Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Fresh off winning the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Midwest, Balkan Treat Box chef and co-owner Loryn Nalic joined Brittany Dwyer for a conversation about the surreal moment her name was called, the family story behind the restaurant and the weight of representing Balkan cuisine in St. Louis.
Check out the audio podcast HERE.
Brittany Dwyer: We’ve all seen the videos, but I want to get your take on walking up there. Were you in complete shock?
Loryn Nalic: First of all, I blacked out. I completely blacked out. It was not on my radar. I mean, obviously you’re nominated, but I really didn’t think it was my year.
I had nothing prepared. Last year I had some things prepared just in case, and this year I was like, I’m not going to do that. For one reason or another, in my mind, it just made sense.
I also didn’t know that everyone could see the reaction. When I came back to Balkan, somebody had sent me a video from another angle. They were sitting in front of us, and I thought that was a private moment. I showed the staff and they were like, “We saw all of this.” And I was like, “Oh, okay, you saw me hopping up and down like a little girl.”
Brittany: Did you plan to bring your family up there with you?
Loryn: It was organic. It happened naturally. Last year, more of my family wanted to come, and anybody who wanted to come, I was like, “Yeah, let’s go.”
But yes, having the family that I do this with there, that was important. It would have felt surreal without them. It was important to have them there.
Brittany: It was very emotional when you got up there and looked out at the crowd. What was going through your mind?
Loryn: I couldn’t breathe. Andrew Zimmern put the award around my neck, and he had to talk me through it at one point. He was like, “You have to turn around.” I was like, “Okay.”
So I turned around and looked out, and it’s this huge audience. They’re all your peers, people you respect and admire. You have friends and family out there. You listen to these inspirational speeches all night long, and I didn’t really have anything prepared.
If I could go back and do it all again, I definitely would have written something out and said a lot more. But I think the gist of what we do here and what I felt emotionally was true.
The fact is, when I met my family, they were all apart. Now I get to see them together all the time. The restaurant gave us the means to do that. Without the success of this restaurant, there was no way we would have been able to afford or have the means, energy, structure and infrastructure to support that family being together in another country again.
That’s the biggest gift. It’s the biggest gift to me, to Edo, to his family. Every time something comes up, we constantly fall back on that. It’s always at the forefront of my mind. I never stop thinking about the importance of that and the weight of it.
So the fact that was the one thing I said up there makes a lot of sense. I do feel good about that. I just wish I could have explained why.
Brittany: There has to be immense pride in bringing the true culture of the food and what a meal there looks like to so many people who may have never had that experience.
Loryn: Yeah. There’s not a lot of representation of what we do out there. We’re pretty unique, and I think that’s one of the things that makes us special.
There are tons of Bosnian and Balkan restaurants all over the country and the world. We just happen to be in a city where people were extra curious because we have such a huge population here.
Part of what we do is always going to the source, learning and getting as much information as possible to make sure the cuisine is being replicated or presented in a way that feels good. I’m a creative, so of course I have my spin on things, but I can’t really do that until I learn the basis of what all of that looks like.
Brittany: That’s why you’ve been so successful doing it. You get the basics right. You don’t overlook those.
Loryn: No, and it’s especially important that I don’t do that because I’m not from there. It’s one thing to cook for Edo and his family, but to represent that to the population, I take that as the most serious part of what I do.
I never stop thinking about it. I think about it when I wake up. I think about it before I go to bed. I think about it when I’m thinking about new dishes, new concepts and new events. It is always at the forefront of my mind.
Brittany: When you have a big success moment like this, it makes you think back to when you started. I’m sure opening something was always a goal, but were you thinking about winning a James Beard Award?
Loryn: No. I always knew I would open something, but I didn’t know what it looked like or how I would do it. That evolved over the years as my career went on. I was raising two kids, and the timing wasn’t right. As time went on, things changed. I changed. My skill set developed more. You land on what you land on for a reason.
That’s a huge part of why it feels so crazy. I think about everything it took from start to finish. You look out into that crowd and there are a thousand people who have felt similar things to you.
