94 FEBRUARY 2020
AT THE FOOD & WINE CLASSIC IN ASPEN,
COLORADO, THE MOST SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE
IN FOOD AND DRINK SHARED THEIR BIGGEST
SETBACKS—AND WHAT THEY LEARNED
FROM OVERCOMING ADVERSITY.
INTERVIEWS BY KAT KINSMAN
PHOTOGRAPHY BY LANDON NORDEMAN
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IN 1996, I was a sous chef
at The Henley Park Hotel’s
restaurant in Washington,
D.C. I was less than a year out of
culinary school and had probably been
promoted too quickly. The chef left me
in charge to oversee the catering of a
wedding reception—an afternoon tea
that the restaurant was known for. As
a former caterer, I felt pretty confident.
I had organized all of the orders and
prep ahead of time so that on the big
day we only needed to bake off scones,
assemble desserts, and fill trays. All
was going well, until it wasn’t.
Halfway through the reception, we
ran out of delicate, carefully crafted
sandwiches. The scones were going
like hotcakes, and I quickly realized
that all of my calculations were off. My
staff went from somewhat calm,
collected, and organized to scrambling,
scattered, and à la minute cooking of
items that were meant to be make-
aheads. I felt like I had upended a ship
that I was entrusted to steer. I was
embarrassed, and I felt like a failure.
Even though the chef wasn’t there to
say so, I felt like I was letting him
down as well as the cooks and waiters.
As much as I wanted to quit, give up,
or run out of that kitchen, I had to do
all that I could to keep the train on the
tracks. I jumped in to help make
sandwiches, figured out how to stretch
desserts, and made a lot of somethings
out of nothing. I had busboys running
to a sister hotel to get bread and other
ingredients that we were low on. As a
team, we pulled it off. In the end, my
biggest lesson was that no matter how
much you’re left in charge, it’s always
the team that gets the work done.
Whether I’m working in a restaurant
or on a TV set, I learned to operate like
there is no low man and there’s no one
in the corner office. Every single job is
needed to keep the ship from
upending.”
CARLA
HALL
CHEF AND TV PERSONALITY,
WASHINGTON, D.C.
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