About
I’m a food and travel writer and author of a novel, Kitchen Chinese (HarperCollins, 2010). My work has appeared in the New York Times, Condé Nast Traveler, the International Herald Tribune, Fodor’s travel guides, Washingtonian magazine, the South China Morning Post and other publications.
I’ve been interested in food since the age of five, when I climbed on the counter to watch my father chop garlic. After graduating from UCLA, I moved to New York to pursue my other love — books — eventually becoming an assistant editor at Viking Penguin. In 2003, I moved to Beijing, where I worked as a staff writer and dining editor for That’s Beijing, an English-language entertainment magazine. I’ve lived in Paris since 2008, where I’m currently writing a nonfiction book about French regional cuisine. (My husband is a diplomat and our frequent international moves offer me lots of fresh material and (occasional) angst to write about.)
In 2005, I was awarded a James Beard culinary scholarship to study in Bologna, Italy, an experience that forged a love of lasagne with béchamel sauce, and prohibitively expensive balsamic vinegar. I also love hot buttered toast, soup dumplings, melted cheese, and Earl Grey tea, prefer home cooking to fine dining, and can be found on Twitter and Facebook.