Will Gilson is a 13th-generation Mayflower descendant who climbed his way up the Boston culinary ranks and is now serving up “modern American seasonal New England” deliciousness at Puritan & Co. in Cambridge. As part of the November You & Julia Challenge, we talked with Will about his literal farm-to-table background, first hearing Julia Child’s iconic voice watching WGBH 2 with his parents, and the tribute dinner he throws every year in honor of everybody’s favorite French Chef. Stay tuned for this month’s challenge announcement, coming Thanksgiving week.
On growing up watching Julia Child on WGBH:
"I grew up watching WGBH with my parents and I remember seeing this comical woman towering over a kitchen, and her voice — you could hear it from the next room and it would make you want to come running.
I think the thing that so many people overlook about the brilliance of Julia Child's cooking and her technique was that she would mess up and she'd make you feel like it was okay to mess up. Cooking is not necessarily science. I think people become intimidated by it… and watching someone like her drop a chicken on the ground, pick it up, rinse it off, and start all over again, is just the confidence that people needed to feel like it was okay to mess up and keep going. That's what cooking's all about."
On his deep New England roots:
"I'm about as New England as they come. I am a 13th-generation Mayflower descendant. My family were educators, then turned themselves into farmers. I didn't like playing in the dirt, so I found my way into the kitchen.
We like to refer to Puritan & Company as modern American, seasonal New England. At one point, our connection was so much to the historical side of what like New England cookery was. As we've been here longer and longer, and palates change and more sort of transient collegiate people come through, we've adapted our taste to become a little bit more global."
On his annual Julia Child Tribute Dinner:
The Julia Child Tribute Dinner started with us wanting to pay homage to the fact that she had spent most of her life in Cambridge. One year we thought it would be fun to have a couple staff members go through her books and find their favorite recipes.
The next year we invited chefs from other restaurants to come in and have them give their takes. And now, we've had five different versions of chefs coming to the restaurant. Every year, we say “make your favorite Julia Child dish.” There are really no rules and every year we get a different interpretation.
We have had about four different Salad Nicoise; we've had Baked Alaskas, and each one's been different than the last. Every single person that's here is having a great time honoring her and if it's that, just the little bit that we can do every year, then I think we're doing our part."
Learn more about the life and legacy of Julia Child here.
