Mathis Joubert has been making crêpes since elementary school. Born in South Korea, the BalletX dancer grew up in a French village of just 500 people called Betz-le-Château. “As a kid, I was putting Nutella, ice cream, or sugar with lemon on them,” says Joubert. But as Joubert’s taste buds have matured, so has his […]

Alex Wong developed his recipe for Asian cucumber salad after enjoying variations of the dish at different soup-dumpling restaurants. “It was always so expensive,”­ he says. “I was like, ‘I’m pretty sure this is just chili oil, and I can make my own.’ ” Wong—a former ballet dancer who now boasts a laundry list of commercial […]

“My family and Christmas cookies. It’s a thing,” says Amy Seiwert, artistic director of Smuin Contemporary Ballet. When she was growing up, Seiwert’s grandparents would host a caroling concert in their home every year, complete with an elaborate array of Christmas cookies, all baked by Seiwert’s grandmother. “The Christmas cookies were kept under lock and […]

Growing up in Kansas, Paul Taylor Dance Company member Austin Kelly spent Sundays watching Kansas City Chiefs games on television with his father. In addition to their shared love of football, Kelly and his father share a passion for buffalo wings—and blue cheese. When Kelly was in high school, they started experimenting with different recipes […]

Caroline Kane credits her mom with her love of cooking. Kane, who uses she/they pronouns and is making her Broadway debut as an ensemble member in Water for Elephants, learned this recipe for glory bowls from her mom, who had in turn learned it from her friend, Sandy. While fighting cancer, Sandy embarked on a group hiking trip. At the end of each day, the hikers would gather around a long table laden with roasted vegetables, rice, tofu, and a pitcher of dressing. “Afterwards, she’d feel so well-nourished and fueled, and be able to get up the next day and hike again,” says Kane. “I really liked the idea that I can make this for my friends, and just set out all of the rough ingredients and everyone can build their own bowl, and go nuts.”

“I hate when something says ‘gluten-free,’ and it pretends to be something it’s not,” says Jordan Fry, who stopped eating gluten and grain eight years ago to help combat her alopecia. “Don’t tell me that it’s a chocolate chip cookie and then it tastes like cardboard.” Fry, who left Ballet West in 2021 to focus […]

Rohan Bhargava sees cooking as a form of love. “It’s something I acquired from my fiancé because his love language is cooking for someone else,” says the founder and artistic director of the New York City–based Rovaco Dance Company. Bhargava’s fiancé, Shivam, gets the credit for reintroducing him to a childhood favorite: besan ka cheela, savory gram (chickpea) flour pancakes. “It’s a breakfast dish I grew up eating a lot back home in New Delhi, India,” says Bhargava of cheelas, which also happen to be vegan and gluten-free. “I always thought it would require so much effort, but it’s something that’s really fast and easy to prepare.” Although cheelas are usually paired with green chutney, Bhargava also enjoys eating them with ketchup. “It’s an unpopular opinion that a lot of people look down on,” he jokes.

When Virginia Lensi first moved to the U.S. from Milan, she fell hard for one element of American culture: brunch. “It was my first time realizing that people here actually have pancakes on Sunday,” says the American Ballet Theatre corps dancer. “I had brunch once, and I loved it. I always wanted to keep pancakes as a tradition on Sundays with my friends or my boyfriend.”