Measuring twice

Meet Tahlia Ball, aka “T$ Big Ballz,” chef’s apprentice at Stonehorse Café

Prior to the interview, I run into several friends who assume I am at the bar to hang out with them. I tell them I’m waiting to interview Tahlia Ball, whose first name is pronounced with the “a” sound that makes up the word, “scallion.” I find this out upon meeting for the first time, when I pronounce it wrong. When we start the interview, a band is setting up for sound check. So far, the maiden voyage of “Day Drinking with Beau Adams” is off to a choppy start.

The Tulsa Voice: How much pasta do you make in a week?

Tahlia Ball: Twenty to thirty pounds. I make it two or three times a week and each time I make ten pounds.

TTV: How’d you learn to do that?

TB: From Tim [Inman]. He’s my boss. He’s the chef and the owner at Stonehorse and I’m his apprentice.

TTV: Is that your official title? Apprentice? That sounds very old-world.

TB: Well, I don’t really have an official title. But I work right with Tim and I do basically whatever needs to be done. If you want to be French about it…

TTV: I do. I very much want to be French about it.

TB: Yeah, okay, then I would be a “commis.” That’s like, the starting level. [Before this] I made smoothies for three years and I hated my life. I just got so bored, and I know that I’m capable of a lot, so I decided that I wanted to learn how to cook. I wanted to start at the bottom and work my way to the top, and I went out looking for that and I just happened to find it.

TTV: How?

TB: I was on my way to apply to another restaurant and I stopped in at Wolfgang Puck’s. I was going to be a dishwasher or whatever I could do just to get in, and I talked to Michael Fusco who was the chef at the time, and he sat down for like thirty minutes with me and went over everything.
TTV: Like what?

TB: You now, he just kind of asked me questions, like, “Are you tough?” and I said, “I’m tough.” He asked me if I minded people getting in my face, and I said, “No big deal.” And he just went over all of this restaurant stuff and then he said, “I think you should go apply at the Stonehorse.” And so I did.

TTV: Have you always been interested in cooking or is it something that came later in your life? [Note: Mrs. Ball is about to turn 25, so “later in life” is but a relative term.]

TB: It came later. Once I started dating my husband, I had a reason to cook so I started getting interested in nutrition and started looking at fast food and it’s just so bad for you. There weren’t restaurants making the food I wanted to eat. So I started making my own food. It’s cheaper, it’s better, it’s fresher. You know, you’re going to eat two to three meals everyday for the rest of your life – they should be good.

TTV: Do Tulsans know what great food is?

TB: I don’t think so. I think that the ‘burbs come in and they are so satisfied with the shit that we have downtown. I don’t like it. Don’t get me wrong; I like some of it, but most of it, no. It’s not made for me. It’s made for the masses and I’m not into it.

TTV: Let’s talk about drinks. You ordered a gin and tonic with Hendrick’s Gin. Why?

TB: The best! It’s botanical. It tastes like herbs in your mouth. It’s expensive, but it’s really good. And I bought a bottle of New Amsterdam, which is not expensive, and I put some rosemary in that shit and you know what? Tastes like botanical gin to me!

TTV: Let’s talk about photography. Who taught you how to use a camera?

TB: My husband went to school for photography so he kind of pushed me into thinking, you know, that’s a thing you could do. I kind of thought, “Everyone’s a photographer. I’m not going to do that, it’s for everyone else.” But then we had this “dental eye,” which I helped his mom get at an estate sale. It was a dentist who died and we got it, and it’s this camera that I guess you take pictures of teeth with, but we didn’t use it for a couple of years, so I was like, “I’m going to try this out.” I’m really into textures, so I started shooting film with it and I just loved it. And I’m not into editing. I just see something I like and I take a picture of it. I don’t want to have to fuck with it after that.

TTV: Do you like one more than the other? Photography or cooking?

TB: You know, no. These are just two things that I like. I feel like life is too short to be like, “I’m going to go to school for this, and then I’m going to get a job in that field, and then this is my life and I don’t have to think anymore.” I’m going to do this until I don’t want to do it anymore, and then I’m going to do something else.

TTV: Who taught you to cook?

TB: I taught myself to cook. When I started, I’m pretty good at following directions, so I just went with that. But now who’s teaching me? Tim Inman, that’s who. That’s pretty awesome. I just barely knew that this was something I wanted to do and it’s not even all I want to do.

I think that people don’t realize how hard it is to figure out what you want to do, because society tells you that you need to do one thing. Just figure out one thing. A lot of the people I talk to who are in positions that I admire didn’t just go there. They took all kinds of paths to get to where they are now. You never know where you’re going end up and your hard work and desire will lead you to where you need to be.

TTV: Your parents didn’t make you feel like you had to have it figured out early?

TB: No, I didn’t have that pressure. I was kind of left alone to figure that out. So I just kind of observed.

TTV: Your shoes are really cool.

TB: You know, I wear chef pants all day, so I like to dress it up a little.

TTV: What kind of pants does a chef wear?

TB: You know, baggie pants. Well, you can wear any kind of pants you want, but I don’t like to look like a whore at work — I save that shit for the weekend. [laughs] That’s mah weekend look. But seriously, at work, I need pockets.

TTV: What do you put in your pockets?

TB: I am the most prepared. It’s just not that hard. I wear two sharpies, two pens, one thermometer, a notepad – I’m fuckin’ prepared.

TTV: So you’re taking notes at work?

TB: This is why I excel. Because I try just a little bit. You just have to try a little bit. There’s nothing that’s gotten me farther in life than just simple hard work.

TTV: That’s a very Oklahoma thing to say.

TB: That’s one of the things I am proud about. That’s a good thing about Oklahomans.

TTV: “Labor Omnia Vincit.”

TB: Labor conquers all. That’s true.

Interview Location: Soundpony Bar

TTV ordered: Coop Ale Works F5 IPA

Tahlia ordered: Hendrick’s and tonic