WHEN I MET FOOD

When I Met Food chronicles this adventure, from how she selected her first location to the careful branding decisions required to build a highly successful restaurant enterprise in metropolitan Boston. In this engaging book, Kathy shares her business savvy peppered with encounters with influential people and even favorite recipes for the aspiring chef.

Kathy Sidell’s earliest memories take her back to food. At age 5 she was taken with her grandmother’s artistry in the kitchen, and even more so by the big, family meals shared on the front porch of their seaside home. Though raised among foodies — her mother, a talented home entertainer; her banker father who single-handedly is credited for building the restaurant business in Boston; and a sister, now a chef and restaurateur — Kathy’s route to food was not as linear. Her early life as a film producer developed her love for story, themes, and setting. But by age 47, she found herself drawn back to food and the risk of restaurant life.
Kathy Sidell’s passion for food started at home, where mealtime was not just about eating food, but discussing it. Her father changed the way people eat in Boston by lending money to up-and-coming chefs and her sister owns a popular Boston restaurant — the restaurant business runs deep. “For as long as I can remember, I‘ve wanted to open a restaurant.” Kathy took the leap in 2005 with the Metropolitan Club in Chestnut Hill, MA. Since then she’s opened three more restaurants, with a fourth in the works, and been recognized for her modern twists on traditional classics. But restaurants are only part of Kathy’s career. After Columbia film school, she co-founded Chelsea Pictures and produced commercials and the acclaimed documentary Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control. “There are great parallels between launching a restaurant and making a film. As a producer, you have to assemble a gifted team of polished professionals who are brilliant at what they do. I take the same approach in building my restaurants.” It’s always showtime at Kathy’s restaurants!