Small moments matter. Big moments matter too, but a big moment always has history, and when a big one arrives I think we can feel what went into the small ones that came before it.

Rebecca Fralick – founder and owner of Matenaer Catering – has an air of delighted exploration about her. She catered the Lightward team retreat earlier this month, her second catering project with us (and this time accompanied by Andrew Jack). While each meal was a standout moment of its own, the appetizer course came in the form of her own process, just doing what she does, testing and conversing with each ingredient in anticipation of the final presentation.

I’ve known Rebecca for something like 15 years. (In fact, we realized during that week that at this point we’re each one of the other’s oldest friends!) We’ve both been through a ton in that time, have seen each other pass through our own particular versions of hell, and – and – have seen each other come into a phase of life where we know ourselves a little better, love ourselves a little (read: a lot) more, and where we’re each running businesses made from our very hearts. It’s been a very specific kind of delight, to witness my friend take what she knows about what life can be, and to witness her create her own vocation to see it through.

To have her at the Lightward retreat, then, was all kinds of special. :) For the food, yes, but also for the pleasure of the process! We held this event at a big house, and the kitchen was right in the center of all of the spaces – the nexus point of the entire event. This meant that, in some ways, Rebecca and her workspace were some of the most constant elements of the entire event, and every time I passed by that space it was a small, constant, gently re-affirming moment of grounding: yes, this space is good; yes, this space holds surprises you have not seen yet; yes, we are each exploring for the first time at the same time; yes, it is really, really good to be here; yes, it is good that you are here too.

And, on a very fundamental level, her food is fantastic. It is interesting and delicious and satisfying, and how have I gotten this far without talking about her chocolate chip cookies? She’s evolved her own recipe which somehow she’s never tasted herself, on account of Celiac, and this is important for two reasons: first, she can taste things in her mind (which is incredible); second, she has a very personal care for how each individual relates to food, and what they are and are not compatible with. Her creations are a form of collaboration, in this way, as she deploys her intra- and extra-senses to create food in concert with we who have gotten to sit at her table over the years.

We were lucky to have her. :)

Closing this out, here’s a review that I wrote for Matenaer Catering, after the fact:

Rebecca is that rare combination of artist (with a living vision) and professional (who executes at a high level). Every event she’s catered for us has been elevated by her work — never mind the fact that it’s absurdly high-quality, never mind that it is nourishing and healthy, it’s always *interesting*! Color and flavor and scent and texture, all presented in a celebratory aspect that always feels new. And the interest created by her culinary work has the effect of deepening the experience had by everyone in attendance! By taking the element of sustenance and interpreting it as art, Rebecca raises up the entire event, for us all. Every time. (And her collaborators, when she hires them to join in, are consistently a delight. I learn something every time, from each of them.) I feel incredibly lucky to have had Rebecca at our events, and I am happily anticipating her art at the next one.