20 | lifestyle & arts sunday breakfast ■ by david sweet
Younger generation follows her into the Nightcap ized because of the genetic disorder. “I’ve always been an athlete. That’s helped me a lot. But the cold in the winter — I cough a lot more. A cold for me will last a month — then I’m on different medicines, an inhaler.” Golman has attended the Grand Chefs Gala— which raises more than $500,000 annually for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation — for more than 15 years. Her parents, Cidney and Jeff, are co-chairs this year. Forty restaurants prepare appetizers for about 700 guests, who vote on their favorites. “It used to be us begging restaurants for chefs – now they beg us to be a part of it,” Golman points out. “We get hundreds of requests to be in it.” Golman lau nched the Nightcap event, which is in its third year, after she realized her twenty-something friends couldn’t afford the $500-perticket cost of the main event. For $10 0 , beginning at
Only 26 years old, Randell Golman has already worked on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Rosie (O’Donnell) Show and Katie, hosted by Katie Couric. “I remember watching TV at breakfast as a child and idolizing Katie Couric,” says Golman, a 2005 alumna of Highland Park High School. Though she loves the entertainment world and her brushes with celebrity, Golman left New York City this month to live at her parents’ home in Winnetka, mainly to help with a project she launched: The Grand Chefs Gala Nightcap, to be held after the Grand Chefs Gala (grandchefsgala.com) at the Fairmont Chicago on Friday, Jan. 31. Golman was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis — which principally affects the lungs but also the pancreas, liver and intestine — at three months old. “I was born tiny, a nd I wasn’t d igesti ng my food. When my parents kissed my hand, they realized it was salty — you lose a lot of salt with cystic fibrosis,” says Golman, who’s never been hospital-
9:30 p.m., they can participate in a raffle and silent auction and enjoy the offerings of the city’s top mixologists and pastry chefs. The first year was a sellout — 350 tickets. Golman says word-of-mouth and social media helps publicize the event. “I’m glad I can get the younger generation involved,” notes the co-chair. “Whatever I can do to raise money I’m always interested in, because this is my life.”
“I’ve always been an athlete. That’s helped me a lot. But the cold in the winter — I cough a lot more.” | Randell Golman Back in New York, she works as an associate producer on two VH1 shows: The Gossip Table, a morning celebrity news show featuring five gossip columnists who break news in a Times Square studio, and Big Morning Buzz Live, a morning pop culture talk show which features a live band to close each show. “It’s really fun if it’s a band that I love,” says Golman, who recently enjoyed a visit by The Back Street Boys. For both shows, she comes up with segment ideas, helps book the guests and interviews them before the show, and procures music, video and more. She works from 6:30 a.m.-4 p.m. before walking back to her apartment in Hell’s Kitchen. Growing up, Golman enjoyed acting (“I loved being on stage — I loved the butterflies before the performance”). Her goal was to become a sports anchor. But after earning a masters degree in the communication program at DePaul University, she soon found the entertainment world was too much fun to leave — though her ultimate goal has yet to be reached. “I’ve always wanted to be in front of the camera,” says Golman, who appears as an extra on the VH1 shows every so often. “If I could be one of the five Gossip Columnists — gathering the stories, getting to be in front of the camera — it would be so much fun.” And fun is what she expects her three younger brothers will have at the Nightcap event — especially since their big sister has invoked a new rule. “They can’t come solo,” Golman explains. “I told them they have to bring dates this year.” ■
Randell Golman
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