Warren native Maggie Mulvena Pearson finds it ironic that her business, Feast & Fettle, which now serves over 10,000 members across six states and inspired her forthcoming The Feast & Fettle Cookbook: Unlock the Secret to Better Home Cooking, originated in her hometown. “It’s funny because as a high school student, I was like, ‘I’m never staying in Rhode Island,’ and now Feast & Fettle is deeply rooted in Rhode Island,” she says with a laugh.
Feast & Fettle launched in 2016 out of Hope & Main after Pearson graduated from Johnson and Wales University in Providence. While studying culinary nutrition there, Pearson worked as a nanny for a family in Barrington. “The mom I worked for was a physician in Providence, and she had three young children. I made them dinner every night, packed lunches every day. As someone who didn’t have kids yet, it opened my eyes to the struggles families go through.”
Pearson was managing everything food-related, from shopping for ingredients to prepping and storing meals for the week. She started branching out to see if other households were seeking help preparing meals. “I immediately got 50 replies, which made me realize this is a really needed service.”
This was in 2014, before meal kit services had gained popularity, and fully-cooked meal delivery services weren’t even on the radar. “I kept getting more and more requests from families, and I had to make a decision: do I take on more families, or do I start a meal delivery service?” Thankfully for the thousands of families she now serves, she chose the latter.
Pearson’s cookbook, which comes out on October 15, was inspired by her experience at Feast & Fettle, from members who requested her recipes. “Writing a cookbook was definitely a bucket list item for me,” Pearson explains, “but I didn’t know how to go about it. Most cookbook deals are granted to celebrities or people with hundreds of thousands of followers.” Fortuitously, she had been following another Rhode Island writer, Christine Chitnis (author of Patterns of Portugal), on social media for years, and when Chitnis began offering coaching, Pearson jumped at the opportunity.
“I had just had my second son, and Feast & Fettle was in a position where I could step away from business operations for a while to focus on writing a book. My publisher asked me, ‘How involved are you in the company? Because this is a pretty hefty commitment,’ but I was able to complete it during my maternity leave, even though it turned out to be a two-to-three year process.”
The Feast & Fettle Cookbook is uniquely organized into nine chapters based on seasoning method, from dressings and vinaigrettes to spice blends, marinades to compound butters. “It’s my ‘secret sauce’ to what we do at Feast & Fettle and how we elevate meals.”
The cookbook includes members’ favorite recipes as well as those that haven’t been seen before, and Pearson shares stories of her Portuguese background, including recipes that relate to her interest in food and cooking. She also describes the genesis of Feast & Fettle and its rise from a team of two best friends to a thriving business of over 260 employees.
Pearson and her co-founding partner, Nicole Nix, have come a long way since 2016 – not least of all, both have families of their own now. The convenience of having meals (including kids’ meals) made with fresh ingredients that are hand-delivered to their door is not lost on them. “I have two kids, Nikki has two kids,” Pearson says. “Thank god such services exist.”
October 14:
Launch Party, a ticketed tasting event at Gracie’s
October 20:
Book signing at Hope & Main, Warren
November 2:
Book signing at Stock Culinary Goods
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