Welcome!

I am a journalist, author, editor, translator and teacher. I'm a forager for the publishing world, a hunter of stories on everything from food, wine and restaurants to kitchens, travel and health.

Because I lived in France for 12 years -- and earned a Grand Diplome at Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne -- I'm continually returning to write about the Paris food scene and top French chefs, including Joel Robuchon, Michel Bras, Pierre Gagnaire, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Yves Camdeborde and Jacques Pepin. I must be especially voluble about cheese, because in 2002 I was inducted into France's master cheesemongers' guild, the Confrerie de Saint-Uguzon. (Their medieval-looking medal, decorated with a cow, a sheep, a goat and a shepherd, is as heavy as a cowbell.)

I'm a contributing editor at Food & Wine, where I was previously a senior food editor for nine years. I also write regularly for the New York Times Dining section, and my work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Time Out New York, Everyday with Rachael Ray, Wine & Spirits, Fine Cooking, Australian Gourmet Traveller, The Statesman (Calcutta) and other publications.

Before working in magazines, I was an acquiring editor in the cooking & gardening division of Macmillan USA. I'm also the author of "Backroad Bistros, Farmhouse Fare" (Doubleday, 1994) and "Normandy Gastronomique" (Abbeville Press, 1993) -- there's even a French edition -- co-author, with Wallsé chef Kurt Gutenbrunner, of "Neue Cuisine" (Rizzoli, 2011) and a contributor to Food & Wine's travel collection, "Star Chefs on the Road" (Assouline, 2005). My translation of "La Cuisine: Everyday French Home Cooking" (Rizzoli) by Francoise Bernard was published in October 2010.

My books and stories constantly lead me away from my desk and back again. I've appeared on French television and on CNN to chat about cooking school vacations in France. I was a panelist defending an editor's tough love at the International Association of Cooking Professionals annual conference in Santa Fe, Texas. New York University's department of food studies invited me to talk about getting published (being an expert on something helps). I've been a judge too, reviewing exams at the French Culinary Institute and selecting winners at the Slow Food American artisanal cheese contest and at the Turks & Caicos Conch Festival. I traveled across the United States, scouting for Food & Wine's annual Best New Chefs. I've also taught Food Writing Boot Camp for mediabistro.com.

My latest project (which involved a lot of foie gras, truffles, Dover sole and lobster) is about the golden age of Le Cirque (Rizzoli, 2012), written with Town & Country editor-at-large Pamela Fiori. For a family tree of Le Cirque's amazing grads, click here.