98 FEBRUARY 2020
I started cooking professionally in
1949, and I worked at many restau-
rants in France and eventually in
America. I suppose my goal, like any chef,
was to open a great restaurant. However,
in 1974 I sustained 12 fractures in a car
accident. I broke my back, two hips, pelvis
in two places, my arms; I wasn’t supposed
to walk again. I recovered enough, but
it changed my life. I had already started
writing a little bit for House Beautiful, and
the accident pushed me in the direction of
writing, bookmaking, recipe developing,
and so forth, as I couldn’t withstand the
12 hours a day behind a stove that a pro-
fessional has to endure. What could have
been seen as a failure to do something
I always thought I would do, opening
a great restaurant, turned into a life-
time of opportunities I never could have
imagined.”
JACQUES PÉPIN
CHEF AND CULINARY ICON,
MADISON, CONNECTICUT
I ENDED UP OPENING a restaurant [Garland, in
Raleigh] because we had a lease on this space
with a music venue upstairs and a bar down-
stairs, and that’s where our comfort zone was. But then
this restaurant was in the middle floor, and it was built
out. It was ugly, but there it was—my restaurant.
I knew how to cook for maybe a dinner party of 30 very
comfortably, but this was a huge challenge. I was terrified and
insecure about my ability to do it. My husband and I had
some partners that didn’t believe in me. About six weeks
after we opened, they said, ‘This isn’t going to work, and
you’re really emotional about this restaurant. You really
should give it up, and we should lease the space because we
would make more money.’ That was a huge setback for me,
and also, in a way, a blessing looking back on it.
I was so hurt and scared that they were right. But that
challenge really set me on fire. I took it as a dare. We parted
ways in the restaurant and eventually in the whole space.
There were some very quiet nights in our first year and a
half. People would quit because it wasn’t busy and they were
bored. The restaurant business is all about bouncing back
from setbacks. We still have them every day, but it doesn’t feel
as terrifying—usually.”
CHEETIE KUMAR
CHEF AND JAMES BEARD AWARD SEMI-
FINALIST, RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA
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