Mary Sue & Susan: California's Restaurateurs of the Year

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Well, it was long overdue but better late than never to have the great state of California pay tribute to two of the most talented, hardest working restaurateurs anywhere, Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger. Strangely, last month's news came slowly East from Jerusalem rather than Los Angeles, thanks to a Jerusalem Post article about the Hall of Fame Gala Dinner of the California Restaurant Association at the historic Biltmore Hotel, held a few weeks ago. (California Restaurant Association, I expect hot news about the Too Hot Tamales to come from California and not Israel, thank you! If you need some PR help, call me.) Author Faye Levy wrote: Partners for over 20 years and famous for their enthusiasm and ability to make any event fun, these chefs have done much to enliven the Los Angeles restaurant repertoire and to advance the status of women chefs. Amen! I myself took 43 pages of Super Chef to describe their super chef careers, opening with their saving-grace appearance on The Wayne Brady Show and closing with appreciation from Julia Child ("a lively pair of teachers") and Wolfgang Puck. The only missing items in Super Chef are out-takes of "the Girls" two decades ago as they motorcycled through LA (but ask PBS's KCET or Michael McCarty for copies). Talk about cool before chefs were cool!