ACG WiT: Poppy's Empowerment Luncheon: Celebrating Local Female Founders

My father was a chef. At a young age, 12, I would spend every other weekend with him in his kitchen cutting 10lb bags of onions. At night, he would make me his hostess and barback.  So, I guess you could say, that’s when it all began. 

Both of my grandmothers were amazing cooks and both raised me. I became very handy in a kitchen at a really young age. In my junior year of high school, my home economics teacher (Mrs. Nagel) started a Culinary Arts Program. I was the first graduating class, won a scholarship to Johnson and Wales, and thought my chef life would begin. I had a baby instead. Remembering the quick cash I used to make at 12, I quickly turned to serving. After a year or so, I decided that owning my own space is where I wanted to be. Tirelessly and full of excitement, I worked in restaurants with longevity, great food, long standing employees, and managers willing to share their secrets. Working my way up through the ranks with each space.

One year, my aunt who was a wine buyer for Heinen’s, took me on a 10 day trip through Sonoma and Napa. This completely changed my life and my course. I became a Sommelier, started doing lists for a few restaurants (received a high recognition from Wine Spectator), and took on cocktail programs.

With all of this, I could not let go of the dream of running my very own restaurant. I knew it had to be chef driven, quirky wines, and fantastic cocktails…all I was missing was the chef. A mutual friend introduced me to Jill Vedaa through Facebook and I called her. Simply put, did she want to open a restaurant with me? She responded with, “Don’t you think we should have lunch first?” We opened Salt+ that summer and ran it for 9 years. Two years ago, we opened “Poppy.” Named after my grandmother who always made enough dinner for whoever would stop by.

As they say, all good things come to an end…Jill and I have gone our separate ways and I run Poppy on my own and the amazing staff.

When I am not at work, I love spending time with my husband of almost 20 years and our 6 kids. We are renovating a 120 year old home and enjoying each moment as it comes.