About

A gourmand enjoys food and drink (yes, sometimes excessively). Cooking and eating are about experimenting, as the title indicates. This highlights the approach that I have about trying new things or putting tweaks on old favorites. I’ve always loved cooking, eating and trying new flavor combinations and have been viewed as someone who is a not only a good cook but also a bit food-forward. Originally from Northern Virginia, I’ve been fortunate to live in some great food cities (London, Bologna, Strasbourg), home now being New York. 

Along the way, I've picked up lots of recipes and cooking tidbits that my friends have wanted me to share with them. My food philosophy is about more than just looking at photos in magazines of or television shows about well-laid out, delectable-looking dishes, it is about getting out and experiencing your local foodscape and about interacting with those who are a part of it.  As a friend said to me, in her eyes, this makes me a “locally-based, hunter-gatherer who cooks.”  

This website is a way to highlight the wonderful culinary resources that exist here in the Big Apple, to take some time to explore the foodscape around me, and to write up my favorite dishes for friends and family, some of whom have been asking for these for years.  I hope that you enjoy using it as a resource to find out more about the food that you eat, find new recipe ideas, explore local markets, try different ingredients, and enjoy some really wonderful meals.  Lately, I've also gotten some recognition in the local food community for some of my articles (see list below). 

Buon appetito!


Sample Articles:

"New Amsterdam Market Valentine's Market and Apothecary," New Amsterdam Market (2/13/11) - reposted/re-Tweeted
"Eats + Apps: Technology for the Food Community," Social Media Week (02/10/11)
"Foodshed Market at Brooklyn Commons" (01/23/11) - reposted by The Stand
"Smørrebrød Festival," New Amsterdam Market (11/15/10) - reTweeted
"Hudson Valley Harvest," New Amsterdam Market (10/28/10) - reTweeted
"East Village Eats Tour," Fourth Arts Block (10/28/10) - guest blogger
"We're Still From the Grub Street Food Festival," New York Magazine's Grub Street, (10/18/10) - reposted
"Making Sense of the Eggs in Salmonella Scare," Foodie Link (09/16/10)


Recipes Developed for other sites:

Chili con Queso and Guacamole (Brooklyn Salsa Company)
Sea Salt Chocolate Cashew Toffee (Nuts+Nuts)
Roasted Parsnips with Bardshar Chutney (Schoolhouse Kitchen)
Squadrilla Chutney and Sweet Potato Mash (Schoolhouse Kitchen)
Farmers Market Frittata (Vital Juice)