Dominique Crenn Talks About the Journey of Success

Dominique Crenn is the first female chef in America to be given two Michelin Stars, which are awarded to restaurants for their excellence. For the top-rated chef, this honor marks another "first." Back in 2007, she was the first female executive chef in Indonesia at the Intercontinental Hotel in Jakarta.
Crenn, who appears on the popular Food Network competition, Iron Chef, knows that success is personal. "Success is not about money, it's not about who you know," she said. "It's about yourself and who you are inside."
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According to her speech at TEDxFiDiWomen in February, Creen learned her lessons about success from her dad when she was a young girl growing up in Versailles, France. The cooking and love of food, however, came from watching her mom and grandmother in the kitchen, and from eating at top-rated restaurants as a child. Creen once joked with reporter from the Contra Costa Times that she was born with foie gras in her mouth.

Creen started her career as an unpaid kitchen assistant in France, and after traveling through Europe to learn about different cultures and culinary styles, she moved to San Francisco and trained as a chef. Creen later worked in several American restaurants, all the while carrying her dad's words close to her heart. She even makes reference to her dad in the name of her popular San Francisco restaurant, Atelier Creen, where his artwork can be viewed around the eatery. "Food is nourishing for me, it nourishes my heart, my head, and it's a lot of emotions," she said.

But in 2009, the chef was working long hours when an accident at home changed her life. "I sliced my knee, my tendon," Creen explained. "It was about an inch-and-a-half from my artery. So I could have bled to death. And it just kind of woke me up about how I need to live life."

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Creen still has a strong work ethic, but she knows that success is not without fun, and not without a strong team behind her. "I think a lot people live and breathe to get a Michelin Star," said Crenn. "It means a lot to my team. You know, you don't, you don't get awards without having people behind you. We spend about 12 hours to 14 hours every day with each other. So it's kind of a family. It's the house. And I think you can be serious, but you have to have fun."

She also remembers that success is a winding road that must be traveled with patience: "Success is a journey. It's about sharing the love of food and the passion that you have for that craft with other people. And that feels good."

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