Most people would fail to see any benefit in being grievously injured in a car-lift accident. Yet acclaimed chef and entrepreneur Brian Roland and his wife and business partner, Nicole, have found some positives in the years since Brian was critically injured while catering a grand-opening party at Ferrari of Naples.
It happened on December 4, 2021, just three weeks after the birth of the Rolands’ baby, Remington (“Remi”), a healthy girl who helped ease the pain of three miscarriages. At the time, their company, Crave Culinaire by chef Brian Roland, was running at full speed, catering multiple events and holiday parties. Brian was working long hours away from his wife and baby.
Then came the accident that changed their lives. During the party, Brian slipped through a gap between a wall and the car elevator floor as he transported a food cart from the second story. He dropped to the ground floor, then the lift came down on top of him. He was flown to Lee Memorial Hospital’s trauma unit in Fort Myers, where doctors induced a coma to stop a brain bleed.
“I know in my heart of hearts there was a silver lining that came from this accident,” Brian says. “[If it had not happened,] I would not have been able to spend much of Remi’s early life with her or be here for Nicole. Had I stayed on the path I was on—I was working so hard—I would not have been able to stop and smell the roses.”
Their new normal has its share of unanswered questions, but the Rolands’ future is looking far better than anyone imagined.
The Road Back
The Rolands give high praise to Lee Memorial’s trauma unit, where doctors healed Brian’s brain bleed, mended his countless broken bones, and repaired damaged organs. Just as critical to his recovery were Nicole and Remi. His desire to be strong enough to hold his infant daughter—to be there for her and Nicole—powered him through the arduous process of recovery.
“I had a near-death experience,” he says. “I shouldn’t be alive right now. I shouldn’t be standing, shouldn’t be able to have the brain capacity I have or physically do anything at all.”
To reach this point, he’s endured several surgeries and years of physical therapy, speech therapy, neuromuscular massage, aerobic workouts, acupuncture, and muscle stimulation. “I had to relearn how to eat, how to walk, how to go up stairs. Every part of my body was fractured or broken in some way,” he says, “but the physical parts of this were only a quarter of what I was dealing with. I have some emotional, internal, and neurological things that will be a concern in the future for me.”
Although there’s more healing to be done, the Rolands feel thankful for where they find themselves. Says Nicole, “Every day is a new journey. There are a lot of moments we spend being grateful to have more time together and to be alive. A lot of days we spend navigating new challenges with Brian’s injuries, pain, [post-traumatic stress disorder], trauma, and learning what that means for us as individuals, parents, and a couple.
“I would say most days are a little of both,” continues Nicole. “This situation has taught me you can feel grateful and sad, blessed and angry, joy and frustration. You can mourn the life you thought you would have but feel honored you have more life left. We are just trying to walk through this season to the best of our abilities with grace. Some days we are much better at that than others.” Random occurrences can trigger the PTSD—things like emergency sirens blaring or driving by the site of the accident. “A lot of this stuff is still very raw,” Nicole says. For the Rolands, life is clearly divided between before and after.
Before
Brian Roland began making headlines more than two decades ago as executive chef at Cru in Fort Myers. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, he also trained under renowned chef/restaurateur Daniel Boulud. He later led and revitalized the kitchen of M Waterfront Grille in Naples. In 2013, he created Crave Culinaire, a catering and special events company.
The business grew very quickly—no surprise, considering Brian had fed and impressed thousands of Southwest Floridians in the restaurants where he’d worked and at the myriad charitable events to which he lent his talents. Those events included the Southwest Florida Wine & Food Fest and Cooking for the Cure for Susan G. Komen. Brian teamed up with Mercy Chefs after Hurricane Irma to feed thousands throughout the region. He even developed his dancing skills, performing the tango and foxtrot for Literacy Volunteers of Collier County’s Dancing with the Stars benefit.
Crave Culinaire also partnered with developers to create and run restaurants for their communities. It launched operations in Sarasota County, Crave Event Staffing, and an event space called Venue Naples, now Virtual Venue Naples, a mobile events-catering business that brings everything to the client. Brian tried to make an appearance at each occasion. “Every day we would do five to 10 events,” he says. “I would get in my car and drive from event to event to support the team and say hi to the guests, often presenting one course and moving on to the next event.”
After
“There are things that have come from this that are beautiful,” Nicole says. “Out of trauma comes beauty.” The accident didn’t just happen to Brian, of course. A brand-new mom, Nicole had to focus first on her husband even as she continued to oversee the businesses and care for their baby girl. Postpartum doula Amy Silber was working with the family to get Remi into a good routine and give her parents time to sleep. The Rolands marvel that Amy, who had been with them since Remi’s birth, was in their lives right then.
As soon as she heard what had happened, she cleared her calendar and announced she would be at their home seven nights a week for the foreseeable future. That turned out to be nine months. “I’d only known them for three weeks, but you know who they are immediately,” Amy says. “They are so exceptional. They aren’t just friends now. They are family.” Amy plans to have Remi serve as flower girl at her wedding.
On the business side, chef Beej Flamholz, who runs a catering company in Baltimore, Maryland, flew down after hearing about his friend’s accident. He knew Brian would step in for him if the situation were reversed, and he volunteered to work with the Crave businesses so Nicole could concentrate on Brian and Remi. He encouraged Crave’s distraught employees to keep cooking whether he showed up the next day or not. “All we can do is move forward,” Beej told them. “We don’t know what’s going to happen to Brian.” The company hired a general manager and closed the Sarasota County ventures. The remaining enterprises kept rolling while Brian worked on recovering.
Today, those seeing him for the first time since the accident are amazed at how good—how just like “before Brian”—he looks and sounds. “I feel blessed,” Brian says. “I feel hopeful for the future and for my medical challenges. I feel loved by so many and proud of our teams and how strong they were throughout this entire process on up to today. And I’m proud to be a father. I’m getting to know Remi better every day.”
The family cooks together, takes walks, hits the beach, and pets kittens at Patty Baker Humane Society Naples. And Brian’s culinary passions persist. “I still have the drive to create,” he says. “At least my heart and soul and brain want to. I still appreciate finding new ways to approach food. My connection to food is strong. I just have to figure out how I’m going to use it. Our connection spiritually is helping us define our purpose a little more.”
Nicole reconnected with a church through a Bible study group during Brian’s recovery. They now attend services together, something they believe helps them mend. While continuing to support the Crave companies, Brian thinks about health-related causes to which he might be helpful. “I think we’re just going to take it day by day in terms of what we feel comfortable with,” Nicole says. “We’ll do things that bring us joy.”
In February, Brian featured a photo of an amaryllis in bloom on his social media accounts, noting that three years ago, someone sent the flower to Crave Culinaire’s office as a “shining light of hope and prayer.” The amaryllis began struggling indoors, so the team planted it outdoors, where it blossomed anew. Reflecting on what’s happened over these difficult years, Brian wrote, “So many of you have been in my corner and continued to pray for my family and me. … Thank you to everyone who has been there for us, whether near or far, every one of you has given me the strength to continue to make a difference in my life and the lives of others.
“I’m not done yet. I still have a lot to give this world.”
Makeup:
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