My first words were always about food - I grew up in northern California, and when I was 10 years old, I had my own pretzel cart business.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I'm a California girl, right? I grew up with that farm-to-table dining before it was sweeping the nation.
I opened my own restaurant when I was 17. I went broke, then traveled around the country, learning about different kinds of foods, had three other restaurants that went broke. It didn't all start just a few years ago!
I was raised in restaurants. My parents opened their first restaurant, Buonavia, in Queens when I was just 3. This business has always been my way of life. As a kid, home was reserved only for sleeping. After school, you could find my sister and I helping out at the family restaurant.
I had a working mother. She worked for IBM. My dad lived in another town - not very far away, but another town. So food was - I guess food was my friend.
My first job was, like, McDonald's.
I started in the supermarket business in the early '70s. And by '75, '76, I realized you don't have a business unless you own the real estate.
I grew up with fantastic Southern food. In Southern California.
I started my first business at 14!
When I was 13, I opened my own business called The Awesome Pretzel Company, and my dad helped me build a pretzel cart.
Growing up, my dad owned a restaurant in Washington, DC, and food was something I was passionate about. But when I finally got into it, I felt like it was so late in the game; that's why I worked seven days a week at Craft and Mercer Kitchen. I wanted to see how far I could take it.