96 FEBRUARY 2020
AFTER CULINARY SCHOOL, I worked as a cook
and as Jeffrey Steingarten’s assistant at Vo g u e
magazine for two years, and then I needed to
move on. Martha Stewart Living had a job opening
for an assistant food editor. I thought, ‘This is my big
break.’ Jeffrey put in a good word for me, and I had
three nerve-wracking interviews and a recipe writing
test and spent a day cooking in the test kitchen. It was
grueling. I put my heart into it. I didn’t get the job.
I was heartbroken. I cried for three days. I had
thought I was good, and I felt like a fake. I failed. But I
still needed a job, so I kept looking and went to speak
with Daniel Boulud so that he could give me a pep talk.
He said, ‘I think you should just come work for me.’
It was a sharp left turn from my path. My path was
to be in food media, to be a food writer, and to be an
assistant food editor, or something at a magazine. I
also knew that when Boulud offers you a job, you take
it. It really doesn’t matter if you’re scrubbing his floor,
because you’re going to get something out of it. I did. I
worked for him for three years, and I like to say I got my
MBA from Daniel Boulud.”
GAIL SIMMONS
TV PERSONALITY, COOKBOOK AUTHOR, AND FORMER
SPECIAL PROJECTS DIRECTOR FOR F&W, NEW YORK CITY
“
“
[MY WIFE] LORI AND I ENTERED a ‘handshake’
partnership [with a third party] in the first
restaurant we owned together. The partnership
went horribly awry, and we had to leave the restaurant,
strip the name from it, and go bankrupt with three
young children. What we felt: horrified and devastated.
What we learned: how to keep going for the sake of
your children and your dream—and how to answer
the phone to bill collectors in a manner that doesn’t
alert your children that something is very wrong.
And we learned that love conquers all. Thirty-five
years, hard lessons, and still creating a lot of love.
Because of this experience, I went into New York City
and met Drew Nieporent. He and I cooked up the
concept for Heartbeat Restaurant in 1998, and it was
the true phoenix moment of my career, still defining
who I am to this day. What we felt: resilient and
relieved. What we learned: never, ever give up—and no
matter how bad things can get in business, even if it
threatens your family, it’s not a death sentence.
Surviving serious adversity to the point of thriving
defines us far more thoroughly than any success.”
MICHEL NISCHAN
CHEF AND FOUNDER OF WHOLESOME WAVE,
BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT
