A problem with her visa brought her back to California where she met her husband, Michael Bergen, a multimedia producer and president of Cogent Communications, a medical media firm. She decided not to return to Italy, except on vacation. Webvan has been her most intriguing project and the biggest challenge. The Internet technology is compelling, she says. The culture at Webvan is to question everything.
Every step has to be examined and justified on a descriptive flow chart.
I have to determine where the ingredients for each dish will come from, where they will be stored, who will handle them and what will happen during every step, from purchasing, cooking, chilling, packaging, delivering and reheating. It s all very challenging. But I believe that real creativity comes from constraints. With the fast-paced, constantly changing qualities of the Internet and Webvan s ambitious expansion plans that include opening distribution centers and kitchens in 26 cities in the next three years, there s no time to get bored. Working with a team of chefs, she designed a menu of prepared foods consisting of about 60 items ranging from appetizers such as Salmon Cakes with Mango Salsa to Chicken Pot Pie, her personal favorite.