Food Stylist

What do you do on a daily basis?
As a food stylist, my days are always different. I can be cooking delicious food for a catered event, styling the beauties for Iron Chef America, propping the food on the set for one of our cooking shows, etc. Whatever I am doing, you will find me drinking a very large cup (sometimes a quart!) of coffee.

Who is your culinary icon?
Masaharu Morimoto is like a culinary ninja. That man never ceases to amaze me.

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

What's your favorite cookbook?
Momofuku by David Chang and Peter Meehan is the very first cookbook that I read cover to cover. The recipes are delicious, and the writing had me laughing out loud.

What dish or ingredient will we never catch you eating?
Cactus

What's your favorite condiment?
Fish sauce

What's the first dish you learned to make?
Roasted garlic mashed potatoes

Sweet tooth, salty tooth or both?
Both

What kitchen tool can't you live without?
A very sharp chef's knife

What music do you like to listen to in the kitchen?
It all depends on my mood and what I'm cooking — anything from Stevie Wonder to hip hop.

What's your favorite alcoholic beverage?
Vodka tonic with two limes

If you weren't in food, what career would you have liked to have tried?
I honestly have no idea what I would do if I weren't working with food all day, every day. I am very lucky to love what I do.

What's your favorite "food city" to visit?
Westminster's Little Saigon neighborhood in California has the best Vietnamese food outside of Vietnam. A visit to California is not complete for me until I eat my weight in summer rolls, pho, banh mi and various Vietnamese desserts.