Cooking as Fast as I Can (36 page)

Thank you to my incredibly gifted writer, Karen Karbo. Thank you for nourishing my stories with the ultimate deference and care, for hearing my life without judgment but with empathy over many great tuna-jalapeño melts. You got it just right.

To my mom, Virginia: you are always a beacon of light in my life. I am eternally grateful that you adopted me and made me always feel safe, loved, and chosen. I love you, Mo. To my father, Spiro, who I am sure is bragging to God right now about “his girl”: I miss you every day, Daddy. To Joanne: thank you for caring for me for nine months, giving me life, and then searching for twenty-one years. You never gave up on me. I love you.

To my grandmother Alma: you continue to be my angel and watch over me; these last couple of years I could have used you a little more, but I know you are there. To Randy and Carla: thank you for always being there for me and our family; you are my parents, too. To my brothers, Mike and Chris: my love and respect is immense. Jeff, Carrie, Jennifer Ann, Jason, Kim, and Michelle: I am so proud you are my brothers and sisters. To my awesome nieces and nephews, Morgan, Nicholas, Alexi, Anna, Andrew, Paxton, and Hallie: dream the biggest dreams, because you can—you will—make them happen, end of story. To my godparents, Taki and Maria: you have
always loved me unconditionally and inspired me to go out into the world.

To my extended family and friends everywhere—you know who you are: thank you for your love and your support.

Thank you to Shannon Welch, my superb, brilliant editor, for believing that my life was interesting enough to fill a book, and for creating a book I can really be proud of. Many thanks to you and the entire team at Scribner!

To Jan Miller and Nena Dupree, my book agents at Dupree Miller: thank you for all the pep talks and encouragement, and for all of your tireless work and dedication.

To Tyler Goff, my talented plate-juggling assistant: thank you for the ridiculously great work you do every day on my behalf.

To Barbara Karrol: thank you for your brilliant counsel, continuing friendship, and, last, your endurance.

Thank you to all my business partners at HBF, Hojeij Branded Foods. I want to extend a special thanks to Regynald G. Washington, the CEO of my fan club, for your belief in my talent over the years. Thank you to my teams at the Cat Cora's Kitchen and Cat Cora's Gourmet Market airport restaurants at San Francisco International, Houston, Salt Lake City, and, as of this writing, Atlanta, as well as my international partners and team at Ocean by Cat Cora on Sentosa Island, Singapore, and Resorts World Sentosa (RWS). Thank you all for creating hugely successful restaurants with me and for being the day-to-day supreme teams!

To my partners at Grecian Delight: thank you for your dedication to quality and loyalty.

I want to thank my partners Sherry Villanueva and Brian Kelly at Bird Dog Mercantile in Santa Barbara, and our rocking team at BDM!

I want to thank my legal teams at Barnes and Thornburg and Manatt, and thanks also to my teams at UTA, 3Arts, and ID PR.

To any other subjects of this book who were at one time either hurt by me or who hurt me, I give the gift of this quotation:

As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and anger behind, I'd still be in prison.

—Nelson Mandela

I am free.

CAT CORA
grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, attended the Culinary Institute of America, and worked in New York City before traveling overseas to apprentice in Europe with world-renowned French chefs Georges Blanc and Roger Vergé. After the Food Network discovered her in 1999, she went on to become the first female Iron Chef. She is the founder of the charitable organization Chefs for Humanity, and she has built a brand that includes food lines, cookware, and restaurants around the globe. She lives in Santa Barbara, California, with her wife and four sons. For more information, please visit
CatCora.com
.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-1-4767-6614-0

ISBN 978-1-4767-6616-4 (ebook)