8 Things to Know About Christopher Nordquist of Domestic Daddy
Christopher Nordquist never set out to be a food blogger. But that’s precisely what happened when his website—originally intended as a resource for friends who just had to get a recipe from his last dinner party—began attracting strangers.
"I started getting emails from people I didn’t know, and I realized: People are reading this!" Nordquist told us. "I thought maybe I should polish it a little bit, and it just grew from there."
Over time, the humble site transformed into Domestic Daddy, a recipe and lifestyle blog chronicling his dinner party–filled life with partner David and their six-year-old daughter, Julia. It’s a labor of love, centered around the art of bringing people together over delicious, seasonal dishes.
Here are eight more things to know about Christopher Nordquist:
1. He began making breakfast for his entire family at age 7. Soon, he was tackling entire dinner parties.
"I think as soon as I could read, I was reading cookbooks and trying dishes for my family. The first breakfast that stands out was a recipe in Sunset magazine for a Dutch baby. I think it turned out pretty well! I was shocked. By the time I was 10 or 11, I would cook when my parents entertained. It seemed like a nice way to help out!”
2. The month his daughter was born, Nordquist hosted three dinner parties a week.
"People were shocked, but it felt natural. We had a new baby in the house, and I thought it was a great way to get people over! And babies sleep a lot, so you’ve got a lot of down time. There’s plenty of time to make gazpacho."
Domestic Daddy’s mixed seafood paella
3. He learned a lot from his grandmother Agnes, a great seasonal cook.
"I had a grandmother who believed strongly that everyone should know basic cooking and baking, and she was very patient in teaching my brother and me. She had an enormous vegetable garden and fruit trees, and so keeping up with the produce was a big chore. Lots of baking pies and tarts and jams, and she also baked bread. She lived north of Seattle, in a town called Lake Stevens. It was really farm-to-table eating, though I didn’t realize it at the time. But I really appreciate it later."
4. He’d lived all over the world by age 13.
"I grew up near Tacoma, Washington, but I spent a couple of years abroad. I lived in Switzerland, traveled in Western Europe, then spent a year in Cambridge, England. My dad was an academic, and he would go on sabbatical and we’d set off for months at a time, traveling in a Volkswagen bus. Of course, that leads to great food experiences. Switzerland was a great food experience. Cambridge not so much—British food in the ’70s really wasn’t what it is today. But there are a few things that I still love from there: warm custard, trifles, and toad-in-the-hole.
5. After working 18 years as a lawyer, Nordquist decided to become a stay-at-home dad.
"I didn’t sit down and think, ‘I’m going to be a stay-at-home dad.’ I never really thought I would have a child, and when I did, I thought: ‘This is such a wonderful, rich rewarding experience.’ I didn’t want to let it go by without participating fully, and we were in a position that I could do that. I thought, ‘For these first years, I would love to do this.’ And it’s been so much fun. People always tell you how hard it is to have a child—and it is true—but they don’t talk about the joy about it. It’s rewarding, but it’s also just pure fun."
6. He cooks all the time with daughter Julia.
"She cooks and bakes with me, and she loves it. It’s just a part of her life, and she’s always been game to try new things."
7. Which explains her sophisticated palate.
"Julia is a huge cheese fan. One of the first times she pulled herself up to walk was in order to steal some blue cheese off a buffet table. I thought, ‘That’s my daughter! Going for the Stilton.’ She still loves really stinky cheese."
Olive oil semolina cake with candied orange
8. Nordquist still hosts two to three dinner parties a month.
"And that doesn’t count people just dropping by for dinner, which is at least once a week! A large braised dish is great, because it’s not very time sensitive. In the summertime, we tend to entertain at our place in Southampton and I grill meats and fish. I also make a lot of ice cream in the summer, and I like to flavor it with things from our garden: lavender and verbena. Gazpacho is a big favorite. (We have a gazpacho section in the garden!) And I love paella. It’s the original casserole—it’s got starch, vegetables, and meat all in one pot.
Hosting dinner parties is an extraordinary experience, and it’s rarer and rarer these days. It doesn’t matter if you have a small apartment, or if the food isn’t perfect. People relax in a way that they don’t in a restaurant. There’s nothing like getting people around a dinner table.”
Past bloggers of the week:
Sarah Kieffer of The Vanilla Bean Blog dishes on her Paris dreams
My Name Is Yeh blogger Molly Yeh talks about her proudest food moment
Nom Nom Paleo’s Michelle Tam fesses up to her fish sauce obsession
Who’s your favorite food blogger? Tell us below!
