Reid did 25 years of hard time in local television, first at Channel 3, then at 10. She looks terrific these days and there's an aura of happiness about her, warm enough to make French toast.
``I always wanted to have my own business,'' she said proudly. ``I always wanted to be in charge of my life.''
Her business is called Consumer Connection, and she is a media consultant/spokesperson for the Private Industry Council's Welfare-to-Work program, for Glazier Supermarkets and for Electric Choice.
She is a senior vice president on the board of the Alzheimer's Association. It was her increasing involvement in that organization that prompted her to walk away from Channel 10 after NBC took over from CBS.
To dine this day, she picked Chestnut Grill, in the quaint Chestnut Hill Hotel, because it's close to her home-office in Laverock and because it's a ``friendly place with good food, moderate prices and good service.''
We had lunch downstairs, the no-smoking section, seated in a comfortable booth, the brick walls decorated with ``for sale'' nature photographs by Gary San Pietro. She needed about 30 seconds to decide what she wanted.
``I love the New Orleans catfish fingers,'' she said. ``And I'll have the portobello mushroom salad.''
I chose the soup special, a vegetable chowder ($4.50) thick enough to hold the spoon upright, crammed with corn, zucchini, yellow squash, carrots and red pepper pieces.
Reid's farm-raised catfish fingers ($4.95) were gently grilled, and came with Cajun aioli, which seemed like a remoulade sauce with extra kick.
Her portobello mushroom was sliced, fanned, and accompanied by a colorful tangle of baby greens and two squares of polenta cake ($7.50). The mushroom was moist, its earthy flavor intact.
