About me
I am a co-founder of the Cowgirl Creamery and am originally from Washington, DC. I was born into a huge Irish Catholic family that is still firmly rooted in the Maryland suburbs outside of the District of Columbia.
My first experience at actually working in a restaurant came when I was in college at the University of Tennessee. I waited tables at a loud and roudy college pub. Although I worked the "front of house," I was drawn to the creativity and the kinship of the kitchen crew.
After finishing my degree in Political Science, I visited San Francisco in a hippy van on a tour of the U.S. with two old friends, (one being Peggy Smith, the other Cowgirl Co-Founder), and I fell in love with San Francisco. It was just so wonderfully refreshing to hear music on the streets, to sip espresso in the cafes, and to hear the stories of young people drawn to the magic of San Francisco.
Although I hadn't planned on working in restaurants, San Francisco's harsh economy caused me to take a look at a career in restaurants. In an effort to approach the work as a profession, I studied for a year at the City College Hotel and Restaurant Management School. The program was the best in the west at the time and was sort of a stepping stone for me. This is when I got the idea I might like to own my own restaurant.
While still in school, I worked at The Hotel Obrero, Bambi McDonald's Basque restaurant in Chinatown. I was inspired by the owner's massive cookbook collection and tireless entrepreneurial spirit. Bambi continued to act as cheerleader and support system for me through the ups and downs of all of my various enterprises over the years.
After finishing my program at City College, I worked at the 4th Street Grill in Berkeley under Paul Bertoli. That's were I met Bette. She trained me on the salad station.
Less than a year later, i joined forces with Bette and her husband, Manfred, to open Bette's Oceanview Diner, right across the street in Berkeley. I borrowed some money from my mom, and Bette invested most of her savings in the venture. Manfred had no experience in restaurants, but he was an extremely handy, hard-working guy. We created a quirky partnership that worked beautifully for 11 years.
The diner was designed to be a restaurant with high quality standards, serving
everyday meals to working people. Bette's was a hit right from the start. We fed the contractors from the neighborhood at 6 AM, then the jockeys came from the racetrack, followed by professors from UC Berkeley, and finally the clerks and artists who worked in the shops on the street.
As time passed, the restaurant prospered, but I began to feel the need for change. I moved to Point Reyes Station in West Marin with long-time-companion, Ranger Nan Haynes.
It was here where I made the acquaintance of Ellen Straus, matriarch of the Straus Family Creamery, her husband Bill, and their son Albert, who had ushered in the dairy's move to organic status. Inspired by the Strauses and the beginnings of this brand-new organic dairy industry, I decided to sell my shares in Bette's Diner and open a business in Point Reyes.
Cooking Influences
One of my most powerful childhood experiences was visiting her grandfather, Jules Loh, at work. He managed the city's most popular cafeteria, Sholl's Colonial. This place was a dream for me as a child. Paw Paw handed out meal passes to his grandkids that entitled us to whiz through the long steel line of iceberg salads, homemade stews, pies, and gelatin desserts with permission to grab anything we wanted, as long as we finished our plates. Scholl's was the place where my fascination with the fast, frenzied restaurant world began.
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