Abigail's Kitchen"Lauren arrived for her interview at my tiny Greenwich Village bistro and cooking school, and I asked her to have a seat in my office, also known as the overstuffed couches in the front of the restaurant overlooking MacDougal Street. She sank into them, and we started talking. Immediately I knew she had a passion for food. She had a great smile and laugh, but she was here to talk about her background in cooking and to tell me why she should get the job assisting me teaching my cooking classes. Right away I could tell cooking and sharing her love for all-things-food was her calling. She was shy but there was that underlying passion that reminded me of my own that sealed the deal. I hired her. I don’t remember if it was during the interview or after she started working that she told me about her grandmother, Dorothy, who was her first big influence. Family is paramount to Lauren. She has a big family, but, perhaps more important, she creates a family wherever she goes, in her kitchens and with her clients. I’ve lost track of all of the things Lauren and I discovered that we have in common but we often joke that we are sisters from another mother. We both believe strongly in the importance of cooking locally, supporting local farmers and fisherman, and of course, eating lots of veggies! Lauren helped me open my second restaurant and was willing to crash on my apartment floor, get few hours of sleep only to start all over again the next day. That’s dedication. We approach food in the same way, speak the same dialect of ‘Food.’ We approach life in the same way too: work hard at what you believe in and life will reward you. It’s been such a joy to see Lauren go on to own her own business, spreading her enthusiasm for fabulous food with every one of her families. Lauren and I both love onions. As Julia Child said “It’s hard to imagine a civilization without onions.” They can be spicy or sweet, crisp or meltingly tender, a kitchen without them is not a kitchen, and by nature they have many layers. That’s an onion but could easily be how I would describe Lauren. "Abigail Hitchcock