Pierce Abernathy on the “Spiritual” Act of Seasonal Eating

This article is taken from the Autumn/Winter 2022 issue of AnOther Magazine:

“It’s becoming harder and harder to be present in any facet of our lives. With food, for instance, we have become so accustomed to being able to have any vegetable or fruit we want at any time of the year. With that comes unsustainable practices and we tend to lose touch with why things are so special. The more we can lean into seasonal eating, the more we’re going to find moments of happiness – if you haven’t had a tomato since last year, there’s such a joy to that first ripe fruit come summer. It’s more rewarding than having accessibility year-round. Conscious eating is about slowing down – cooking something and taking time to transform those ingredients into something delicious and nurturing. That process does feel a little spiritual. The closer we can get to our food – in terms of it being less processed and more in line with the seasons – the happier and more conscious we’ll be in other areas of our lives.” 

The 28-year-old chef Pierce Abernathy was raised in Kentucky on his mother’s home cooking and the pilaf, dolma, and green beans in tomato sauce his father’s Armenian family made. After moving to New York in 2016, the sometime Gucci model began producing recipe videos for a digital media company and hosting dinner parties and cookouts at his home. During lockdown he posted his innovative wholefood dishes on Instagram and TikTok – his captivating recipe reels, infused with satisfying ASMR moments of sizzling and slicing, offer an antidote to the often frenetic and fractured experience of contemporary life.

Hair: Matt Benns at CLM using KIEHL’S. Make-up: Ayaka Nihei. Photographic assistant: Glenn Lim. Printing: PhotoLab-NYC. Producer: Alec Charlip at Born Artists. Special thanks to Elsker Studio, Brooklyn, New York

This story features in the Autumn/Winter 2022 issue of AnOther Magazine, which is on sale internationally now. Buy a copy here.