pam lewy

Written By paige green

un·as·sum·ing ~ not wanting to draw attention to yourself or to your abilities 

One of my favorite career chapters was working with Emeril Lagasse. It was an incredible intersection of food, media and some of the best people around.   When I started though, the celeb chef culture was a new arena for me and I was NERVOUS. I distinctly remember week ONE, sheepishly on set of our current show and being introduced to PAM LEWY, the equivalent of me/my role for Mario Batali. Now you have to realize at the time MB was at top of his game, and Pam arguably had one of the most important gigs in the industry (as she reads this she’s saying something like OH PLS, that’s not true).

So she walks right up with this casual, unassuming HI, I’M PAM. Like an old pal I’d known for years, immediately putting me at ease and simultaneously showing the kinship that I’d come to adore for years. We instantly became friends and formed a camaraderie - calling each other for advice, swapping ideas/recos, and heads upping each other as needed.

We don’t talk all the time but Pam is one of those ppl that when you connect, it’s like you saw her yesterday, which is precisely how everyone feels about PAM. She's an unfazed, girl-next-door, Ms. Congeniality. Sandra Bullock with a touch of Amy Poehler.

When we talked this week I started by asking about her upbringing in New Jersey or was it Long Island? I think this is the first time Pam has ever got mad at me in 14 years. PAIGE, not New Jersey or Long Island —  ROCKLAND COUNTY. Ok, noted. 

The youngest of three, her dad was a cop and detective for the port authority and mom worked in the local library. This doesn’t surprise me for two reasons. ONE: the beauty of Pam is how damn normal she is NO MATTER what she’s handling or doing. And TWO because WORK ETHIC. Pam has always been a hard worker, handling all the frogs-falling-from-the-sky level projects thrown her way. But how did she get to be the low-key, under-the-radar FORCE she is? 

She says her parents weren’t big pushers of needing to do ALL THE THINGS, all the time. A decidedly no presh approach with a sense of security always. She went about her merry way growing up, interning at..wait for it… ONE LIFE TO LIVE, where she got the bug to be in producing (a role she still doesn’t quite realize she has played throughout her entire career). 

Post college she pursued culinary studies at NYU.  Food being something core to her interest + heart and an area she knew she had to work in. She ended up learning about a potential assistant gig for Mario Batali. Voilá. Pam gets hired for the dream job, climbing the ranks for the next 15 years - unofficially as the Jill of All Trades - officially as Comms Director of the MB Brand.  She speaks with affection about the ordinary in all the extraordinary she dealt with (this is a bit of the magic in Pam). How many times she screwed up but how she’s always been the kind of person that says, “I think I can do this. I’ll make it happen.” And that she did. But alas, we all know how the Mario chapter of Pam’s career ended, leaving her as carnage with a forced career identity crisis on the heels of having her first son. 

Life took a minute and to no surprise she shifted and adapted. Six years later, she’s a mom of two boys, wife, and leads marketing and comms at Levain Bakery (yep, THOSE cookies) - a place she relishes the people and culture of.  Like her MB role, she joined Levain at a time it was small (but mighty) - where she could be part of something great, building towards something even better.

Today she sounds more confident and settled than ever. What sticks out the most - the thread that sews the needle through it all? Her sense of self. She is and always has been a believer in what she’s doing, in her people and the type of friend she is. She puts her heart and soul into it all. Always real, always honest. This is for sure the core of Pam. A truly refreshing, unassuming human….xop

ps. in the spirit of celeb chef world -beloved Chef Jame Kent unexpectedly passed away recently. This link goes to supporting his family.


the picks

give 

  • Ali Forney Center ($5) This week’s FRIDAY 5s closes out pride month. The Ali Forney org supports LBGTQ+ youth giving them a safe place to live. Pam has worked with their team for the past few years and says not only is their mission important but they are beyond gracious as an organization 

watch 

  • Bridgerton Season 3 (Netflix Series/8 episodes)full disclosure her 1st pick was HACKS, (which obviously we share great taste) runner up was the latest season of the crowd favorite Bridgerton 

read 

  • Anxious Generation (Book/$20) Pam is all in on paying attention to social media concerns tied to kids (and our) mental health - especially paired with the recent surgeon general warning

listen 

  • TRIVIA for Kids: Ep. 106 (podcast, 36 mins) Raise your hand if you need car ride kid content? You’re in luck. Oh and Pam’s 8-year-old submitted for the gross things category in this episode

try  

paige green
Next

abdoulaye bah