I just ate my lunch (leftover dumpling lasagna, in case you’re as nosy as me!) while writing copy and scheduling tomorrow’s episode of Your Last Meal, my plate hovering to the left of the keyboard (I’m left handed), eyes on the monitor as I forked bites of the gingery, sesame-spiked, steamed casserole into my mouth. Sound familiar? Most working people eat lunch at their desk, and with so many now working from home, there are no coworkers to share a midday meal with.
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This is not the case at Peter Miller Books, a 46-year-old shop in Seattle’s Pioneer Square that sells architecture and design books, along with artfully designed housewares, a handful of watches and a $260 Swiss pencil sharpener. Every day, for nearly two decades, the small staff takes a break and sits down for lunch together – they share a communal meal, usually assembled at the shop.
One person might bring leftover lentils from last night’s dinner, someone else might pick up a log of goat cheese; back when the shop was located near Pike Place Market, someone might stroll over to a bakery for a fresh baguette or a produce stand for an avocado, a pear and some fresh herbs to zhuzh up a salad or sandwich. Peter Miller might bring in a homecooked white bean, garlic and sausage soup that he’ll warm up and ladle into bowls kept in the back of the shop. If you don’t like to cook, you can help clean up or bring dessert. Their romantic-sounding ritual feels as old-fashioned as the 100-year-old brick building the shop is now housed in.
I learned about, and fell in love with, their tradition back in 2014 when a publisher mailed me a copy of Peter Miller’s new book, Lunch at the Shop: The Art and Practice of the Midday Meal. It contains more than 50 recipes, plus essays and tips on how to create a successful, communal, workplace lunch. The book has remained one of my all-time favorites; I’ve never made any of the recipes, but I'm enchanted with the concept and occasionally pull it off the shelf and flip through the pages. It was out-of-print, but this month, Lunch at the Shop was re-released, this time in paperback!
“We are not always certain what we will have for lunch,” Miller writes in the book’s introduction. “But we are always certain it will be fresh and that it will be specific to each of us. We have a kit of things on hand – parsley, lemons, fruit, cheese, pickles and olives and such – to dress up any meal and make it special. And we always have some combination of beans or rice, pasta or lentils on hand, as well, cooked and ready to go. They are the proud and historic opposite of fast food.”
“We select each part of the meal with precision,” he continues. “We are all going back to work, so we make sure to keep the meal from being too hefty or awkward to eat. It must rejuvenate and refuel ... And, of course, it must have wonderful taste."
University of Washington Press graciously agreed to let me share a recipe from the book with you:
We are used to the American custom of working through lunch, but in France it is mandatory for workers to leave their desks and take a one-to-two-hour lunch break, and in many countries it’s perfectly normal to go home for a cooked lunch with family or take a siesta.
“Lunch is important,” Miller writes. “It is, in a way, the good part. Talking and sitting with others allows us to leave the pencil, or the laptop, or the phone and enjoy the break. We can get back to the work in a few minutes, revived. It has made a fine difference here at the shop, and no one doubts that it has changed all of us, improved our workday, and brought us closer together.”
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XO
Rachel Belle
