Mitchell Anderson: Anchored to Western New York
When I ask actor-turned-chef Mitchell Anderson how food fits into creativity in his life, the first thing he says isn’t flavor or invention or instinct, though each of those elements is there. Where he goes immediately is connection, and its significance is evident in all that he does.
Connection is the leg that anchors his compass, around which the rest of his life spins. It drew him to his grandmother’s kitchen table in Chautauqua County, it motivated him during his career as an actor in Los Angeles and it’s what has centered him as a chef and restaurateur in Atlanta for nearly the past 20 years.
“I always loved to cook,” Anderson says. “In L.A., I was the one who hosted Christmas and had people over for ‘Mitchell’s Tuesday Night Dinner.’ It was a time to unplug and sit at the table and talk, and sometimes it was about really extending that connection by creating a great meal.”
Growing up in Jamestown, NY, family time centered around the dinner table, where Anderson and his five siblings were nourished by good food and boundlessly interesting conversation. On July nights, they’d swap stories over fresh sweet corn from a nearby farm or share an exquisite meal prepared by his grandmother. “I subscribe to my Grandma Cecile’s deeply held belief that food is what brings people together,” he says.
When Anderson found himself looking for a second career after spending the ‘80s and ‘90s as an actor, cooking made sense. Serendipitously, his husband Richie Arpino had a chef friend, Jennifer Levison, who’d come from the arts and whose unique approach to creating healthy, accessible, surprising food matched Anderson’s. Levison (aka Souper Jenny), an Atlanta restaurateur known for her collection of eponymous cafes, became Anderson’s mentor and best friend. “From Jenny, I learned that a salad wasn’t just about flavor—it was about creating something that was a visual and culinary work of art.” For a couple of years, Anderson learned under Levison—working hard, improvising, laughing. And in 2005, she encouraged him to set out on his own.
Thus, MetroFresh was born, now with two locations in Atlanta. The restaurants are go-to neighborhood spots for delicious, healthy food, with menus that revolve around local, in-season ingredients. MetroFresh’s menu always has a few staple offerings, like a fresh fruit salad and Anderson’s turkey chili (the Mitchili) and accommodates an array of diets, but beyond that, it varies. On the Friday afternoon we talk, he’s started with farro, local English peas, and corn to create a five-herb farro salad, layered with mint, dill, arugula, basil and tarragon and accented with a green goddess dressing.
As a chef and business owner, Anderson embraces the unexpected, a skill that has been indispensable in the time of COVID-19. Usually, he enjoys hosting rotating events and offering a menu that largely changes daily.
However, for much of the spring, Anderson and the MetroFresh team—many of whom have been with him for over a decade—concentrated their creativity and efforts, operating the restaurant on Tuesdays and Fridays only. To keep their customers connected and supplied with their favorite dishes, they set up a successful online ordering system and introduced “Take-and-Bake” dinner entrees. The restaurant reopened on May 18, with altered hours and options of delivery, curbside pickup and limited patio seating.
For Anderson, this crisis has been another chapter in a career that has been challenging and gratifying—but never boring.
“Deep down, I still feel like an actor who switched stages,” he writes in his cookbook Food & Thought, released for the 10-year anniversary of MetroFresh in 2015. It is a merging of recipes and stories, some about his life today with Arpino and much an homage to his parents and childhood in Chautauqua County. Beyond its accessible, exciting recipes, the book is a manifestation of the connection that underpins all that he does. “I used to be in front of a camera, now I’m in front of a stove. I’m basically a communicator whose medium is food instead of theatre, television and film.”
Anderson injects his flair for entertainment into his restaurants. At a 2015 dinner night called OperaFresh, three opera singers from Georgia State entertained while customers, whom he calls the MetroFreshual family, enjoyed a four-course meal with wine. Anderson was there in his chef whites, sometimes singing himself, other times fading into the background to carry out a tray, but always radiating joy.
Big dinners like these aren’t quiet, predictable or even replicable—but as Anderson knows, that’s the beauty of experiences of genuine connection. And, while he’s come to love his adopted home, Anderson still draws inspiration from Western New York, where the natural rhythm of the seasons is a source of both comfort and excitement.
