We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mitra Weissman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Mitra, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’re complete cheeseballs and so we love asking folks to share the most heartwarming moment from their career – do you have a touching moment you can share with us?
While I was in dietetics school, I spent my summers working as a kids’ cooking instructor. We had a new group of students each Monday. That first day was tough for some kids – especially the younger ones. Some would cry as their parents left, and others were too shy to speak for the first half of the day. But over the next day or two, I’d pepper in questions about their favorite foods, share silly cooking stories to make them laugh, or play fun food-based games. It always worked like a charm.
By Friday, those same kids were bouncing off the walls, or raving to a new friend about a recipe they made or a kitchen gadget they used earlier that week. Watching them grow in confidence and joy over just a few days was incredible. It showed me how powerful food and cooking can be in helping kids express themselves and connect with others.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I’m a registered dietitian based in San Diego who merges my experience in clinical nutrition with hands-on cooking education. I provide one-on-one nutrition counseling, guided grocery shops, nutrition consulting for local businesses and interactive nutrition-focused kids cooking classes.
As a hospital dietitian, I work across a range of specialties from cardiology and diabetes to renal and pediatric nutrition. I provide a lot of verbal education and counseling but always dreamt of including a hands-on component to nutrition education to make it more accessible and practical for everyday life. Nutrition isn’t just what we know – it’s what we cook, buy, and actually eat.
We’re grateful to the Boys & Girls Club of San Diego for sharing their “Yellow Cottage” teaching kitchen in Solana Beach with us to host our classes. It has a bright kitchen space, an outdoor dining table under a pergola, and an amazing fruit and vegetable garden in the back.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
On my first day as a kids’ summer cooking camp instructor, we came in early to prepare the ingredients for the class and I was in charge of preparing chocolate mousse to be used later that day. The pastry chef (whose recipe I was following) was a serious cookie and would not accept anything less than an perfect mousse. She had me repeatedly make new batches as she shouted things like “you over-mixed it, now it’s flat” or “the whole thing seized – throw it out!” It wasn’t until my sixth batch and a mental breakdown in the back of the kitchen thinking I was in over my head with this job, that she finally accepted a batch.
That first week, I meticulously followed recipes and found myself getting nervous if the kids weren’t following the steps exactly as instructed or if a recipe didn’t turn out quite like it was supposed to. But, the more I cooked with the students, the more I realized so many of them weren’t sweating the small stuff like I was. It’s equally as important to give them the creative space to decorate their pizza how they want to – even if it’s one big pile of olives – or to play it cool if they accidentally spill the vanilla extract before reaching the bowl. They still enjoyed the meals together in the end and that’s what mattered. These days, I’m more concerned with encouraging curiosity and having fun with our creations over having a recipe turn out perfect.
Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?
Adaptability has been one of the most helpful things in building my private practice. I originally thought I’d focus solely on 1:1 counseling and cooking classes but I’ve been approached for all kinds of unexpected and exciting opportunities: corporate wellness programs, school nutrition consulting, pediatric food product development, cultural food talks. Being open to these opportunities has helped me grow in directions I didn’t initially plan for but have grown into fabulous relationships. It’s shown me how dynamic this field can be when you’re willing to stay flexible and curious and has given me a “creative” side to the practice outside of medical nutrition therapy through counseling.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sandiegodietitians.com
- Instagram: @sandiegodietitians
