FOLEY AND FITZGERALD - Key Persons
In 2009, Cindy Race joined Foley and Fitzgerald as a partner. In 2015 when Susie Foley officially retired, Cindy took over as sole proprietor of Foley and Fitzgerald.
Cindy grew up in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, where she started her restaurant career at the age of 14 at the local tavern and inn. At the age of 16, Cindy started an apprenticeship program at The Old Mill Restaurant in South Egremont, MA. Terry Moore, owner and Cindy's mentor, took her under his wing and Cindy credits him with teaching her the culinary basics as well as understanding that everything in life is detail oriented. After restaurant stints around the country including kitchen manager, executive chef and owner, Cindy settled in the Bay Area in 1994.
After 17 years, Cindy left the restaurant industry to private chef for a high profile client, allowing her to focus on hand-picking ingredients and gracious service. In 1997, she and a business partner founded Four Star Private Chefs and for 10 years they successfully matched private chefs and clients. Cindy sold her share of Four Star in 2007 and opened Cindy Race, Private Chef Services, a company to help private chefs find clients in the Bay Area.
A big part of Cindy's culinary career included teaching cooking classes around the Bay Area to culinary enthusiasts. For 15 years, she enjoyed showing students how to use a recipe as a road map, gain confidence in the kitchen, and be more creative.
Steve grew up in the Midwest and started working in the dining room of the country club his family belonged to when he was 14. He hit the jackpot (culinarily speaking) with a family move to Louisiana where he ended up living next-door to Chef Paul Prudhomme. Steve got a taste of the hotel business as a department head at a 5-star hotel in the French Quarter, and picked up a few recipes from Chef Paul on days off. A call from a recruiter on the East Coast landed him in New Jersey/New York with a large steakhouse group based in Dallas, Texas, where to this day, he says it was "the best hospitality education of my life." Good fortune again shined on Steve when he returned to the Midwest and joined the team of the much-lauded L'Etoile in Madison, Wisconsin. Two years of hard-work and attention to detail later, L'Etoile was chosen as a "Top 100 in America" restaurant by several publications, including Gourmet magazine.