As the chef and owner of York Lore, a popular daytime restaurant and catering business in Crestwood, Mary Hancock faces the daily challenges of meeting the needs of her business and her family. The key, she believes, is to give herself grace and let go of her expectations of how things should be done. She doesn't have superpowers, she laughs. But if she's ever tasted her biscuits and gravy and soggy butter cake, she might beg for a different opinion.
What do you think attracted you to cooking in the first place? I think that for many of us, family is the beginning of life. When you are close to your family, you feel love when you eat together. You realize how special it is and it triggers something inside you. That's when I grew up. I'll never forget the smell of walking into the house and smelling meatloaf. Even now, when I smell that smell, I feel like I'm back in my grandmother's house. If I close my eyes, I can smell my grandpa's vanilla pipe and easy chair. Now being able to share that with my family and my children is really special.
Since you are a chef and have that passion, I'm sure people are expecting you to prepare this amazing spread for the family. What actually happens? “What's for dinner?” is my least favorite question. There are three children at home, so they are all noisy. I still want to cook or make something for them, but I'm definitely in the rotation. That's the only thing that gets us through. We just try to keep things together, making sure there's plenty of food in the house. I still like going to the store and looking at what looks delicious, but I know that for dinner everyone will have tacos, pasta, burgers, and breakfast, so this is kind of It really takes the pressure off of the idea that it has to be a gourmet dish. . There’s a lot of over-the-top crap on Instagram. As she watches a mom make Mario Bros. themed lunch boxes for her kids' lunches, she wonders if it's okay to slow down and remember what she ate as a child. maybe. It wasn't the food in the lunch box. I opened it to find a small note from her mother. those are special. I can do something like that and I don't care if it's stuffed with peanut butter and jelly. They have even greater meaning.
Running Yolklore requires long hours. How do you balance work and home life? We'll let you know when we find out. Honestly, I don't think I have high expectations for things. Before, I had high expectations and thought that we all had to go to the park and play and do this and that. I realized, why not start in my backyard? For me, it's the small wins that matter. I do a little less and when I have the energy to do something, I do it. While it's fun to spend some precious time together, it's also important to take the pressure off and remind yourself that it's okay to not be supermom 24/7.
The idea of giving yourself grace and making things easier was at the forefront of my mind when I opened Yorklore, especially when it came to the drive-thru. How did that happen? I originally wanted to run a food truck, so when I wrote the menu, it was already focused on ready-to-cook dishes that were suitable for distribution at the counter. I didn't have kids at the time, but my sister did and said they should have a drive-thru so parents didn't have to get out of the car. After my daughter was born, I thought, oh, this drive-thru thing. I also added a changing table and diapers to the changing cart. It's a small thing, but when you need something, you need it. ”
We've also found ways to make people's lives easier at home. What options do you offer people who want to eat delicious food but don't have the time or energy to eat it themselves?
We also offer delivery of our regular menu, and we also do a lot of catering, with options ranging from continental to full buffet style breakfasts. We also offer boxed brunches and lunches that you can enjoy at home. You don't even have to come to the store for a melty butter cake. We will ship nationwide.