The French Bread Connection b Brandy Dailey and Frank Riordan ’35 work together to make French baguettes with a recipe from Charlie van Over ’56. Karen Elshout/St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Retired chemical engineer Frank Riordan ’35 has had incidental and long-term relationships with many of the giants of
the food world, but his latest passion is for a French bread recipe from Charlie van Over ’56, author of The Best Bread Ever.
It was another Taftie—development officer Chip Spencer ’56, who happens to have been Charlie’s roommate at Taft—who introduced the two. A series of illnesses has largely confined Riordan to a wheelchair, but with the help of a caregiver, he regularly bakes bread, recreating the French baguettes he so enjoyed on trips to Europe for Monsanto. After apprenticing in the kitchen of France’s renowned Troisgros, Riordan later hosted the Troisgros brothers in St. Louis. “I can tell you,” Riordan told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “a dinner invitation to the Riordan household then was never turned down.”
Starting Up in Shanghai
Ever wonder if you’d find a use for what you studied in high school? Learning Chinese with Yen Liu has come in handy for Nestor Gounaris ’89, who recently opened his own firm in Shanghai. Limelight Studios
Starting a new business can be daunting in any country, but for lawyer Nestor Gounaris ’89 establishing his own practice was simply the logical next choice. Having worked as a corporate lawyer for large multinational law firms in Shanghai for a number of years, he had a solid grasp on the basics. “Part of the challenge—and benefit—of being in a smaller outpost office is that you have to sink-or-swim, as there is not much hierarchy between you and the client,” he explains. “As a result, you can quickly become the leading attorney on a given matter. Junior lawyers are driven to mature quickly in this environment.” Starting China Solutions (www. chinasolutions.us) in April 2005, his clients now include the Greek Consulate General in Shanghai as well as Greek manufacturers, ship owners, retail operators and agricultural producers. “It has been such a privilege to connect with Greek clients—helping me feel at
home in Shanghai,” says Gounaris, who has roots in Greece, “but we also have clients from around the globe, including South Africa, Denmark, Italy, and the United States. Having lived in China for over eight years, Gounaris enjoys working in Greece or New York for weeks on end. “Being in a wholly different environment, connecting in person with clients,” he explains, “it’s revitalizing.” The hardest part of striking out on his own was not having a safety net. “Suddenly the onus was on me to find sufficient clients, ensure motivation for team members, appropriate work environment, and so on. Once you get past the fear of failure, though, the challenges are the best part. “Things have changed quite a bit since I first started, with our first client in our first office. Those first days almost seem quaint. Maybe in another year, I will find nostalgic humor in them, but not quite yet.” Taft Bulletin Spring 2007