Rajni Jacques

EVERYONE EATS        |        SEPT 15, 2020

Rajni Jacques

FASHION DIRECTOR AT CONDÉ NAST / ALLURE

A graduate of Rutgers College and The Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, where she received her Masters Degree, Ms. Jacques’ has become an interdisciplinary creative who has her hand in all facets of fashion.

Since her very first job as a fashion assistant at the now defunct, but legendary niche magazine, Honey, she went on to work as a fashion editor/director at prominent media titles such as The Fader, InStyle, Vibe, Nylon, Glamour, allure, and Teen Vogue. She’s also held leading positions outside of media, but still in fashion, as the Public Relations Director of Christian Louboutin and a Creative Lead at retailer Madewell, as well as a Lead Creative at Heart Digital Studios. In addition, she is also a creative consultant and has worked on creative direction and ideation for brands such as Coach, Nike and Nordstrom.

INTERVIEW BY ROSIE ELLIS
PHOTOGRAPHS BY JUSTIN KANEPS

RAJNI'S HOME IN BROOKLYN

Rajni whipped up her favorite smoothie (with a splash of Haitian rum). We discussed childhood traditions, the recent development of Bed Stuy and her newfound attraction to Brad Pitt.

BREAKFAST

I’m not gonna lie, our breakfasts are quite disheveled. Just because everyone wakes up at a different time. I’ve never been one to sit down and have a meal for breakfast – especially on weekdays – but I will make breakfast for my little ones.

For me, breakfast usually consists of some type of juice or smoothie. I’ll add a mix of frozen fruit – mango, pineapple, strawberry – and ginger. Once in a while I’ll throw in some spinach if I feel like I need another element.

I’ll have an earl grey or chamomile tea. I don’t drink coffee. I’ve never been a caffeine person in any way. But my husband is a big coffee drinker and does have it in the morning, and I love the way it smells. But I don’t think it tastes the way it smells. I think the taste of coffee is gross.

LUNCH

I usually sit for lunch, but it depends because my schedule is up and down and all around. Regardless, I’m a late lunch eater – like 1:30 or 2. Now that I’ve been home, I make pretty bomb salads for myself. I’ll get the ingredients from the supermarket, chop a couple things up. I’ll usually do a protein – sometimes chicken, sometimes tuna. I get these black bean burgers, and I’ll cook those and I’ll chop them up and put it in my salad. Or sometimes I’ll just have two black bean burgers with avocado, drizzled with olive oil. And I’m trying to do my best to drink a lot more water. I’ve learned you should drink the water after you eat, which is the best way to digest. You shouldn’t eat and drink at the same time.

DINNER

Usually my husband cooks dinner. So it’s whatever he wants, but he’s very diplomatic about it. Lately our dinners have been quite quick – we have two kids, so it’s hard. I’ll buy chicken (and we’ll season it the day before) and my husband will put it in the oven in a cast iron. We bought an air fryer which is so good and so we got rid of our microwave. It keeps the juice in the chicken, but it’s still crispy on the outside. He also might make a pasta concoction. I’ve never been a huge fan of pasta like that – I’ll eat it, but I’m not a pasta person. So I’ll usually just eat the chicken, and make a side salad. Or I’ll make a sauteed vegetable medley of broccoli, corn, beans. Because I am a late lunch eater, I sometimes end up just doing the chicken because I’m not that hungry.

DESSERT

I am not a dessert person, unless I am at a restaurant and there’s a creme brulee on the menu. That is the only dessert that I indulge in. I’ve never been a cake or ice cream person – I’m not a huge dairy fan. I’m not even lactose intolerant – it’s more mind over matter. I’ve never really loved the texture. I am a huge honey fan so sometimes I’ll take almonds and I’ll drizzle honey on top and make a little dish of that as my dessert.

SPEED ROUND

Recent food discovery?
During quarantine, we discovered imitation caviar at this healthy market down the street from us. I probably don’t want to see what it’s made out of, but it’s so good.

Best snack between meals?
Pistachios.

 

Go-to cookbook?

I search for recipes that are Caribbean based. Also, any cookbook that has a lot of different ways to cook fish.

 

Five items always in your kitchen
Salt, olive oil, seltzer, Clamato, yogurt, Maeve’s Honey.

Dream dinner guest?
I would love to have Brad Pitt. Just because I never found him attractive. I have never been a Brad Pitt fan, even at his height. Weirdly in the past year, I don’t know why or what has transpired, but I’ve become a Brad Pitt fan. I want to see if he’s really what they say he is.

Go-to comfort food?
French fries.

