The couple shares how they traded careers in healthcare for hospitality, built a neighborhood restaurant and balance running a business with raising two young children.
Natalie Dial and Harry Posner are in the midst of raising young kids and nurturing TOMAT, their neighborhood restaurant in Westchester. Their focus is cozy, friendly and sustainable, using local produce from California and their own 4,000 square foot editable garden down the street.
Excited to share their story and their recipe for Miso Chocolate Chip Cookies, a favorite at the restaurant.
Let’s start with how the two of you met. Take us back.
Before we opened TOMAT, we both worked in healthcare—Harry was a medical doctor, and I was a public health doctor. When we were 23 (and still in school). We met in a small country in Western Africa called The Gambia. We were both stationed at the same medical research compound; Harry was studying Hepatitis D and I was studying Malaria for a few months. Though he lived in London and I lived in San Francisco at the time, we both have family in L.A. and ended up having a million other things in common—the most obvious of which is a deep love of food and cooking. We became friends overseas, spent all of our time off traveling the world together, and in 2016 I moved to London when I was admitted into a PhD program there. We immediately moved in together and the rest of that story is history.
It was always in our 10-to-15-year plan to open a restaurant, be our own bosses, and set down our roots in a community that meant something to us. In 2019, the space that is now TOMAT presented itself to us and we made the leap from London to L.A., and from hospitals to hospitality. This was also right around the time COVID hit, so we had several important years to plan the space and operations, and to also start having kids!
How old are your kids and what do you love to cook for them?
Our daughter, Saffi, is three and a half and our son, Moss, is 6 months old. We’re in the beginning stages of feeding Moss, so he’ll eat pretty much anything we put in front of him. Yogurt, avocado, oatmeal, eggplant, zucchini, refried beans… he’s too new to the game to be picky, and we’re absolutely going to take advantage of it.
Saffi, on the other hand, is extremely partial to pasta, tofu, tomatoes, fruit, and… chicken on the bone. Specifically. And she refers to it as “chicken-on-the-bone.” She doesn’t quite yet grasp that her dad is a chef, so when she scoffs at something he makes we’re already using the same lines our parents used on us: “someday you’re going to appreciate this!” When she hangs out at the restaurant, she usually asks for chocolate croissants, miso chocolate chip cookies, medjool dates, and buckets of tomatoes. Toddlers are such bizarre eaters.
What was the inspiration behind opening TOMAT?
My family history in Westchester goes all the way back to the 1940’s, where my great grandmother owned one of the first grocery stores in the area. It’s a community that is often overlooked in L.A., I think because of its proximity to LAX. But there is such vibrant history and soul in this neighborhood, and we wanted to be a community respite, placemakers, and to help usher it into the casual fine dining food landscape of L.A.
Harry and I had hoped to create a diverse and down-to-earth neighborhood space with meaning behind the menu, operations, and location—we essentially wanted to build our ideal date night spot, coffee and pastry spot, and easy-going lunch spot for the adjacent business community and the whole family. We are incredibly lucky to have all 3 floors of the space, so we are able to have a private dining room, a cocktail terrace on our rooftop, and we even have a 4,000 square foot edible garden down the street.
Our inspiration and ethos revolve strongly around sustainability. It is what drives the design of the building, operations and menu. We use every possible part of our produce and recycle the rest back into our garden. Even in the past 6 years of being back in L.A., the weather has changed dramatically—it’s a testament to how critically important it is that we plant trees, create urban green spaces, minimize waste and support regenerative farming practices. We’ve done our best to invest in all of these things, and hope we instill in our community, neighboring businesses and our own kids the importance of environmentally sustainable practices.
Tells us more about your background and culture and how you’re incorporating that into TOMAT.
Most of the culinary influence is from Harry’s background—his mom grew up in Iran and his dad in London, so he is half Persian and half English. But although his cooking undoubtedly has these influences, our menu is, at its heart, Californian. Everything we source is from our own garden, the farmers market, or from Californian ranchers and fishermen—and it all changes with the seasons.
There are a lot of creative takes on Persian and British cuisine, of course. One of our most popular dishes is Duck with Walnut and Pomegranate Mole, which is an ode to a Persian dish called Fesenjan. Another is our Barbari Bread, which is a classic Persian bread that we marry with focaccia and serve alongside tomato butter. Of course, there are a few overtly British items like Welsh Rarebit and a Full English Breakfast. During breakfast and lunch, and throughout the evening on our rooftop, our menus are more casual and family friendly. Kids tend to love our pastries, French toast and rooftop pizzas at night.
I grew up in Montana, so we also bring a few special things from there like huckleberries and morel mushrooms. We have an entire kitchen dedicated to pastry on our second floor, where we make all our morning croissants and miso chocolate chip cookies from scratch as well as evening desserts—sticky toffee pudding, chocolate mousse and brandied prunes, and even soft serve. After the August huckleberry season, you’ll usually see them appear in our Bakewell Tart (a classic British almond frangipane dessert).
It’s not easy being partners in life and in business, while raising kids, too. Please share some of the challenges and the benefits of working and living together.
To be honest, being partners in business and life has been pretty incredible for us. Since we have two kids, we’re lucky to be able to tag team taking care of them and working. Harry undoubtedly spends more time at the restaurant than I do, as he is the executive chef, but on quieter days he’s able to come home early to put our kids to bed with me.
When we first opened 2 years ago, we both worked 5 days and nights per week, and it was really heartbreaking to be away from Saffi that much. Luckily, my parents live 5 minutes away and were able to take care of her a few of those nights. And we have two wonderful nannies who the kids both love. Now, I’m able to be home every night except for Friday and Saturday (our busiest at the restaurant).
