If you haven’t watched the Food Network or seen Iron Chef America, then you may not know who Michael Symon is. In the world of cooking, though, he’s a pretty big deal.
Symon has awards ranging from a James Beard Foundation Award to a Daytime Emmy award, so you could say that he knows what he’s doing in terms of cooking and entrepreneurship. His first restaurant, Lola, found loads of success. So much that he renamed that restaurant Lolita and reopened Lola in downtown Cleveland. This gave Symon the encouragment to take on The Big Apple.
He opened Parea, serving upscale Greek food, in New York City which was right next to the famous Gramercy Tavern. While many critics loved the food, some had an entirely different opinion, saying that it “might improve after Mr. Symon gets more experience in the New York restaurant world.” Unfortunately, Parea closed its doors in 2007, but this wasn’t the end for Symon. He may have never have gone on to become an Iron Chef that same year if he hadn’t failed before he succeeded!