Nancy Hala

Nancy Hala is a brand builder, author and plant-powered cook. She’s the co-creator of The Pillar Life, a life-guidance system designed to ignite the eight pillars of a happy life, and co-host of The Sheri + Nancy Show podcast, where she and her lifelong friend, Sheri Salata, have conversations with experts, teachers and uplifters about making all the rest of their dreams come true.  

Nancy is also the creator of BrandStory, her signature approach to brand strategy, storytelling and audience building that helps small business owners and entrepreneurs articulate who they are, what they do, and why it matters.

3 words to describe Nature?

Centering. Lush. Romantic. 

3 things Nature taught you?

It is so joyful to be part of something bigger and grander and more permanent than myself. 

We are meant to be restored and replenished by the natural world, and it is available to us for that purpose, at all times. 

True beauty is often jagged (like a mountain range seen from a distance) or falling down (like a forest crisscrossed with old trees on their journey back to the earth), or full of blank spaces (like the sky on a particularly clear day). 

3 most treasured Nature spots?

The forest behind my house, which is full of tall pines and moss-covered branches and (in my imagination) goes on for miles and miles. 

The wide, sparkly lake at the center of the town where I live, which makes me feel Queenly whenever I drive around it…the majesty rubs off on me.

The ocean shore at Manzanita beach, especially when the fog rolls in and the dogs are chasing tennis balls into the foamy surf. 

When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?

Completely awakened, and the Chi of it runs through me like a current of energy. 

When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?

Like I wish I could fly, so that I could land on each of the branches of the tallest trees. 

When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?

Brave, to be standing in front of a volcano. 

When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?

Like every single moment in life – every blink, every breath, every quiet space – is more precious than we can ever comprehend. 

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?

Like laughing

When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?

Like burrowing into blankets, or better yet UNDER blankets, with a flashlight and a book. 

Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?

I am each one. If I think of my body: The Ocean is my head, because it makes me dream wider and further than anything else. The mountain is my limbs, because I feel rooted and carried by the very fact that a mountain exists. The desert is my belly, because every time I see a desert I think it looks like the center of the world. And the forest is my lungs, because it’s my favorite thing to breathe in. 

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?

Well beyond 10. Ten times 10. 

Share with us a childhood nature memory?

I climbed trees as a child, almost every day. I named all the trees in my backyard and I loved them, very much. There was an oak tree named Charlie and I often took a book, a pillow, and apples or peaches or plums to the sturdiest branch I could reach, and read all afternoon. One day I climbed a soaringly tall pine tree (named Bruce) on the side of my house. I ended up at the absolute top of it, so high I could see all the streets and houses of my neighborhood. I was scared for a few minutes, because it was too high and precarious for me at that age (even I knew that) and for years later I marveled that I was able to scale so high and get down safely. And no one ever knew I climbed that tree, not my mother or father or any adult in charge, and the secrecy of my daring act still feels delicious, all these years later.

 


Chef Niki Nakayama

For Niki Nakayama, the art of cooking all comes down to feeling. Always one to follow her intuition, Nakayama’s instincts guide her path as a chef, and it continues to be the driving force behind every dish she creates. At n/naka, her highly acclaimed restaurant in West Los Angeles, Nakayama secures her place among the foremost chefs in the world of modern kaiseki—a traditional Japanese dining discipline based in gratitude and appreciation that balances taste, texture, and presentation through a progression of dishes served in a meticulous, thoughtfully curated order. For Nakayama, the kaiseki philosophy allows her to show a deep appreciation for the beauty of nature, with the purpose of, “highlighting natural flavors, presenting them in their purest way without over-complication, and serving them how they were meant to be in their peak season.”

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Nakayama began her career at the popular Takao restaurant in Brentwood, following her graduation from culinary school in nearby Pasadena. After embarking on a three-year working tour of Japan immersing herself in the deeply nuanced methods and flavors of both traditional and contemporary Japanese cuisine, including the art of traditional kaiseki, Nakayama returned to her hometown to open Azami Sushi Café on Melrose Avenue.

After eight years—during which she became known for her omakase menu—the chef branched out to host elaborate chef’s table dinners that resulted in Nakayama’s modernized kaiseki dining experience, which has become the signature cuisine of n/naka. As Nakayama describes, “I was ready to put my name on something, ready to take that leap and challenge myself—and ready to take the traditional kaiseki philosophy and make it my own.”

Today, n/naka serves as a global destination for modern kaiseki with a California twist, at which Nakayama serves world-class, artfully curated, and exquisite dishes in a progression designed to reflect the mood of season, time, and place. One of the toughest reservations to get in L.A., n/naka’s books typically fill up three months out, a testament to Nakayama’s resonance in the international culinary world. Critics also take note—the restaurant has appeared on Jonathan Gold’s “101 Best Restaurants” every year since opening in 2013, and continues to catch the attention of media including T Magazine (The New York Times), Eater, Vogue.com, and many more.

Nakayama’s devotion to sustainability also plays out at n/naka, with currently 70% of its ingredients sourced locally—a rarity in Japanese fine dining. At 2017’s Food on Edge symposium in Galway, Ireland, she explained how the pillars of kaiseki, to integrate your surroundings into the cuisine, find harmony with these sustainability initiatives.

Outside of the restaurant, the chef can be found at her Los Angeles home spending time with her wife and their three dogs—a golden retriever, a Chihuahua, and a terrier mix. One of her favorite pastimes, playing guitar, “allows for decompression,” she says, when she steps away from the kitchen.

3 words to describe Nature? 

GIVING. VAST. BEAUTIFUL

3 things Nature taught you? 

APPRECIATION

GRATITUDE

HUMILITY

3 most treasured Nature spots? 

ALL OCEANS, MOUNTAINS, FORESTS

When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…? 

ALIVE AND SMALL

When you see a forest, it makes you feel…? 

PEACE

When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…? 

WONDER

When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…? 

LOVE

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…? 

SCARED

When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…? 

WONDER

Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person? 

OCEAN

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being? 

10

Share with us a childhood nature memory? 

THE FIRST TIME I EVER PLAYED IN THE SNOW AT BIG BEAR, I THOUGHT I’D FOUND MAGIC POWDER. EVERY TIME I SEE SNOW, IT REMINDS ME OF HAPPINESS AND HOLIDAYS.