People: Nancy Landman

When the upscale Hollywood Cafe opened last summer in Indianapolis, it provided not only gourmet American cuisine update for the 1990s, but also a unique ambience--among the wait staff are dead ringers for Madonna, Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor, Groucho Marx and Pee Wee Herman, among other stars.

The original concept represents a landmark in the career of co-owner and chef Nancy Landman, '77. 'I've never been happier,' says Landman, who came to the food business in a roundabout way. 'I think the enthusiasm for restaurants will continue.'

Nancy had come to MSU because of the human ecology program. 'Food has always been my hobby,' she explains. 'But I took some courses in urban studies and was really inspired, so I changed my major.'

After leaving MSU, she taught for three years before deciding in 1980 'to pursue my career in food.' Accordingly, she studied in Europe under master chef Guillano Bugialli in Florence and later under an assistant to Simone Beck in Lyons, France. She also studied under the chef of the Acapulco Princess in Mexico. 'I use the classical techniques and apply them to the local palate,' says Nancy, who previously co- owned a cookware shop and cooking school and also headed a hospital food service operation.

She gives enormous credit to her MSU education. '(Urban studies) taught me a whole lot about ethnic cultures, how to deal with all sorts of people, and alternative methods of teaching different people,' she explains. 'All of that has worked to my advantage. My kitchen is an ethnic mix and I can relate to every kind of person.'

She also learned outside the classroom. 'When I moved off campus, I remember buying my first professional saute pan,' she recalls with a pained chuckle. 'There was no protective coating on the handle. I was cooking coq-au-vin when I took a phone call about a party that night. During the conversation I grabbed the pan . . . To this day, I don't answer the phone when I'm in the middle of cooking!'