Makenna Held

01/02/2026

11/01/2026

I went to Copenhagen to eat at with , , and .design , to celebrate opening…which hasn’t yet happened. Silly me, I thought we’d be open and be celebrating. And yet, alas no.

Before I write a longer piece on it, here’s my little taster.

Noma, during it’s last few weeks of this iteration, felt very much like the eras tour of the food world and René Redzepi. I coughed up a large sum of money to taste the greatest hits of Noma. Their big bow.

And it ATE.
And I have very few notes.
That’s the beauty of a greatest hits tour.

I have a lot more to say. And it’s quite nuanced because of all the controversy that is Noma. That is the restaurant industry. That is… all of it. But I’ll write about it for my substack in a week or to. In the meantime? Here’s a photo dump and an excerpt to the piece I’m playing with:

“Noma isn’t quite as domineering as I thought it would be. I think in my brain I had built it up as this looming thing that felt untenable, and untouchable. It blends into the landscape of harbor and geese and feels far more unassuming than I thought it might considering it has been the “best restaurant in the world” a few times over. I’m in a green house, of all thing, sipping a pour over coffee, that is decidedly pale for my preferences, on the edge of my seat expecting to feel something.

I feel very much like I’m at a church I don’t belong to, getting baptized by something I don’t fully believe in, inhaling a doctrine I am not sure I subscribe to, and paying a few thousands pennies for the privilege of doing so. Attending Noma is both a bucket list item, and a curiosity for me. No different than visiting Notre Dame in Paris every chance I can. Sure, I still light candles at her altar and subscribe to Noma’s quarterly Tastebuds membership and their monthly Kafé membership too. Not so much out of adherence but from a place of sheer curiosity, reverence, and yes…fomo. This doesn’t mean that I agree with the place or the belief systems of either—the Catholic Church or Noma. But that isn’t stopping me from being VERY excited about the impending meal I have wait well over a decade to consume.”

04/01/2026

I’ve posted a very very long piece of writing about 2025, international law enforcement, almost losing someone I care deeply about, and the dangers of parasocial relationships.

A kinda sorta tell all of 2025 and frankly…the past decade.

Included the cute photo of me, taken by my mother, because in 2026 I am choosing joy, and Hermes plates.

On my substack: http://makennaheld.substack.com

27/12/2025

Excuse me as I have a mini meltdown of joy.

I made a top cookbook list!

Mostly French, my debut cookbook, made it on ’s list at

To be listed next to , , , , , (among others) is beyond anything 2024 me could have even possibly imagined!

Thank you for cooking from and falling in love with this book in 2025.

I’ve been in hiding post book tour due to a really bizarre set of circumstances (which I am sharing on my newsletter soon) but I’m excited to emerge.

Wanna hear the WILD story that involves parasocial weirdness, international law enforcement, and ? Comment your emoji of choice and I’ll make sure to send you a link when it’s live.

13/12/2025

How do you even BEGIN to describe the feeling of seeing the sign to the restaurant you co-own for the first time?

Three years in the making. is coming soon. Really really soon.

What started as a small dream in , has become a new vision for hospitality and joy around the world. This is the next phase.

Detour is opening in 2026.

To make a big splash in the . Offering farm to table cuisine curated by , a gorgeously eclectic wine list by .design, interior by .

Built from scratch. Through looooooots of tears and tribulations and triumphs.

Aller! Let’s go!

31/10/2025

Seeing how my cookbook Mostly French is being used “in the wild” is one of my favorite things. I nabbed my mother-in-law’s copy to see what she was excited about.

There’s a few surprises in there! (You might remember her from episode episode 3 of La Pitchoune: Cooking in France.

If YOU have a copy of Mostly French you have used, dogearred, or bookmarked share it with me and give me tag. I would love to see your favorites.

30/10/2025

Magnolia met an owl named Radar at the .

She was wildly impressed. 🥰🥰🥰

24/10/2025

Scenes from a US fall.

I’ve never spend October in Door County. But here I am. Reveling in changing seasons.

Today is the last full day of my life’s work come to fruition thus far. the Courageous Cooking School at .

I am not there. By design.

This year the reigns were fully managed by . I just paid bills and answered emails and book toured.

So it felt right to release it. To hand it over for the last season, too.

Today is the end of the chapter. And a start of a new one.

We still offer Courageous Cooking School Camp at La Peetch.
We’re opening in January. (Why we said “let’s open a restaurant” is still a mystery but here we are and it is so so close)

And then there’s a mystery of the what next. But for now, I’m content with just that.

Fall leaves room for a new beginning after a fallow period. I’m going fallow for a moment. And that is the answer to the enduring question of “what next”