Duner's Chef Laura Fonner Almost Died With Her Third Child. Then, She Started Cooking Again. Here's Why:

Editor’s Note: This is episode one in a three episode Laura Fonner series.

It’s Tuesday, August 12, 2014 on a humid evening in Ivy, Virginia. Laura Fonner is 30 years old. She’s the bartender at Duner’s Restaurant and she’s close to dying.

Almost 34 weeks pregnant, Laura waddles behind the Duner’s bar like an awkward penguin wearing two left shoes. Her belly bangs bottles. She’s getting dirty looks as she’s shaking cocktails.

“I was super pregnant,” Laura said. “Like I could sit your martini glass on my belly and serve it to you. I got some stink eyes for that.”

After Laura finished her bartending shift late Tuesday night, she left Duner’s and headed home. Exhausted and pregnant with her third child, Laura crashed in bed and woke up the next morning.

That’s when she almost died.

“Shit! My water broke,” Laura remembered. “Then, I look down and there’s blood everywhere.”

Laura lost two liters of her blood at home before she made it to the hospital. Her third child, a wonderful boy named, Parker, was born nearly 6 weeks early. He was not breathing.

“I had a complete placental abruption, which is extremely rare,” Laura said. “[Parker] was not breathing. … We both almost died during child birth. We were both deemed miracles.

“That [experience] was a huge eye opener for me. After I got over what happened, I sat there and I thought, ‘What am I doing with my life?'”

Laura had doubts because she was unhappy with her professional career. Laura climbed the kitchen ranks at Duner’s Restaurant from 2003-2012 from line cook to executive chef. She washed dishes, too. Hell, as a 14-year-old, she was making pastries at Blue Bird Cafe on West Main Street.

Then, in 2012, the long-time cook asked ownership for a front-of-the-house position (i.e. bartender) so she could have more consistent hours with her husband and two young children.

But something wasn’t right. Laura, a super Type A personality who loves to grind, scrap and learn, was not feeling fulfilled in the front-of-the-house.

“I knew I needed to be cooking,” Laura said.

When the executive chef at the time left Duner’s Restaurant, Laura returned to her role at the helm of the kitchen. That was November, 2016.

“I knew I needed to be cooking full-time again,” Laura said. “This is what I’m meant to do. This is what I’m good at.”

In “Episode One: Who Is Laura Fonner?” powered by Greenberry’s Coffee Co. and Pattie Boden at Animal Connection, we see what makes Laura Fonner a total ROCKSTAR and BADASS, including her rise to prominence as a chef, the tough balance between motherhood and being a cook, her third pregnancy when she almost died on the hospital bed and much, much more!

Enjoy this interview, guys. I certainly did!

If you liked this article, you might also enjoy Bill Chapman Responds To Hawes Spencer’s Comments: The Story Behind The Hook Newspaper In Charlottesville, Virginia and The Evolution of Three Notch’d Brewing Company: From 3 Dudes At McGrady’s Irish Pub To A Charlottesville, Va Craft Beer Icon!

At I Love CVille, we feature the best of Charlottesville, Virginia. You’re going to love the I Love CVille network.