Food & Fashion with Peter Som

As we settle into our New Year’s routines, there is one thing that is at the heart of many people’s focus: food. Whether it be trying out a new recipe, learning to cook, or simply enjoying good food with family and friends, the warmth and good energy that a quality meal provides is ever present, especially as we enter the post-holiday season. To celebrate this sentiment, we spoke with Peter Som, award-winning fashion designer and culinary creator on his food endeavors, favorite dishes, and meal inspo. — Samantha

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THE CLOSE-UP

Peter Som On Crafting Food Like Fashion

By Samantha Wu

Welcome to The Close-Up, where we indulge in conversations with tastemakers, entrepreneurs, designers, and others paving the way in their respective industries. Focusing on the people at the forefront of innovative companies, join us as we uncover their style ethos, guiding principles, challenges, and insights that have made them successful in the worlds of fashion, beauty, art, and beyond.

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with award-winning fashion designer and culinary creator, Peter Som. A fashion industry vet, selling his clothing at Saks, Nordstrom, and Neiman Marcus, with collaborations with brands including Anthropologie, Rent the Runway, and more, Som's eye for effortless sophistication expands into all areas of life. Ahead, we chat about how he moved into the culinary world, the Cantonese-inspired cookbook he’s creating, and his top three New York restaurants.

Samantha Wu: Can you tell me more about how you made the shift from the world of fashion to cooking?

Peter Som: I'd like to think of it almost as taking off the blinders. For so long I was in fashion, and it was my single focus. There was a certain point where I wouldn't say I pivoted to culinary, but I expanded my focus, and it was really organic. I always loved to cook, and it was a matter of when I was cooking something I liked,  I posted it on Instagram. That's really how it started. People started saying, "Can I get the recipe for that?" I was like, "I don't have a recipe for that." I think sometimes that's the best way things start: you start organically doing something you love and then it kind of goes from there.

SW: Do you think there are synergies between your fashion style and your cooking style?

PS: I definitely see a lot of synergy between fashion and cooking. For me, the approach is somewhat similar. They say you eat with your eyes, right? It's the same way when I design a dress; I want a customer to look at that dress, that item, and love it. Just like a customer putting on one of my dresses and feeling great, it's the same thing with food: you want to take a bite and love it. I think that my approach is really about recipes that you want to cook all the time and eat all the time. Just the way I design my clothing, I want them to be pieces you go for all the time. There's nothing that's as fulfilling for me as to know that a recipe I've developed or a dress I've designed, it's something that somebody wants to wear monthly, weekly, or make monthly or weekly. It never gets old.

SW: Have you seen a change in the way people consume food and fashion through social media?

PS: Obviously the fashion industry has changed a lot over the last 10, 15 years in a massive way in terms of how fashion is available, how it's communicated, and how it's worn. There's been a change also in terms of inclusion, diversity, and awareness of sustainability, which are super important.

For food, it’s something we make and or eat daily. Obviously, we wear clothes daily, but we don't shop every single day. Food is something that is truly elemental to our being and how we live in the world. During the pandemic, the surge in home cooking really grew. I think post-pandemic, whether or not you're still cooking at home all the time or going out, the interest in food has exponentially grown. We can see that in New York City, where new restaurants have started opening up like crazy and they're all packed. Food culture, however you do it, is something everybody participates in and it's great.

SW: I'd love to hear more about the cookbook that you're writing, the recipes that you're developing, and how that process is going.

PS: The cookbook is called Family Style, and it is coming out in winter of 2025. I'm working on the manuscript right now. The cookbook is inspired by my grandmother and my mom, two amazing women in my life. My grandmother was focused on Cantonese food. My mom also loved Cantonese food, but she also loved French food as well. Growing up in the Bay Area, it was sort of the birthplace of what you call local seasonal food, kind of inspired by Alice Waters and Chez Panisse. There's a mix of influences, and it represents the melting pot ideas of my Chinese background and the American side as well. Ultimately for me, I want them to be recipes that are quick, somewhat easy, and full of flavor. Most often I like something fast and delicious.

SW: What is your biggest inspiration for ideating recipes or, in the past, designs? 

PS: For fashion and food, I would say I've always thought about the creative approach, using creativity to fuel what you love. I think memory and creativity are the two driving factors in both areas. In terms of fashion, I’m somebody who always loves movies. I love how movies can evoke not just by the plot or by the setting, but by the lighting and by the costume, and how movies can take you into another world. I think that is what fashion is for me. Fashion is a dream. You're offering somebody a moment, a dream to sort of feel different or even more special.

I've been doing the food game for a lot shorter time than the fashion game. For me, recipes start with recipes that my mom or grandmother used to make and what's my take on it. I think food is so personal. My grandmother, when she was alive, would make all these traditional Cantonese dishes. It's the realization that every family has their different take on this specific dish, and then I can put my own imprint on it. Food culture and dishes are always changing and evolving in some way. I think that's exciting. It's also exciting to make one of my grandmother's recipes the way she did it back then.

SW: What are your top three restaurants in New York?

PS: Cafe Cluny, in the West Village, I go to all the time and I love it. Via Carota, one of my most favorite restaurants. It's Italian, it's delicious. My third one, I would say Uncle Lou's in Chinatown, and they serve some of my Cantonese favorites that are more homestyle that you don't often see on menus. 

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