue your career, what would it be?
Alisa + Oliver (on Supper Club): If you are looking to build community through food by starting a supper club our advice is just to start, that’s the hardest part! People will catch you.
Alisa: In terms of climate I would say find what you are really good at already and begin to find the ways and the people that are working on it in your field. You don’t have to be a scientist, activist, or policy wonk to be in climate–you can be a chef, an artist, an architect, a lawyer an accountant–we need everyone to join forces.
Oliver: I am still learning this myself on my journey as a photographer and artist, but as cliche as it is putting yourself out there, meeting/talking to people in the industry/doing it themselves is the fastest way to build awareness around your work. Or of course heavily using social media, but that's truly your path to choose.
What's your favorite dish/drink on the menu?
Alisa: I loved the tarragon soda, it reminds me of my childhood. I was also really pleased with how the “pear affair” turned out. The muscovado glaze was a highlight for me. I love baking things upside down – you never know how it's going to turn out.
Oliver: The “898 baby” was so tasty, but I think most of all the “beets two ways” was my fav for two reasons: (1) I have never thought to cook beets as long as these but they truly were baked to perfection. I will always boil then bake from now on (2) lime leaf is one of the most special flavors and a combination with cilantro really was the cherry on top of this dish.
What is your favorite place to go out and eat at and what are you ordering?
Alisa + Oliver: Gjusta in LA - the salmon roe toast and the tomato confit anchovy toast, the Mediterranean breakfast, and the crispy mushrooms. Falansai in New York - the egg rolls, the congee, the DUMPLINGS, they have the best broth. Anywhere Has Dac Biet is cooking, we are ordering THE ENTIRE MENU.
What shoes are you rocking during service?
Alisa + Oliver: Moroccan slippers (that Alisa’s parents brought us back from their trip in Morocco earlier this year).
Is there anything new and exciting coming up for you?
Alisa + Oliver: Hosting more dinners and connecting more people!
