About Rachel Ray
Rachael Domenica Ray (born August 25, 1968 in Glens Falls, New York) is a two-time Daytime Emmy nominated television personality and author. She hosts the syndicated talk/lifestyle program Rachael Ray and two Food Network series, 30 Minute Meals and Rachael Ray’s Tasty Travels. Ray has also written a series of cookbooks based on the 30 Minute Meals concept, and launched a magazine, Every Day with Rachael Ray, in 2006.
Prior to the launch of her talk show, Ray hosted two other Food Network shows, $40 a Day and Inside Dish.
Ray is Sicilian and Cajun French. Her maternal grandparents were Sicilian. Her relatives on her father’s side are Cajun from Louisiana. She was born in Glens Falls, New York. Her family owned a restaurant on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, while her mother managed restaurants in upstate New York. She grew up in Lake George, New York.
Her first job was at the candy counter at Macy’s in New York City, where she eventually managed the fresh foods department. She later helped open a New York City market. Moving back to upstate New York, Ray managed Mister Brown’s Pub at The Sagamore, a famous hotel on Lake George. From there, she became a buyer at Cowan & Lobel, a gourmet market in suburban Albany. Ray credits the concept of 30 Minute Meals to her experience working at the store where she met people reluctant to cook. She began teaching a cooking course in which she showed people how to make meals in thirty minutes or less. With the success of her “30 Minute Meals” classes, WRGB (the local CBS TV affiliate) asked her to appear in a weekly segment on their newscasts. This, along with a public radio appearance and the publication of her first book, led to a Today show spot and her first Food Network contract in 2001. Later appearances on the Today show followed, and she and Katie Couric became very good friends. Ray is also a big fan of the Howard Stern Show.
Ray has appeared in commercials for Schenectady-based grocery chain Price Chopper, which stocks her books at their stores and retains her as an occasional spokesperson. She owns homes in Lake Luzerne, New York and Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. On September 24, 2005 in Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy, Ray married John M. Cusimano, a lawyer and lead singer of the rock band The Cringe.
Ray lives in the Adirondacks with her husband and her mother. She also has a brother, Emmanuel (Manny), and a sister, Maria. Ray moved to upstate New York when she was six years old. Her family owned several restaurants called the Carvery, in and around Falmouth and Mashpee, Massachusetts.
Leave a comment