“My life has been a total accident – a very happy wonderful accident that I didn’t and couldn’t have planned.”
The fact that Rachael Ray did not know where she was going makes where she wound up today all the more impressive. Despite never working at a five-star restaurant, attending a single cooking class, or training under a revered chef, Ray has made a name for herself as one of the industry’s most successful cooks. She is one of Food Network television’s most popular hosts, the author of numerous bestselling cookbooks, and editor-in-chief of her own magazine. More recently, Ray stepped out even farther into the limelight with her own hour-long daytime talk show, “Rachael Ray”. So, if not from a culinary institute, where did this daytime diva get the cooking know-how that has taken her on a meteoric rise to fame?
It all came from her big, Italian family, she says. Rachael Domenica Ray was born on August 25, 1968 in Glens Falls, New York. Her mother’s parents had come from Sicily, while her dad’s background was Cajun from Louisiana. Ray grew up in Lake George, New York, close to where her mother managed several restaurants. Her family also owned a number of restaurants on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. “I was surrounded by all different styles of cooking and worked in the food service industry in just about every capacity you can imagine,” says Ray.
By the time Ray turned 20 years old, she began itching to see what life was like in the big cities. Leaving her family behind, Ray moved to New York and begun a city-wide job hunt. She did not particularly care what she did; she just wanted to make enough money to support herself.
Ray found her first job at Macy’s, where she was hired to work behind the store’s candy counter. She was quickly promoted to be manager of the store’s Fresh Foods department. It was her two years at Macy’s to which Ray credits her knowledge of gourmet food. From there, Ray went on to work for Agata & Valentine, an upscale gourmet store in New York, where Ray acted as store manager and buyer.
But Ray was growing tired of life in the big city and chose to move back to Lake George. There, she began managing pubs and restaurants at the Sagamore Resort. As a result of her performance there, she was recruited as a food buyer for Cowan and Lobel, a gourmet supermarket in Albany. It was not long before Ray was given additional duties, namely that of chef.
It was a challenging position for Ray. She soon found that the meals she was preparing had begun to outsell the store’s grocery sales. “So I went around and asked all of my customers, ‘Why do you not cook? Why are you not buying the groceries’” says Ray. “And everybody said the same thing: ‘I have no time, and it’s easier to cook the prepared meals.’”
As it turned out, people loved her prepared dishes but just did not have the time or the know-how to make them themselves. With that, Ray knew she had a big opportunity on her hands.
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