A restaurant is one of those businesses that seemingly never turns off. We often go to bed talking about work and wake up talking about work. But we love what we do and feel so lucky to be in this position. We truly designed TOMAT with our whole hearts, and hope our kids glean something about self-worth from it someday.
Because of how much we work, the time we have with our kids feels sacred. There’s a particular joy in cooking and eating together. It’s something we really don’t take for granted, since we only have 2 dinners per week as a full family.
How has parenthood changed you?
Parenthood has changed us in a trillion ways. We both feel that being parents has made us better versions of ourselves and has absolutely given us important experience for leading a team of 25 employees.
Being a mom has been a slow and steady building of stamina for me—physical, mental, and emotional. Though I still panic and lose my mind occasionally, I’ve developed a deeper capacity to stay calm, think about situations before reacting, and having some sort of plan A, B, and C in the back of my head. Dealing with confrontation, negotiating, and teaching is constant with toddlers, and putting in this practice has also helped me do the same at TOMAT.
There is no real “autopilot” stage of parenting, as far as I’ve experienced, because kids develop so quickly and life is much more enjoyable if we stay ahead of the curve. Saffi is now at a stage where she needs physical, emotional, and intellectual stimulation—she wants to learn how to read and write, she loves being outside and learning new skills like biking or scooter-ing, and she also needs one-on-one time now that a baby is around.
It can feel like the energy we exert on our kids is utterly taxing and sucks us dry of any modicum of liveliness we have left at the end of a workday. But… it’s all just a state of mind, isn’t it? And I’d much rather go about my day pinching myself, realizing how lucky I am to have this hilarious, sweet, and smart 3-year-old telling me all about her day, including the green poop she took.
What does a regular day look like for you? Work, kids, life, all of it.
Moss is in the habit of waking up at 5:45 a.m. on the dot these days, so I usually have an early start with him and start organizing ourselves for the day. Saffi gets up sometime between 6:30-7 a.m. and is very chill and easy-going in the morning. Sometimes the kids want to eat (usually oatmeal or toast with jam). Harry and I pack ourselves breakfast or lunch for the day—if we’re both working a dinner shift, we’ve got to sustain ourselves for 12-14 hours. And though we’re surrounded by food we only formally sit down for an all-staff “family meal” at 3:30 p.m.
We get the kids ready, drop them off at daycare, and are to work by 9 a.m. Our baristas know Harry and my favorite coffee orders (flat white and espresso, respectively) to get us through computer work, meetings, and literal and figurative fires until 4 p.m. or so. If I’m not working the evening shift, I pick up the kids and take them home around 4:30 for dinner, bath and bedtime. It took me a few months to find my rhythm with taking care of 2 kids on my own, but I am no longer in a full sweat about it. If I have extra work, I’ll get back on my computer until 9 p.m. or so. Since being pregnant with Moss, I’ve been reading a book before bed instead of being on my phone and have felt a lot more peaceful at night.
If we’re both working the evening shift, then we try to spend an hour with the kids, even if we bring them to the restaurant for a bit. We are so lucky that our staff love kids–Saffi knows she can go into the pastry kitchen and ask for berries, or go to the chefs for anything else.
We always have a homemade dinner prepped, plated, and labelled for the kids, which is a small love language in its own way. We head back to the restaurant, and doors open at 5 p.m. for dinner. If I’m away from the kids I try to get as much work as possible done, to make my absence feel worthwhile. We always aim to get home by 10 p.m. Sometimes it’s hard to turn our minds off after working late, being in charge of staff and speaking with guests all night. A hot shower and a book are usually how both of us wind down–the less social media, the better.
What’s your parenting motto?
The best advice we were given is to keep doing all the things we love, and to integrate kids into our normal life and activities so that they learn to enjoy the ride with us. Whether it be dining out, travelling, adventuring, or even just grocery shopping and doing chores at home—we keep the kids involved in basically everything. It’s not always a success, but it feels like a worthwhile pursuit.
As Saf gets older, we’ve also realized that the more analog we are, the more even-keeled and creative she is. When we go out for dinner, we bring coloring books and the like (no screens or games). She genuinely wants to be in the conversation and will start to act out when it excludes her for too long. And, as restaurant owners, we LOVE having families in for dinner.
When not working, where will we find you?
We vacation in Montana often, where I grew up. Both summer and winter are equally glorious— hiking, rafting and camping in the summer, skiing and sledding in the winter. We’re planning to spend the holidays there this year, and have our fingers crossed we can finally put Saffi on skis. Hiking is truly the best activity for a toddler, because they naturally follow the trail and you don’t have to worry about them running off (or at least attempting to run into traffic).
What’s your go to favorite dish at home?
Beef, rice and broccoli bowl; prawn and tomato pasta; or a classic English Sunday roast—whole chicken with carrots, leeks, potatoes and whatever leftover veg we have from the week.
Favorite places in and around L.A. that you like to spend time as a family.
Playa del Rey beach: still feels like a hidden gem of L.A.! Rarely a crowded beach, and so many sea lions and dolphins to see in the marina canal.
Dim Sum with the kids: we go to the South Bay Lunasia often since it’s so close. Saf LOVES any and all dumplings, and the staff are so kind and accommodating to kids.
Farmers markets: always a fantastic outing for kids, especially if you bring a wagon for them to sit in while they eat all the produce. We love Mar Vista on Sundays and Torrance on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
Ballona Wetlands tour—my dad is an ornithologist and works with Friends of Ballona Wetlands, so we always know what events are going on at Ballona! We also usually carry binoculars around in the car with us and Saf is pretty good at ID-ing birds. They’ve created a wonderful tour of the wetlands, which is such an important piece of natural habitat in our urban city.