Yes, we had a lot of hardship getting to where we are now. But in my head, I would have told you, “I’m going to open this restaurant. I’m going to sit on that oven. You’re going to come in, eat, wave to me, and I’ll wave to you. I’ll be making your food. Edo will be walking around being charming. Emir and Babo will be there.”
That’s what it always looked like in my head. It never looked like this.
Brittany: I saw you before you even had the truck, working in kitchens, perfecting your skill and then taking that first leap, which a lot of people don’t have the guts to do.
Loryn: I say this often to people who want to talk to me about getting into this: It’s not for the faint of heart. There is a lot of failure, and you can’t have success without failure.
It sounds cheesy, but it’s 100 percent true. There are these lines you hear in life, and as an adult you laugh about them because they’re actually true. Hard work pays off. It actually does. I am proof of that.
You have to have a ton of failure to have success, and you will continue to fail as you continue to succeed. There are levels to this, and it keeps going. The failures never stop. That’s what teaches you what you need to know to get to the next step.
Brittany: People don’t always see the nights, the weekends, the tears and everything that goes into it. I’m so happy you’re getting the recognition you deserve.
Loryn: It’s been amazing. The community has been amazing. It’s fun to hear that people are just as excited. Every time I think about it or pull out that award or look at it, I’m like, “Is this real life?”
Brittany: Is there a certain pride you have in representing counter-service restaurants? Usually an award like this is associated with fine dining.
Loryn: Of course. I never would have thought this was available to people doing what we’re doing.
Gerard Craft and Kevin Nashan both had white-tablecloth, fine-dining restaurants, and they are super talented, well-deserving chefs. To see somebody on the opposite spectrum of hospitality receive this, because we do the complete opposite thing, it’s incredible.
But it’s also the same. You know what I mean?
Brittany: When you think about people trying your food, having that reaction and sharing a meal, it gets back to the fundamentals.
Loryn: Exactly. You don’t realize that it’s the same all the time. What helps is moments like this, where somebody like us can receive an award that is so prestigious.
Looking out and realizing that we’re all the same and we’re all doing the same job was powerful. Kevin Nashan told me that once. He said, “We all do the same job. Just get in there and do what you do.”
It doesn’t matter because no one person is working harder than another. And there is a lot of luck wrapped into all of this too. I think it’s important to talk about that. I know at least 25 people who work as hard as I do, and they may never get this kind of recognition.
There is a lot of luck. There are a lot of moving pieces I don’t know anything about. But what’s cool is that for people who want to go after something like this, it gives them hope that they can.
Brittany: It reminds people why we go out to eat in the first place. It’s about the experience, the food, being together and the hard work behind it. This type of concept is just as deserving because you’re delivering all of those things at an exceptional level.
Loryn: It’s remarkable to think about. I love the idea of people looking to us and thinking, “I want to do that. I want to strive to be like that. I want to try to do what they’re doing.”
That feels really good.
Brittany: You had so many great people you looked up to, and now you’re inspiring so many more people. So what’s next?
Loryn: There’s a lot on the horizon. Obviously, you’ve been inside Balkan, and it’s not large. All we can really do is what we can do at the capacity we have.
But I think there is room for growth in other areas. Maybe more concepts. Maybe expansion on what we’re doing now. We have a lot of conversations going because it’s an exciting time.
We’re always talking about these things anyway because it feels good to try.
Brittany: The time feels ripe. The time is now.
Loryn: That’s what it feels like. Bosnia is having its moment, and it feels good to share that too.
When I was up there receiving the award, I said in Bosnian, “I love you, Bosnia.” Part of that was because there is all this buzz and pride right now. Everything this has given me has so many ties and meanings, not just for me, but for my family.
It’s crazy to think about. If I would have given the microphone to Edo and Emir, they would have talked about that pride too. Then you see the videos coming up online, and I’m still trying to catch up to my phone. People are sharing them from all over Bosnia. All over Bosnia, people are seeing themselves represented in such an amazing light.
That means so much.