Chef Q & A with Aimee Olexy of Talula's Table

With Mother’s Day on the horizon, we sat down with the woman behind one of the most successful restaurants in Chester County to talk work and motherhood. Aimee Olexy, owner of Talula’s Table, smiles through the day-to-day challenges of balancing the quaint Kennett Square market (and most sought after table in Philadelphia) and her biggest job of all, being a mother. Though most of us have to wait a year to get a moment with Aimee in all her glory, she makes lots of special time for her biggest fan, daughter Annalee Talula Rae. Here’s what Aimee had to say about being successful at work and as a mother.

CC: Tell us about you and Annalee.

AO: Annalee is a fiesty 4 1/2-year-old girl. We live in Southern Chester County, where I own and work at Talula’s Table, a restaurant and gourmet market.

CC: What’s it like to be a parent while running a restaurant?

AO: It’s hard but rewarding, just like I imagine it would be for any other parent with a job. The restaurant schedule is typically unconventional, but Annalee and I work hard at creating a structured lifestyle to keep us on track.

CC: How so?

AO: I have great family and friends around here, and we all work together to keep Annalee’s daily life happy and familiar. She goes to a great little school down the street while I’m at the market during the day, and a family friend for years plays with her for a few hours in the afternoon. When I get home, we have playtime and make dinner together or, as she calls it, “messipes.”

CC: What’s a messipe?

AO: Annalee’s version of a ‘recipe.’ I’ll get all of the ingredients for dinner out and set aside extra for her. She’ll take my lead as I cook and go off in her own direction and end up with her own kiddie dinner. . . not always edible, but at least it was fun!

CC: Talula’s Table is known for being open 7 days a week; do you ever get time away?

AO: I do! We went to Disney for a few days this winter – I try to take a long weekend off every other month and go on what we call ‘mini vacations.’ We love going to the beach when it’s warm, and she just can’t get enough of the Disney princesses!

CC: Any Chester County favorites?

AO: Oh, gosh – we love going to Meadowset Farm’s annual sheepshearing. . . We love going to Longwood Gardens, and she gets really excited on trips to the dairy. She really is into the behind-the-scenes of food.

CC: Does the apple fall far from the tree?

AO: (laughs) We’re very similar. One of our biggest differences though, is that she hates smelly cheese – who would have thought?!