Hearth and Soul: An Interview with Marco Canora 

Marco Canora is no stranger to wholesome comfort food. His East Village restaurant Hearth, has been nourishing neighbors and tourists alike, with rustic, Tuscan-American farm-to-table fare for almost 20 years. Add to that his nationally adored broth company Brodo, and he’s got plenty keeping him busy these days. 

The pandemic presented a slew of unforeseen challenges, but in working through them, Canora saw an opportunity. The somewhat sudden and temporary closure of indoor dining in New York City birthed a completely new concept, Hearth for Home, an online provision shop that consists of frozen meals that can be purchased and enjoyed at home without the potential hassles associated with delivery. Here, Canora tells La Cucina Italiana how he developed this concept and discusses the inspiration behind it and how his food philosophy continues to drive his passion to push the needle towards local, seasonal, and healthful food.

Hearth is an East Village institution. What have been some key philosophies or practices that have kept things fresh and exciting for you and your team?
The original pitch when we opened was, and lives to this day, is to serve real food that tastes, looks, and smells delicious, but also makes you feel good. We don’t have a shtick. We support our local farmers and great wine producers, and serve nourishing food with excellent hospitality. We serve simple, local food and obsess over quality, from where we source our butter to milling our own New York State flour in the basement. I think a lot of people back when we opened thought it was a yawn, but to this day believe in that mission and think it has become more and more rare to find restaurants that serve transparent, nourishing, seasonal food. We are driven by nutrient density, food quality, flavor, and culture, not by margin and profit. 

How and when was the idea for Hearth for Home born?
It was an evolution over time. As a busy NYC restaurant, we are equipped to feed hundreds of diners per week. Back in the beginning of the pandemic when the city shut down, we found ourselves suddenly left with a ton of perishables, which we turned into finished dishes, stored them in pint containers, and froze them. We put those meals on a menu and offered them out of the Brodo take-out window. The concept caught fire, and we burnt through inventory quickly. In the midst of the panic-driven trips to the supermarket to stock up on toilet paper, people seemed to really want simple, nourishing, frozen soups and meals. That time period made me realize that there’s a market for this. 

What’s the advantage of buying frozen meals over traditional restaurant delivery?
We do both, but when I asked customers for feedback, the response was always the same. What they loved most was that they were able to pull the Hearth for Home items out of their oven and eat while was hot. Our delivery world has a whole host of uncontrolled variables when it comes to getting your food to you quickly and with the same integrity that was intended when it was prepared at the restaurant. Frozen meals take the stress out of waiting for delivery. There’s no premium to pay, so they’re more affordable, more healthful, and are there when you want them. 

What kind of meals and provisions are you serving?
I was obsessed with idea of the old Swanson frozen dinners and Stouffer’s French Bread Pizzas, but wanted to make them healthier. I’ve always wondered why frozen foods had such bad ingredients. Right now we offer six “Laptop Dinners," three French Bread Pizzas, a variety of soups, pasta kits, ready-to-bake sweets, and a kid’s meal. People love them and I think they will continue to grow because they deliver in both the food and nostalgia.

Are there any specific nostalgic or personal ties to the menu?
Every Saturday night during my childhood, my parents would go on date night. My sister and I got to have one “bad food” treat and for me, it was always a Pepperoni French Bread Pizza. For Hearth at Home, we also just signed up with Table22, a subscription platform for monthly delivery, where we offer a new Laptop Dinner every week. We just did one with coppa pork shoulder, braised with uccelletto beans and bitter greens, which really spoke to my mom’s native Lucca and my fundamental appreciation of simple and seasonal food.

What are the current bestsellers?
The Kid’s Meal of chicken fingers with carrots and mac and cheese is really popular, as is the Braised Chicken Thighs with Sautéed Rapini. My latest obsession is to create an ordering feature where you can design your own TV Dinner. The ultimate goal is to offer an option that’s better than what’s available in the supermarket that’s creative and healthful.

What is your favorite item and why?
The Braised Chicken Thighs. It’s a dish that’s built on one of my favorite dishes that we serve at Hearth, Braised Rabbit and Olives. I love the flavors of the soffritto, rosemary, thyme, and other herbs.

Do you plan to continue offering Hearth at Home once the restaurant industry returns to a new sense of normalcy?
Absolutely! I think that the pandemic was the biggest blessing that this industry could’ve asked for in that it gave us an opportunity to rethink the model. All of this work we did is not going away. Additional revenue is too meaningful. We had to build efficiencies and get production out of our team, and freezing offered us a way to do those things.

How can people order Hearth at Home?
Through Hearth’s website!

Brodo has really blown up. What about broth initially intrigued you?
Broth has been at the center of my home and my restaurants since the beginning. It’s as essential as salt, butter, eggs, and milk. When I wanted to get my health back, I was blown away by the results in shifting from too much coffee a day to broth. It’s soothing, delicious, and doesn’t spike your blood sugar. It’s comfort food without the guilt. I drank it all day every day, healed my gut and my body was able to come back to life. 

Brodo started out from a small window at Hearth. What have you learned from growing that concept?
My health journey coincided with the renewal of my lease and a 60% increase in rent. I always wanted to utilize the window at Hearth and belabored this idea of selling something out of it. It all came together and a light bulb lit. Brodo was born. I bought a rubber stamp from this really cool stamp store on 11^th Street, purchased little white cups, and that was it. Fast-forward to today – We have four brick and mortar locations and our e-commerce site. We’re 1,000 subscribers strong and growing, and have created a tribe of people who share the same beliefs as us. 

Is broth really an adequate substitute for coffee?
Coffee is an amphetamine. While it does contain some health benefits, it’s not exactly a nutrient-dense beverage. While it’s unrealistic to think that broth will take down the coffee market, I do think that we can capture a portion of it, as well as the snack market. I believe in the promise of Brodo. I saw it first hand myself, and every day in the shop. Customers love the comfort of it. It changes health outcomes. I’m on a mission to spread this thing that feels like a hug and tastes delicious. Broth is emotionally satisfying and also nourishing. Not a lot of other foods have those capabilities.

Do you have any exciting projects in the works?
We are in the works in going nationwide at Whole Foods (currently available in Northeast stores), which is really exciting. We are also about to launch a bunch of new broths and infusions so that national customers will have access to broth shop drinks that aren’t currently available on our website. Lastly, I have this idea to convert our PDR—private dining room—at Hearth into a Picard-inspired Hearth for Home Frozen Food Market. Stay tuned!