Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/106621
from behind the doors with her apron on, all covered in flour. She was so warm and friendly. I found that to be so important. It was fine dining���but there was no arrogance or pretention involved. And I wanted to make sure that if I had my own restaurant I would carry that on. So was that one of your goals���to have a fine-dining restaurant that feels unpretentious���when you opened Harvest? That, and I wanted to show that there could be another restaurant that supported local, seasonal cuisine that was really different from L���Etoile. What we heard constantly was not that people stopped going to L���Etoile���they just started going out to eat more often. An enormous number of restaurants go under within their first year. How nervous were you when you opened Harvest? What was that first night like? You know those nightmare dreams where you have an exam in college and you know you���re going to fail? That���s what it was like. But we were literally still hanging signs on the wall and people were lining up to get in. By the end of the night I remember just sitting in the front window bawling. It was a relief it was over. And it was so exciting. ��� [When Lax came to L���Etoile] she brought business management experience from an entirely different field. She also brought something we needed so much in those early years, a great enthusiasm and willingness to share and learn.��� Odessa Piper on why she took a chance bringing the young and inexperienced Lax on board Since then, Harvest has done really well. How do you explain your success? It���s interesting���we had a record year last year. Our sales were up by almost nine percent, which is pretty unheard of after this many years. But we do a lot of business with the hospitals, university and for special occasions. And we���ve always kept it really small. We���re fine dining, but we don���t take ourselves too seriously. February 2013 bravamagazine.com 45