Celebrating with Julienne
Good food was always a family affair for Susan Campoy. She absorbed the basics of cooking from her parents her mother made preserves and desserts from the fruit from their two-acre Southern California orchard, and her father owned a downtown Los Angeles cafe. Although trained as a teacher, as a young wife and mother she fell in love with cooking and baking, especially preparing food for celebrations: dinner parties, holidays, family gatherings.In the 1970s, her passion for cooking led to studies at La Varenne, Cordon Bleu and Lenotre in France and at Ma Cuisine in Los Angeles, as well as travels to explore the culinary cultures in France and Italy. This passion inspired a catering business, a French-California bistro, and a gourmet market, all under the Julienne umbrella and all of which have earned acclaim from everyone from Bon Appetit to the New York Times.The mother of four daughters and grandmother of two girls, Campoy lived in San Marino, California, within walking distance of Julienne. She died not long after finishing the book, after a 14-year battle with breast cancer.