Miriam and Ernst visited whenever Miriam was in a manic phase. Miriam was distressed at the way Reichl was living and urged her to get a job in a restaurant, to have some kind of ambition for her future. Although she disagreed about the bourgeois ideal of ambition, Reichl was interested in the idea of working at a restaurant—she had her eye on one in particular, a highly-regarded worker-owned restaurant called The Swallow. Reichl includes a recipe for a pork and tomatillo stew from The Swallow.

At first, the committee of workers who cooperatively ran the restaurant did not seem impressed with Reichl’s credentials, believing her to be a dilettante, not a practical, hard-working professional. When she mentioned living in a commune, however, they reconsidered and allowed her to join their collective on a trial basis. Reichl thrived in the cooperative atmosphere of The Swallow and enjoyed the exhausting work of a professional kitchen. She worked hard to impress the much more experienced chefs and was eventually accepted as a permanent staff member and co-owner.

One difficulty at The Swallow was a regular customer named Rachel Rubenstein. Rubenstein developed a fascination with Reichl and spent more and more time at the restaurant. Her behavior became progressively more alarming, and eventually it was clear that she was mentally ill. The staff discussed banning Rubenstein but could not come to an agreement because some felt it was wrong, despite the potential danger she represented.

Rubenstein began following Reichl around town. In one encounter with the woman, Rubenstein insisted over and over that she and Reichl were the same and that Reichl could not escape the mental illness that would eventually overtake her, too. The staff of The Swallow, concerned about Reichl’s safety, suggested that it might be time for Reichl to find a different job.

In 1977, Doug was invited to Artpark, an arts festival near Buffalo, New York. It was a big break for him, and Reichl was proud of him but also slightly jealous of the attention his works brought him. She was pleased when a journalist came to write an article about the cooking classes she was giving at the festival and was flattered by the glowing write-up she got. The reporter’s exaggerated assertion that Reichl’s recipes were widely sought-after brought increasing numbers of people to watch Reichl’s demonstrations. She includes a recipe for “Artpark Brownies,” one of her most popular recipes.

Her happiness was somewhat diminished by another crisis brewing in her parents’ lives. Aunt Birdie’s 100th birthday was approaching, and Miriam had decided to throw her a birthday party. Reichl’s father called frequently, desperate to get her to leave Artpark and come help with the preparations. Miriam, as usual, had thrown the house into chaos and was storing huge quantities of discounted foods in the driveway. She had again called the newspapers for coverage and was inviting large numbers of people.

Reichl managed to stand her ground until her mother began calling several times a day, forcing Artpark staff to drop what they were doing and find Reichl. The director of the festival suggested that she leave early to resolve her family situation, and Reichl finally capitulated. When she arrived at their home, she was startled to see how unwell her father looked, but he made it clear that her mother did not like attention being paid to Ernst’s health instead of on her own.

Reichl had some difficulty getting her mother focused on party preparations, and she and her mother fought several times a day. Eventually, however, she managed to bring order to the house and the preparations. She decided to cook the dishes from Aunt Birdie’s wedding menu for the party and took pleasure in knowing both the guests and Aunt Birdie would be pleased. The party went well, and Reichl was flooded with gratitude toward Birdie and Alice for everything they had done to help prepare her for the world.

That fall, Reichl was offered a job as a restaurant critic for a new San Francisco magazine. She was nervous during her first assignment, but she realized that the many people who had taught her about food and restaurants over the course of her life had prepared her well. The only way in which she felt unprepared was in the evaluation of wine. She struck up an acquaintance with a wine seller named Kermit Lynch and began buying wine from him, letting him teach her everything he knew about wine in the process. She invited him for dinner one night and made beef bourguignon with one of his wines—she includes a recipe for this dish. During the dinner, she asked him to take her along on his next trip to France to sample wines.

In France, Kermit took Reichl along on visits to many vintners—small and large producers who were all anxious to please him and secure orders from him. Kermit was extremely discerning, however, explaining to Reichl his exacting criteria and further educating her about the production of fine wines. She discovered that, as excellent as her own judgment about wine had become, Kermit could still taste elements of the wine that she could not.

Reichl was often surprised by the wines he turned down and saw how difficult it was for him to decline a purchase from struggling vintners who depended on his business. He explained to her, though, that part of what made him turn down certain wines was a desire to shape the wine market and improve the overall quality of what he could make available to the American market. She was impressed with his passion and the time and energy he committed to this project.

Miriam’s criticism of Reichl’s chosen profession continued, and Reichl’s panic attacks returned. She became afraid to drive herself anywhere, and was particularly terrified of driving across bridges. When she was invited to a party honoring James Beard, she almost decided not to go; in the end, she got there using public transportation.

She was nervous at the party and ended up chatting with a man who did not intimidate her because he introduced himself as someone who “[worked] for a milk company” (270). The man introduced her to Marion Cunningham, saying that he thought they should know one another. After Reichl and Marion talked for a while, Marion insisted on introducing Reichl to James Beard himself.

Beard was dismissive, and Marion later told Reichl that Beard was often unpleasant to women. When Reichl replied that she preferred the company of “the milkman” to Beard’s, Marion asked whom she meant (271). Marion was amused to learn that this is how the great wine critic Gerald Asher had introduced himself to Reichl. Reichl was embarrassed to learn that she had been talking to someone important without knowing it and nervously asked whether Marion was someone important, too. Marion assured her that she was not, modestly referring to herself as “the last living home cook” (272).

In the weeks following, Marion quickly became a close friend of Reichl’s and shared many stories about the famous people she knew in the food world. Reichl shares Cunningham’s recipe for deviled eggs—a dish that was a big hit during the party for James Beard. On their way to lunch one day, Marion confided that she was once addicted to alcohol and was now a nondrinker. Reichl struggled to pay attention to the story, as she was driving and was coming up to the Bay Bridge. As Marion talked, Reichl tried desperately to hide her rising panic.

Marion seemed to have noticed, but did not directly comment. As they crossed the bridge, she gently began telling Reichl about struggling with phobias of her own—phobias so debilitating that she was nearly unable to leave her home. Marion kept talking calmly without drawing attention to Reichl’s terror. She explained that, in the end, her son Mark’s intervention helped her. He bought her a ticket to Portland to take a class with James Beard, which he knew she badly wanted to do. He told her that if she did not get on the plane for that trip, she would never get up the courage to do anything and would not accomplish her dreams. She was terrified, but she went—and each trip after that was easier.

They met Marion’s friend Cecilia Chiang at Cecilia’s acclaimed restaurant, The Mandarin. Cecilia served them several delicious foods Reichl had never tried before and told Reichl about fleeing China and gradually working her way to America and opening her restaurant. Marion and Cecilia agreed that they were both grateful that they never let marriage or motherhood interfere with their pursuit of their dreams. On the drive back, Reichl suddenly felt inspired by Marion and Cecilia. She faced the bridge with new strength, determined to move forward into the future she herself dreamed of.