Recipe Developer

What do you do on a daily basis?

I write, develop, collaborate on and test recipes for Food Network Magazine.

Who is your culinary icon?

Lulu Peyraud.

Who is your favorite food TV personality, past or present?

Any of those chefs from Great Chefs, Great Cities. The older the better.

What’s your favorite cookbook?

When French Women Cook.

What dish or ingredient will we never catch you eating?

Spam.

What’s your favorite condiment?

Good Dijon mustard.

What’s the first dish you learned to make?

Potato gnocchi with fresh tomato sauce for my very Italian family each Thanksgiving.

Sweet tooth, salt tooth or both?

Salt.

What kitchen tool can’t you live without?  

A fish spatula.

What music do you like to listen to in the kitchen?

Spearhead/Michael Franti, Wyclef Jean, Grateful Dead and once in a while some Led Zeppelin.

What’s your favorite food scene from a movie?  

All the food parts of Jiro Dreams of Sushi.

What’s your favorite alcoholic beverage?

It’s a tie between a perfect Manhattan [one made with equal parts sweet and dry vermouth] and a gin martini with plenty of vermouth and a twist.

If you weren’t in food, what career would you have liked to try?

I wanted to be a pediatrician for a long time.

What’s your favorite “food city” to visit?

Paris or Marseille (depends on the time of year!).