I purchased my first cook book at the age of 9. My Uncle (my mother’s brother/friend) Arthur DeCuir owned DeCuir’s and The Barking Fish. There I learned to eat duck breast at the age of 5 and was completely fascinated by the world of fine dining. Everything about it made all of my senses come alive. My grandmothers were both amazing cooks and both very feminist. When I told my family I wanted to go to culinary school, my grandmother’s response was “why would you want to go into the one place women have been working so hard to get out of?” “It’s my passion,” was my answer. They did not see a future in it and therefore offered to pay for me attend college for a business degree, where I could do more with my life than what the world expected of me.
