Full Bio

It should be of no surprise that I ended up becoming a chef and food writer. I learned to read at 4 years old and have been a lover of the written word ever since. My connection to food began at an early age as well. As a young girl I would spend hours in my grandfather’s victory garden sowing seeds, watching things grow, and dancing around excitedly when it was time to harvest something new. A third grade home economics class took my budding culinary interest even further but it was a chance meeting with an Editor from Food & Wine magazine when I was 24 that sealed the deal.  At the time I was a manager at Williams-Sonoma, and after a brief conversation where she shared with me her own journey from lover of food to food writer, she ended our talk with some advice: “Go to Culinary School”.

I immediately enrolled in the professional culinary program at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City (at the time it was known as the Peter Kumps New York Cooking School). While in Culinary School I landed a job at Gourmet Magazine. Upon completing the culinary program I then worked for TV personality Katie Brown as her Culinary Consultant and Design Assistant. While working for Katie I assisted in developing recipes for Kikkoman and Cooking.com. Making a brief return to retail I worked as Creative Director for the tabletop company Fishs Eddy which led to a meeting with Restaurateur Danny Meyer of the Union Square Hospitality Group . Soon I found myself taking on an additional job working part-time at his restaurant, Tabla.

After several years in New York City I moved back to my native Southern New Jersey, I am married with two small daughters, I cook dinner almost every night, and enjoy spending time tending to my very own little victory garden. I am a regular contributor to Edible Jersey magazine, wrote a column on converting my family to more a sustainable eating lifestyle for the website Cooking Up a Story and also serve as the East Coast contributing Editor for the website Project Foodie. I have been featured on Martha Stewart Living Radio and Heritage Radio Network's "Hot Grease". I teach private in-home cooking classes as well as community based ones for at-risk youth. I served as the Social Media Coordinator for Tonnino Tuna and regularly work with several well-known cookbook authors doing recipe testing and development. I most recently completed work with Bon Appetit Magazine columnist and contributing editor Jenny Rosenstarch on her cookbook “Dinner, A Love Story”. 

I also founded the website turned newsletter "The Blacker The Berry Food" which focuses on African-American food professionals in today's culinary landscape. 

I am a member of IACP (International Association for Culinary Professionals), Southern Foodways Alliance, and Slow Food USA.  In 2011 I attended The Symposium for Professional Food Writers at the Greenbrier resort where I received a special mention honor for my writing in Edible Jersey as part of their Scholarship Competition.