Lynne Aronson
Lola, Lola Bowla
New York NY
Lynne Aronson wanted to be an artist, but she finally found the perfect medium not in an artist’s studio but in the kitchen.
In the beginning, her love of cooking was born of necessity. Having decided at age thirteen that she wanted to be a vegetarian, she began to learn to cook for herself. Aronson kept on cooking for herself, first at the Fashion Institute of Technology, then at the School of Visual Arts in New York, and in the fine arts graduate program at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh.
After several years working as a graphic artist, Aronson gave in to her love of cooking and enrolled in the New York Restaurant School. After graduation, Aronson went to see Ali Barker, chef at the fledgling Union Square Cafe, who immediately put her to work on the lunch line. Though she had spent most of her life seeking the peace to create visual art, she found herself thriving amid the chaos of the busy kitchen.
After a stint as a sous-chef at The Frog, a whimsical seafood restaurant in Philadelphia where she was the only woman in the kitchen, Aronson returned to New York to become executive chef at John Clancy’s East. It was here that she really hit her stride, experimenting with unique combinations of ingredients and gaining a following among savvy New York diners.
Next, Aronson catapulted the restaurant called Lola beyond its previous incarnation as an island-themed hot spot into a place where the excitement centers around the food. The New York Times, in granting Lola two stars, approved of Aronson’s new direction: “With its able new chef, the restaurant’s culinary octane level has moved a notch higher, making Lola an overall delight.”
Since 1990, Aronson has been part-owner and executive chef at Lola, being named one of Esquire’s best young American chefs in 1992. It was her food, in fact, that helped to lift Caribbean cuisine from its “street food” roots to its current level of sophistication. Her influences include foods from far beyond the islands: Thai, Southwestern, modern Creole and Cajun, all flavors have found their way into her dishes. Her casual venture, Lola Bowla, riffs off Asian noodles and is only open for lunch. There’s even a cookbook for foods served in bowls.
