A native of New Bedford, Mass., Lacoste has always been a doer. “I was blessed to be involved with cooking from an early age,” she says. “My mother had seven children—I’m number five—and she made three hot meals per day. That is how she loved us.” When Lacoste’s mother would bring home an entire butchered steer, Lacoste helped by weighing the meat on the scale, repackaging into 2-pound bags. “I was in heaven,” she says.

It’s All in the Doing
At the age of 12, the owner of the neighborhood’s Polish deli asked if Lacoste would help him out. Every Thursday and Friday after school and all day Saturday she sliced baloney and stocked shelves. She recalls the experience with pride: “I touched every can and made sure the shelves were perfect.”

After three years, Lacoste moved on to Friendly’s—a decision she admits was driven by teenage, social priorities. By 17, Lacoste had become proficient. “I was assistant manager, a short-order cook. I opened and I closed. I was a leader. I got things done,” she says. “I loved all parts of the business.” This is something that remains true for Lacoste even today. “If you are a restaurateur, it is not just about food. There are other skills you have to be good at like organization and teaching.”

Lacoste was smart (her high school’s valedictorian), and after graduation she began pre-med at the University of Rochester. The course of study was not for her, and she transferred to the University of California at Berkeley, receiving a degree in French. “I thought I would be a translator,” she says. Lacoste had $800 in her pocket when she arrived in Paris and took a job typing recipes at La Varenne Écôle de Cuisine. The unexpected opportunity changed her life. Eventually, she became the full-time receptionist in exchange for lodging and cooking classes (earning the respected Grand Diplôme d’Études Culinaires). It was here that she met Julia Child, Simone Beck and other culinary luminaries who were in France in 1981.

The Value of a Mentor
Returning to Massachusetts, Lacoste joined Chef Bob Kinkead at Harvest Restaurant in Cambridge. “I’ve had many teachers, but he was a true mentor,” Lacoste says of Kinkead. “He always encouraged me and told me, ‘You have the best palate I’ve ever met.’” During their 13-year working relationship, which became nationally recognized, Lacoste helped open 21 Federal in Nantucket, Twenty-One Federal in Washington, D.C., and in 1993, as chef de cuisine, Lacoste opened Kinkead’s American Brasserie—a longstanding seafood favorite.

Lacoste left in 1995. “I was exhausted,” she says. “I didn’t know what to do. I thought I should have a TV cooking show or write cookbooks, but then I realized that these things are byproducts of what you do and I didn’t feel that I had done anything yet. Yes, I had opened restaurants under someone else’s tutelage, but I needed to own the menu. I needed to be a chef. I needed to cut the apron strings.”

The revelation led her to become executive chef at Georgetown’s 1789 Restaurant. For a decade, she brought innovation, culinary consistency and a revived spirit to the fine-dining establishment, which in turn brought Lacoste further local and national attention. This included the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington’s Chef of the Year award and a nomination for The James Beard Foundation’s “Best Chef – Mid-Atlantic.”

On Your Own
When Lacoste turned 50 she knew that if she was ever going to have her own restaurant, this was the time. She created RIS three years ago. Her menu is seasonal American. “Since America is a melting pot, that leaves endless options,” she says. Lacoste’s food is known to be approachable (RIS serves meatloaf and chicken pot pie) and eclectic (braised veal cheek shares the menu with wild-boar salami, monkfish osso bucco and pickled herring), but her creations follow classic traditions. She describes RIS as “a classy neighborhood joint.”

While Lacoste relies on a talented staff to assist her, she is in the restaurant every day. She expedites and is general manager. “My presence is a big part of customer satisfaction,” she says. Like the food, the clientele is diverse. “It’s everybody,” Lacoste says, “politicos, weary travelers staying at hotels, business people and neighbors.” And her generous community involvement is well known. “It is important for businesses to support others. They in turn will support you.”

Lacoste does not dwell on the fact that she is a woman making a life in a historically male-dominated industry. She says to women, “Stay with it. Do the job. You can handle the job.” She also recognizes that the industry is challenging for women. “This business requires immense dedication. It becomes difficult to also raise children when you have to give so much of yourself to run a restaurant. Many women will opt out because they want more than a restaurant. I don’t have children, but I am happy with my decision. I’ve never looked back. I’ve worked every day and had the talent to back it up. I’ve loved the camaraderie. I’ve chosen this career or maybe it chose me. Whatever the answer, I feel that I am doing what I was put on this earth to do.”

Lacoste believes that everyone has a different path. “I don’t know if it is fate. I certainly did not have a specific career strategy,” she says. “Do things happen when one allows doors to open? Is it optimism? Is it following your instincts? Or is it in the doing, making things happen? I don’t know. For me, maybe it was that I didn’t disregard any options that came my way. And I was always doing. I know this: It takes extreme focus and knowledge to be successful. For that, you have to be a student and remain a student. There are learning moments every day of your life.”

Lynn Schwartz, a former New York City restaurateur, is a writer and writing instructor/coach (fiction and nonfiction) based in Maryland. Visit www.writerswordhouse.com.