Kitchen trailblazer
Boller has lived one of those lives that should be a multiseason BBC series, both
lucky and challenging, sophisticated yet gritty, pursued with a kind of off-hand bravery
that only the best hero could hope for. Now a striking professional blond-haired woman,
her commanding presence is softened by a light laugh and self-depreciating frankness
that comes from having nothing to prove (or “zero f**ks to give,” depending on how old
you are). Encouraged by Rowbury, she started from the beginning: in Manhattan.
Born into a cultured family of medical professionals, she traces the roots of her
love of cooking to the presence of two sophisticated aunts who held “international nights”
of cooking different cuisines for the children of the family. One aunt also had the tradition
of taking her niece to the finest restaurants in Manhattan for afternoon tea, where a
young Marybeth first tasted French cuisine. Post-college, a lucky family introduction
led to her first sweaty job in one of the city’s finest kitchens, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
It is here that Boller’s story of a trailblazer begins. “My biggest challenge was
being taken seriously, as a young woman. I mean … there just weren’t that many of us
back then! But it never stopped me. My family were seven females!” Sharing the memories
of that time, she has the sense of looking back with bemused amazement. “I mean, in England
and in France, people would ask me: ‘Why are you here? You’re 21, you should be home
having babies!’” But then a frank laugh and a shrug of her shoulders dismisses any sense
of outrage. “It was hard. It’s still hard. And if you don’t really love (being a chef),
you really shouldn’t do this. I love what I do, and I’m very happy with the choices I
made.” | 
