While attending Brown, Adams worked at a cooking school owned by Nancy Verde Barr in Providence, Rhode Island.
Moulton and Child encouraged Adams to pursue a career in the culinary industry and told her she should work for Lydia Shire in Boston.
[2] She left Hamersley's in 1990 to serve as executive chef at Michaela's in East Cambridge, Massachusetts.
For work at Michaela's, Adams was named one of the top ten chefs in the United States by Food & Wine in 1993.
[2] In September 1994,[2] Adams and partner Michela Larson opened Rialto at the Charles Hotel in Harvard Square.
[2] During her tenure at Rialto, Adams was nominated for the James Beard Award for Best Chef in America (Northeast), five times.
[4] In October 2019, Adams opened Greek Street at Time Out Market Boston with Papachristos and Mendez.
Called The Garum Factory, it provides recipes for the home cook and is illustrated with Rivard's photographs.
With Ruff Ruffman’’ Adams cites her biggest challenges with owning a restaurant as the high costs and profit margins, in addition to hiring talented and skilled employees.
[1] Philanthropically, Adams supports the Greater Boston Food Bank, Partners in Health, and Share Our Strength.