Lenny Rice
When Lenny Rice (1998 Essex Culinary) was 10 years old her mom made her a t-shirt that read "It's Just Lenny." Everyone hoped that would answer the question that even I asked - is Lenny short for anything? The answer is no, Lenny is just Lenny. But in no way does that describe her. She has never been "just" anything!
Lenny grew up in southeastern Oklahoma in a large family with a mother who was working full time and going to school. Everyone in the family was expected to pitch in. Lenny and her siblings had a chore list: Monday was the night that Lenny had to cook dinner, while other days she was responsible for vacuuming, laundry and other family chores. It was the same for her siblings. But Lenny's brothers and sisters didn't want to cook dinner, so she made them a deal - she'd do the cooking if she could get out of the other chores. Her life as a cook had started.
The Rice family is also a Sooner family - they live and breathe University of Oklahoma. When it was time for college Lenny left for Oklahoma just like her parents before her.
But it didn't feel right. Though she was going to classes she preferred her time working at a local coffee shop in town. It wasn't long before she was managing the shop and cutting back on her classes. When the owners decided to sell the place, Lenny, at the age of 20, bought it. And soon found out she was in over her head.
But working at the coffee shop also got her thinking. What did she really want to do? What did she LOVE to do? And she knew - she wanted to be a chef. Soon she was working towards her goal saving money for culinary school. Unbelievably the Oklahoma bombing gave her the impetus to move on. Her coffee shop was four blocks away from the bombsite, and though it did not sustain any damages, it provided the perfect excuse to sell the shop and leave.
All of her research on culinary schools came from a little red book she found in the local library. It listed the top 5 schools in the country, including NECI. Vermont caught her eye and soon she was speaking with alumni, reading up on the school and realizing that with her total lack of food background, the low student-faculty ratio meant it was the perfect place for her.
A little red strawberry taught Lenny a good lesson early on at NECI. She was in a product identification class being taught by Molly Stevens and was given a strawberry to taste. The question was asked "Is this a good strawberry?" Lenny, having never had a fresh strawberry, exclaimed that it was the best strawberry she had ever tasted! Of course, she quickly learned that it was out of season, over grown, and had almost no taste. Lenny's eyes were opened to what fresh food is all about. She started to seek out new taste experiences and to understand what it really meant for something to be "fresh."
Lenny's first internship was at the Four Seasons in Florida. Here was a new learning experience - and it was hard. Lenny was the only woman of ten interns. She started to question herself: Am I over my head? Is this what I really want? Should I just quit? Fortunately, Lenny found herself some support in the only other female in the kitchen, the sous chef. Her new friend helped Lenny keep her perspective and taught her that she did not have to work in a hotel kitchen to be a chef. It was here that Lenny started to see her future and it did not have her cooking in a restaurant kitchen!
Lenny's second year at NECI was incredibly successful. She spent time giving tours, working side gigs and having lots of fun. She also discovered wine. Lenny couldn't learn enough about wine and decided she had to do her second internship out in Napa Valley. She heard that two friends from NECI, Chris Moonsammy (1998 Essex Culinary) and William Closs (1998 Essex Culinary), were heading to Napa and asked if she could come along. She knew there was no way she could afford an internship out there unless she could share living expenses. Lenny found herself an internship at Brix, shared a trashy apartment with her friends and quickly realized she needed a second job to make ends meet. Never being one to worry about hurdles she got herself a job at the Mondavi Vineyards.
At this point life for Lenny started to move quickly. She became a Wine Educator at Robert Mondavi Winery working directly with Robert Mondavi. She reduced her responsibilities at Brix to being a banquet chef. She was working seven days a week, and every night hanging out with all the other chefs in town at Pancha's Bar.
When Mondavi Winery decided to remodel their visitor center, Lenny proposed a wine and cheese program and created a new job for herself - Visitor Center Chef for Mondavi Vineyards. She had the best of all worlds - cooking for special events, conducting wine classes, and discovering the world of cheese. Cheese for Lenny, was the new wine! And Lenny got to know the two ladies at the Cowgirl Creamery, which would lead to a friendship that would last a life time.
Lenny still didn't stay put. She left the vineyard and paired up with Brigid Callinan (1994 Essex Culinary) to open Copia: The American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts, offering extensive culinary programs to tourists. She was working in the kitchen with the top chefs of the day (Jacques Pepin, Julia Child) and cookbook authors such as Molly Stevens. Brigid and Lenny complemented each other and another friendship was born.
After a two year stint at Copia, Lenny called her friends at Cowgirl Creamery. The next thing she knew she was their wholesale manager and head cheesemonger. Lenny helped the company grow their business by 500% in 5 years by working with the contacts in the food industry that she had developed. She became a logistics expert, moving cheese across the country.
Lenny kept adding projects. She wrote a book with Brigid Callinan called "Fondue." She helped her mother and friends choose great food items to give as gifts. Lenny kept thinking there was some way to pull together all of her passions into one creative job. She knew she had something to offer and decided that the internet was the best way to share her knowledge.
Lenny, friend Brigid and her husband, Chris decided to spearhead a new web directory called Good Food Source (www.goodfoodsource.com). The website would be the ultimate food source for foodies, a place where people could find unique products and excellent service from small (and large) companies across the country. Lenny was able to capitalize on all of the friendships she had made over the years and her friends helped her to make even more connections. Lenny's goal is for good food to survive and to support family farms and family businesses.
Good Food Source has a lot going on. There are recipes (Dixie's Pantry, named after her mom!), an article on what's in season, featured products and of course lists and lists of wonderful resources for the very best in food products. Want to find the best buffalo mozzarella? Go to Goodfoodsource.com. Need an idea for a gift for a foodie in your life? Check out Goodfoodsource.com. Lenny has dreams about where her website directory will go. She envisions a test kitchen, writers, a documentary and a communal table where everyone eats together. Knowing Lenny, she'll get there.
Lenny believes that you must put yourself out there in order for opportunities to come to you. Embrace the possibilities! Let it happen! Keep going forward! These are the words that she lives by. She has been successful because she loves what she is doing and is willing to see that the road is not straight and narrow, but instead is full of lots of bumps and curves. Lenny knows that good food connects everyone no matter their place in life. And she relishes sharing all that she has learned. Lenny is so much more than "just" Lenny.