Whose routine would you love to see on Everyone Eats?
I would definitely say Jada Pinkett, JLo or Gabrielle Union. These are all women who are older but just look so vibrant and young. Age hasn’t hit them. Like, what is their routine?

Cocktail of choice?
I love a tequila soda with a splash of (real) grapefruit juice and a lemon.

Most overrated food trend?
I’ve never loved “fusion”. I don’t care for fusion food. If I’m going to get food, I want what that food is authentically.

Cooking playlist?
My Summer Getaway Playlist.

Last meal on earth?
The fattiest McDonald’s french fries, my mom’s Djon Djon rice and beans, and her seared chicken – the way that she makes it in the sauce, with pikliz, onions. That meal to me has always been, you’re dying tomorrow, here you go. And a glass of prosecco. And a creme brulee (very burnt on the top).

Go-to market or grocery store?
When we hit up Jersey, Shoprite. 24/7. You get everything there way cheaper. Our families live in Jersey, so we’ll go visit and then on our way out we’ll find a Shoprite or a Stop & Shop.

Last thing you ordered for delivery?
Pizza from Daddy Greens. (That’s the go-to when you have kiddies.) They do a perfect pizza – not too thin, not too thick, it’s just right.

Celebrity chef crush?
I love seeing Black chefs and foodies create their own little empires. Like Ghetto Gastro has blown me away. I love the way that they use food to talk about their culture, their community and their neighborhood. For me, it's less about my favorite celebrity chef and more about how we can take things and remix them and come up with our own flavors and our own ways of telling our stories through food.

 

Favorite way to work off a big meal?

I’m doing this thing called rebounding, where I use a trampoline, and it’s pretty fun.

 

Where do you most feel like The Regular?
In the neighborhood. Sitting on the stoop of my friend’s brownstone or apartment, having a glass of something.

THIRD SCOOP

How have you seen the neighborhood develop as Bed Stuy has gentrified over the past ten years?

Bed Stuy is one of those places where there is a neighborhood-y feeling, where there are block parties outside. (Obviously this year has been a little different.) Towards the end of the summer there were more block parties where you’d see your neighbors and see people on the street – that’s my favorite thing about this neighborhood. There’s a sense of community. Like a real sense of what Mr. Rogers was talking about.

Before the gentrification it was, in a way, a food desert. You only had a bodega and a Key Foods. When I came to this area, some of the markets would have spoiled meats and chicken – two weeks past the expiration date. And when it came to restaurants, there were your typical takeout Chinese restaurants or your Kennedy Fried Chicken and stuff like that. But there has been a really nice surge of great little mom and pop restaurants around here. For me, it’s even better when those restaurants are Black owned, in a Black neighborhood. It’s much more fulfilling. There are really cute cafes that have popped up, like Cafe on Ralph and Sincerely Tommy. I feel like regardless of who's owning (Black owned or not) there’s a nice enclave of restaurants opening up. I hope they survive everything that's gone down.

Are there aspects of Haitian cooking or traditions from your childhood that you bring into your kitchen today?

In the Haitian culture, there are so many traditions that relate to food. On the first of the year, there’s this thing called Soup Joumou, which Haitian people make. It's a stew of sorts, a very indulgent stew, with vegetables and meats. Obviously newer age people (like myself) add amendments to it that weren't in there before. That’s a staple and a tradition to make and eat that on the first of the year.

In the Haitian culture, the tradition is that food is the connector. Haitian food is never bland, and I definitely am not the best cook of Haitian food, but if you taste Haitian food that's bland, it’s not Haitian. There's so much flavor and so many spices and so much marinating going on. There’s so much mixing, putting the lid on, letting it simmer, taking it off – it’s not by tablespoon, nothing is measured. It's all knowledge that one generation passes down to the next. There’s always comfort when my mom is home, just watching her cook and watching her make food as simple as rice and beans with chicken. It literally is a master class watching her.

How did motherhood change the way you think about food? What will you teach your children about food?

Motherhood changes everything. Food just happens to be part of what changes. You look at what you’re feeding your children – you want to feed them something that’s nourishing. Obviously I give my kids treats here and there but I want to feed them things that allow them to have good relationships with food.

My relationship with food, for the most part, has been good, but there have been times when it hasn’t. As a young woman, when you’re growing up, I would eat a french fry and be like, this french fry is making me gain weight. I hope that I can teach my daughter a good relationship with food in the sense that food is to nourish your soul, your heart. Food is to give you energy. But at the same time, food is to be loved. To figure out all these flavors and be inquisitive about the thing you’re eating because you’re tasting all these different things. I just hope I teach them a good relationship with healthy food and that healthy foods can be tasty. But in general, food should be something that is enjoyed.

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