I had not come across Erin French until a friend sent me a link to a BBC World Service programme from their Outlook strand. I can’t recommend it enough, just click here
A decade ago Erin French’s life was in tatters. She was in rehab having lost her restaurant, her home and even custody of her son. Following her rehab experience Erin began to rebuild her life, a journey which she describes in exquisite detail In her book, Finding Freedom in the Lost Kitchen. It’s a story of multiple rock-bottoms. Erin sets out to study medicine, an early pregnancy changes things. Navigating survival as a jobless single mother then seeking some kind of relief in alcohol and pills progressing into a consequence filled addiction, along with some of the poor choices anyone who has experienced “the life” can all too readily identify with.
In recovery her son became her guiding light as she slowly rebuilt her personal and culinary life around the solace she found in food at last finding a sustaining source of comfort, a sense of place, and a way of creating a community for herself and others culminating in her restaurant The Lost Kitchen, poetically located in the town of Freedom in Maine.
As owner and chef of the critically acclaimed The Lost Kitchen she and her team created a space for which every reservation was filled the day that booking opened each spring. Universally ecstatic reviews were crowned by TIME magazine declaring it a “ world dining destination”.
And then there was covid, the pandemic had a huge effect on so many businesses and it seemed that this inspiring story might end sadly. As I listened to the Outlook programme and heard Erin tell her story it was hard to ignore thoughts of the “serenity prayer” one verse of which was adopted by AA and later most of the 12 Step Fellowships, and has become a recovery touchstone. “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” In her wisdom Erin came up with a plan, she took the actions she could take, as The Washington Post reports
“To keep the Lost Kitchen going in the covid era, French — along with her husband, Michael Dutton, and the team of women that run the restaurant — scrambled to replace lost revenue, like so many others have been forced to do.
In 2020, they created a farmers market, an online store featuring Maine goods and an outdoor dining space for small lunches and dinners, and they began building tiny cabins in the woods for private dinners and overnights.”
Forget the fridge magnet wisdom of “when life gives you lemons”, a real “lemons/lemonade” moment came with The Lost Kitchen TV show. Having been approached, pre-covid, by Magnolia Network the production crew was there in late 2019 starting work. In just a couple of months the pandemic rewrote the show’s narrative, and another story of struggle, hope and survival folded it’s way in to Erin’s story.
Erin’s husband Michael Dutton noted “Some people have said, ‘Hey, maybe you guys got lucky with this emotional story. Maybe covid gave you a far more dramatic, challenging story to tell.’ ”
As Erin says in the interview,
“You just have to keep finding ways to reinvent yourself. Get scrappy. Go deep. I’ve done it before.”
What a story! And the best bit, it is nowhere near finished!
