The Portland Phoenix has published an interview with the owners of Piccolo, Damian Sansonetti and Ilma Lopez,
Can you tell me a little bit about your background? What made you get into the restaurant business, and what made you stay?
Ilma Lopez: I was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. I studied to work in medicine, but was also drawn to the techniques and specifics of the kitchen and baking. The people and the ingredients (kept me in the business).
Damian Sansonetti: Growing up in a big Italian family in Pittsburgh, Penn., you are always around food and cooking. My father was in the business, but I never thought it would be a career path until when I was in my university chem and bio classes and all I was thinking about was food. (I love) the adrenaline rush of service and the way you get to connect to guests with the food and service. It’s awesome when you trigger a food memory or emotionally move people with what your team can do.
and an article on how two chefs are finding work/life balance once they became mothers.
The funny thing about work/life balance, though, is that for most people the balance is truly key. Too much work can be a bad thing, and so can too little. Now, separately, [Krista Kern] Desjarlais and [Lee] Farrington have turned to breakfast and lunch service, with occasional evening engagements on their own terms, as a way to equalize work and life.
So.. no male chefs were interviewed about the work/life balance?
Huh..
Nope. Just read this article about how these two women chefs achieved life balance in their lives. No men were needed to tell their stories, beyond the author.