6.13.26 | 🍅 No-scroll Saturdays + summer gazpacho with Melanie Masarin
The Ghia founder on protecting her slow Saturdays, de-rentalizing her apartment, doing more things 'just because' + a recipe from her new cookbook!
Happy Saturday!
Today we’re joined by special guest curator Melanie Masarin, founder and CEO of Ghia and author of a new cookbook Riviera.
Melanie’s work is deeply inspired by her French roots and the summers she spent in the Mediterranean. She also has impeccable taste, and shares all of her home, fashion, and cultural recommendations on her newsletter, Night Shade.
Be sure to read all the way to the bottom for a sneak peek of one of our favorite recipes from her new book — a simple, refreshing gazpacho you’ll want to make on repeat this summer!
Warmly,
Kate
💛 Welcome, Melanie!
Hi, hello!
I’m Melanie Masarin. I’m originally from France, and I now live in New York City. I am the founder of Ghia, the non-alcoholic aperitif that hopefully made it a bit cooler not to drink alcohol. This spring, I also published my first cookbook, Riviera, which is inspired by my grandmother Mymo, her handwritten recipes, and the summers I spent cooking alongside her in the South of France. When I’m not doing either of those things, I write Night Shade, my Substack about food, fashion, hosting, and living a good life.
Saturday mornings are my favorite part of the week, and I always keep them empty. My boyfriend and I will usually have coffee in bed - I’m the boss of morning coffee, and he’s in charge of afternoon espressos - and read a little in bed or, honestly, just hang out, water our plants, take things slow. That’s when I catch up on all my Substacks, with my phone on Do Not Disturb, and I won’t look at anything that involves a scroll or someone asking me for something. No emails, no texts. So many of my friends who are parents miss that slow weekend time, and I know I won’t have it forever, so I do my best to really cherish it while I still can.
Spring and summer are my favorite cooking seasons, so most Saturdays I walk to the Fort Greene Park market, even if it’s just to buy flowers and a few beautiful vegetables, then come home to make something or go see some art. Work at Ghia takes up so much of my time that the weekend is when I get to enjoy my kitchen without any pressure, and to be in my house in the daylight. I’m home a lot because I like it; it recharges my batteries.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about how everything has become a business, something to perfect and transact, so I’m trying to do more things “just because”, from arts and crafts to cooking with no plan at all.
A Few Good Things
Learning: I was just at a founders conference. These types of networking events usually terrify me, but this one (campFFF by Female Founders Fund) was incredible, and I met and heard from a great range of smart women. One of them was Frances Frei, a professor at HBS who teaches about leadership. Her workshop on leading and fostering talent sent me down a rabbit hole, and I just ordered her books. She also hosts free office hours on Zoom every Friday at 6 a.m. and noon ET, and I’m totally hooked.
Decorating: I’m on a mission to remove every fixture in my apartment that screams “rental.” The best $110 I’ve spent went to new faucets to replace the polished nickel ones that came with the place. Now I’m contemplating new light switches from Dimwit. They’re so fun and pretty, and dimmers make everything better.
Cooking: It’s officially too hot to cook in New York, so I’m leaning into the fresh summer recipes from Riviera: a melon and pecorino salad, a gazpacho, and a rhubarb galette while my favorite pink stalks are still at the market.
Compression-wear: My American friends seem to think poor blood circulation is a uniquely European ailment, but I beg to differ. I never travel or even commute without my Ricari Studios compression socks. They’re a light compression, easy for everyday.
Being Warm: After yearning for it for two years, I finally have the peplum cashmere cardigan from Liberowe (a gift from the brand). It’s so thick and structured and beautiful. I’m in love! And since the office is always freezing in this weather, I get to wear it every day.
This new-ish bookstore on 13th street: Wild Sorrel Cookbooks, a new independent cookbook shop devoted to the home cook. It is so cute on its little stretch of 13th Street. I hope independent bookstores never die, especially the ones like this that keep New York feeling human sized.
A princess bed, if the princess was chic and Italian: My Thuma dresser, which is like a grown-up version of the IKEA dresser everybody had, except incredibly well made. The drawers never break, they hold a lot, and it never looks bulky. They just did a collaboration with Buchanan Studio, and there’s a brown-and-white striped bed I’m dying for! So fun.
My favorite books this year have been Famesick by Lena Dunham and Heart the Lover by Lily King. I also just started Still Bobbi by Bobbi Brown on audio. I love when a book is narrated by its author, and I love to alternate between fiction and non-fiction. I have endometriosis, so I feel a lot of compassion and admiration for Lena.
A Recipe from Melanie’s New CookBook
Gazpacho
Serves 4
The beauty of gazpacho lies in its simplicity—everything goes into the blender, no cooking required. While it’s perfectly lovely on its own, I can never resist topping with garlicky croutons, a shower of diced cucumber, and fluffy egg mimosa (see page 54 of my cookbook). On the hottest summer days, there’s nothing more refreshing. The main ingredient here is tomatoes, so use the most flavorful ones you can find (it’s okay if they’re a little soft).
Ingredients
2 pounds (1 kg) ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into large chunks
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and roughly chopped
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup (60 ml) olive oil, plus more for serving
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Toppings
2 eggs
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 thick slices country bread
1 garlic clove, smashed
1 small cucumber, finely diced
Your best olive oil
Fresh herbs, such as basil or parsley (optional)
1. Prepare the soup: In a blender, combine the tomatoes, bell pepper, garlic, oil, and vinegar and blend on high speed until very smooth. Season generously with salt and pepper, pour into a serving pitcher, and chill in the refrigerator until it's time to eat.
2. Prepare the toppings: In a large bowl, prepare an ice water bath. Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Carefully lower the eggs into the boiling water and cook for 9 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to the ice water bath to stop the cooking.
3. While the eggs cool, make the croutons. In a medium sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the bread and toast on both sides until golden and crisp, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove from the heat, rub the toasts with the garlic clove while still hot, then cut into croutons.
4. Peel the eggs and break them into small pieces with the back of a fork (this is the egg mimosa).
5. Serve the gazpacho cold, topped with cucumber, croutons, and egg mimosa. Finish with a drizzle of your best olive oil and a sprinkling of fresh herbs (if using).
Enjoy!
xx Melanie
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Ghia is my fav! Can’t wait to cook with Riviera!
Very excited to try this gazpacho recipe! Likely tonight in this heat, thanks Melanie xx