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Hi, I'm Veronica Dagger, and this is the Wall Street Journal's Secrets of Wealthy Women, where women share how they tackle career, money, and the world.

Today we're speaking with Lydia Bostyanich. She's an Italian American chef,

best-selling cookbook author and restaurant owner with a global empire. She and her

former husband opened their first restaurant in Queens, New York with just nine tables. Today, she owns three restaurants in two

cities, is a co-owner of the Italian food hall chain, Italy, and has her own line of pasta and sauce. She's kept cool in the heat of the

kitchen to come out on top in a male dominated food industry, which is under

even more scrutiny today. We want to talk to her about how it was and how it's changed.

Lydia, welcome to secrets.

Bongon of Eronica.

Great, so we want to go back to that beginning of your cooking career.

It was a small nine table restaurant in Queens.

Can you describe it for us?

It was in Forest Hills, Queens was 1971.

And I was not, I was young, you know, just I had my first child and with my husband and he was in the

industry he was in the front of the house and I had worked in the industry but I

wasn't a full-fledged chef yet.

And so he said, he always wanted to open this restaurant.

And I said, I'll be there with you.

...