Linda Bedell
Regional Residential Sales Manager • Corporate Chef
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I got my start in the food industry by accident in high school. I had just gotten my driver’s license, made a careless mistake and backed up into a parked car. Oops! My father told me that I was going to get a job to pay for the damage. To the mall I went. I searched for work at every retail store around. As the mall was closing, I walked into a restaurant where my friend waitressed to see if they needed any additional wait staff. I was told that they only needed kitchen help. I wasn’t going home without a job, so a cook I became!
I absolutely fell in love with cooking at the restaurant; I would come in early, stay late, and come in on my days off to see if any help was needed. I was hooked.
I then went on to get a degree in Hotel Restaurant Management from NYU, taking various front of the house positions along the way. After graduation, I enrolled at the French Culinary Institute in downtown Manhattan in the evenings and worked as a pastry assistant during the day.
After culinary school, I cooked at various restaurants in NYC, working every station. I worked at various types of restaurant, from a funky place in the East Village, to Jean Georges’ first restaurant JoJo, to the executive dining room at Sony. I learned so much at each place.
In 2002, I decided to transition out of the kitchen and into Sales. My first job in this sector of the industry was with Rational Cooking Systems. I was the Executive Chef/Regional Sales manager for the New York Metro region, and I am proud to say that I turned the territory around within my first year.
After Rational, I became the National Director of Sales for Molteni, both in the commercial and residential sectors. I have also worked as a manufacturer’s representative, for Wood Stone, among other lines, the National Director of Sales for a design and build firm, as well as a Sales Executive for a food service dealer. Much like I did in the kitchen, I have tried to get exposure to every facet of the industry.
What I love most about working with food is that it is a bare necessity that everyone can enjoy in their own way. Bread has always amazed me in the way that different cultures have taken different ratios of the same ingredients to make vastly different products, all of which are delicious. Though my children are still very young, I always cook with them so they see that real cooking is about real ingredients, a bit of knowledge, and a lot of trial and error.
I fell in love with Wood Stone during the time that I represented the company. Not only was the equipment sublime, and so simple to use (a far cry from the bells and whistles of Rational), but the company and its staff are second to none! I have always admired how Wood Stone has treated its customers AND its staff. It is truly a company of people.
When I was given the opportunity to join this team, I jumped at the chance. I am so proud to spread the word of Wood Stone and look forward to helping in any way possible.