Kacie Carter is the chef and owner of Honey Hi, a holistic nutritionist, and a mother—though she clarifies, not in that order. After her own experiences with feeling sick, and trying every diet and protocol under the sun, she’s landed on the other side. She now subscribes to a new definition of wellness—one free from perfection and labels—that relies on flexibility, experimentation, and realism. 

Her work, both as a nutritionist and at Honey Hi, centers around food that promotes personal, public, and planetary well-being — an ethos that couldn’t be more aligned with what west~bourne is all about. We’re excited to dig into all of it with her in today’s Main Meal.

What came first: your love of food or your interest in nutrition?

For me, nutrition definitely came first. It wasn’t really a choice; I got very sick in my early 20s, and I was faced with a crossroads: either start a heavy regimen of medication or fundamentally change the way I ate. I began experimenting with what I was consuming and noticing how it made me feel, and my health completely turned around. It was a supremely empowering, eye-opening experience.

Through that process, I started cooking all my meals from scratch and realized that food was actually my preferred medium for expressing my artistry and passion (I had been working in fashion as a stylist before). I decided to go back to school to become a nutritionist, and learning about biology and nutrition science remains one of my greatest passions to this day.

Where does Honey Hi enter into the story?

Believe it or not, Honey Hi started as a joke! At the time, a friend and I were both deep into nutrition and cooking, and we joked about starting a commune — one friend could teach yoga, another could offer therapy, and we’d handle the food. Then we actually started dreaming about it; we realized how special it would be to take the approach we practiced at home and bring it into the real world.

At the time, the "healthy" scene was highly saturated by raw veganism, but I was all about bone broth, gut health, meat, and fermentation. In a stroke of naiveté or insanity (or both), we signed a lease despite having zero experience and got to work bringing the kind of food we loved into the world.

How do you rely on food for healing? Are there specific ingredients you incorporate for certain phases of life?

I view every meal as a form of healing; it’s just how my brain works when I’m building a plate. My template is usually the same: I fill half the plate with colorful vegetables, then layer in lots of herbs and spices, healthy fats, and a substantial amount of well-sourced protein to keep my blood sugar stable. I add a healthy starch for energy that won't cause a crash later, usually beans. I love beans.

This template has been my "North Star" for years and it's how I design most of our dishes at Honey Hi, which is why people feel so good after they eat there! I’m also a huge advocate for savory breakfasts—I have to start my day that way or I truly can’t function. I’m still big on medicinal mushrooms, mineral-rich sea salts, and packing as many exciting herbs and spices into a meal as possible.

Obviously nourishing food can and should taste delicious, but how has the relationship between the two evolved for you?

To me, the coolest thing about the relationship between flavor and nutrition is that they are completely interwoven. I love learning about the many phytochemicals and bioactive profiles that different foods contain and incorporating that into my cooking.

The reason these pungent, flavorful spices and herbs taste so great isbecause they’re packed with medicinal nutrients—they offer so many benefits for digestion, immunity, and various systems in the body. The more of those flavor-building foods I incorporate, the better it tastes—and the better it is for you.

Now throw a toddler into the mix… How has having a child changed your relationship with food?

Oh man, this is such a real question. It has changed so much about how I eat and cook for my family. Primarily, it has forced me to simplify. I am naturally a maximalist cook—I want to make eight components for every meal and put 15 ingredients into each one—but I just can’t do that anymore and stay sane. Now, I try to strike a balance by making three or four components at most and simplifying the flavors slightly.

I also rely heavily on Sunday meal prepping so the week feels more organized and stripped down. That said, it’s still really important to me that my son is exposed to the flavors I love and develops a diverse palate, so I make an effort to keep variety in the mix without going crazy.

One non-negotiable? I eat first. I usually have my breakfast before my son gets up. I have it prepped so I can heat it up quickly, because I refuse to go hungry while feeding everyone else. It’s too easy to slip into that pattern, so I prioritize my own nourishment first.

How do you incorporate avocado oil?

Honey Hi has been a completely refined vegetable oil-free restaurant since we opened ten years ago. The only cooking oils we’ve ever used are olive oil, grass-fed butter, coconut oil, and avocado oil—so I’m a huge fan! At home, I use it for everything from making avocado oil mayo for tuna salads to any high-heat cooking. It’s also my favorite addition to waffle and pancake mixes. 

Honey Hi is a pillar of the east side food scene. What are your favorite places to eat nearby?

First of all, thank you! I am so proud of my "tiny engine that could" (did you know we don’t even have a walk-in refrigerator?!). I love Kismet; we eat there once a week. Ototo and Tsubaki are always top-tier, and our favorite splurge for a celebratory meal is definitely Baroo.

How does seasonality factor into your home cooking and the menu at Honey Hi?

It’s one of the foremost pillars I hang my hat on, both professionally and personally. I go to the farmer’s market every single weekend with my family. We fill our cart and cook with as much local produce as possible because it honestly just tastes better and lasts longer. I love the personal relationships I’ve built with farmers over the years—it gives me a sense of groundedness and community that can be hard to find in a city as big as Los Angeles.

At Honey Hi, we’ve sourced 90% of our produce from the farmer’s market for the last decade. It’s a harder, more time-consuming, and certainly more expensive way to operate, but I can’t imagine running a restaurant any other way.

What’s a meal you have on repeat in your home kitchen?

My go-to green smoothie for years has been the House Salad. I eventually added it to the menu at Honey Hi, despite the insane food and labor costs! I drank this constantly in my first trimester when the thought of most food was repulsive, and it’s still in heavy rotation. It doesn’t spike your blood sugar and is full of fiber, healthy fats, and protein. I blend it until it's roughly room temperature and eat it with a spoon, topped with some bee pollen.

HOUSE SALAD SMOOTHIE

• Juice of ½ lemon

• 4 oz milk of choice (I’m an almond girl)

• 1 big handful parsley

• 8 mint leaves

• 2 sticks celery, chopped

• ½ green apple

• 1.25 oz frozen coconut meat

• 1/4 avocado (frozen or fresh)

• Protein powder of choice (I like Pumpkin Seed protein and Marine Collagen right now!)

What's exciting you in the food world right now?

It’s cool to see that it’s become more commonplace for people to use—and publicize that they use—high-quality oils, grass fed/pasture raised meats, and local produce. That used to be such a niche, "insider" thing, and seeing that transparency become a standard is exciting. It gives me hope that our kids will grow up with something different than the highly processed diet that pretty much every single American grew up with in our generation.