ALUMNI NEWS FALL 2023

Mashama Bailey partnered with Resy and American Express to host a special dining experience featuring an art installation with Miami Art Week in October. In May, Mashama hosted a Girl Power Dinner series with Sarah McIntosh. In August, she hosted The Family Reunion with Kwame Onwuachi for Food and Wine. An outpost of The Grey is slated to open in Paris in early 2024.

Jessica Battilana has been busy working on her second cookbook Rintaro, Japanese Food from an Izakaya in California with Sylvan Mishima Brackett; it will be published by Hardie Grant US this fall.

Tamie Cook has been busy recipe testing. This year, she’s worked as a chef/writer at Hardwick College, food styled for Atlanta News First and Livington restaurant and bar, catered an event at Grant and Little, and was the guest chef for the 12th Annual Serve and Protect at the Tennessee Aquarium.

Nathalie Dupree has featured in two Southern Living articles; 8 cooking rules all Southerners live by, according to Nathalie Dupree and The Queen of Southern Cuisine co-authored with La Varenne alumnus, Virginia Willis.

Alex Guarnaschelli continues to appear on Food Network as a Judge/host on Ciao House This year, she was on the panel at the 2023 Ilani Brewfest, her Cook it Up, with Ava Clarke, was published in September by Clarkson Potter. It made the New York Times list of top selling cookbooks.

Amanda Hesser At Food52 Amanda launched a behind-the-scenes video series called The Founder Files.

Tanya Holland was recently promoting her latest cookbook California Soul Tour. Earlier in the year Tanya took part in Beaver Creek’s Winter Culinary Weekend and was a guest of the US State Department Culinary Corps in partnership with the James Beard Foundation. She was also featured in a 10-page spread in Bon Appetit magazine with a segment on the Kelly Clarkson Show.

Faye Levy was featured in the Montecito Journal: Faye Levy on Jewish Cooking; a Diaspora of flavors and mentioned in an article for Hurriyet Daily News, New Season is for Beginnings. Faye continues to share recipes on her Instagram.

Nathan Myhrvold’s book Food & Drink: Modernist Cuisine Photography was published by The Cooking Lab imprint. Nathan was profiled in a Seattle Refined article Tech Titan to Food Photographer: Nathan Myhrvold debuts stunning new book.

Steven Raichlen was featured on Joe Leavitt’s May the Smoke be with you podcast. In addition to Steven’s Primal Grill airing as a marathon over Superbowl weekend, he filmed a new season of Planet Barbeque this year. Steven launched a new club called The Barbecue Bible 500 Club.   Steven has been featured in a number of articles, including Outdoor griddles are good at cooking almost anything for the New York Times.

Nina Simonds has hosted cooking demos at the Foundry and was featured in a Boston Globe article: A Friendly Dumpling Duel to Celebrate Lunar New Year.

Molly Stevens was interviewed by Teen Glendale Empowerment Now (G.E.N.) Talks. Molly wrote recipes published in Food and Wine magazine for Spiced Brown-Butter Apples and Patty melts with Charred Scallion-Chipotle Mayo.

Jonathan Waxman has launched a new podcast, Seat at the Table and announced a collaboration with Original balsamic vinegar. He appeared on CBS’s Food Face Off, New York and took part in the South Beach Wine & Food Festival at the Four Seasons Hotel, Miami.

Virginia Willis appeared at several LDEI events including The Dish with Dames Atlanta, and an LDEI South Florida talk. Virgina’s appearances included speaking at Rancho La Puerta about her weight loss journey and in articles published in AARP and All Recipes. Virginia’s TV appearances included an episode of Alex vs America, Rachael Ray Show about her book Fresh Start and her health journey. Paperback editions of Virginia’s Bon Appétit, Y’all and Okra were published by Uga Press.

Kelsey Youngman continues to write for Food and Wine magazine, including Spicy Chipotle Salmon Cakes with Lemon Mayonnaise

ALUMNI NEWS FALL 2022

Mashama Bailey was named Outstanding Chef in the USA by the James Beard Foundation. She took her book Black and White and the Grey on tour and opened a new restaurant called Diner Bar in Austin, Texas. Mashama took part in events for The Rockhouse Foundation, and The Family Reunion at Middleburgh.

Jessica Battilana continues to publish recipes on her website, including Pumpkin Pull-apart Rolls and The Coffee Cake. Jessica also shares recipes on her Instagram page, including: One-pot Brothy Pasta and writes a bimonthly column for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Roscoe Betsill is a food stylist for the New York Times.

Tamie Cook did the food styling for: Life of Fire by Pat Martin & Nick Fauchald published in March by Clarkson Potter.

Nathalie Dupree was featured in the article From Scratch by the Covington News. Nathalie headlined both the Florence Wine & Food Festival, benefiting Help 4 Kids and a talk with Belinda Smith-Sullivan in Winston-Salem.

Alex Guarnaschelli continued to appear regularly on Food Network, starring in Beat Bobby Flay and in her new show Alex vs. America. Alex also shares recipes on Instagram including: her mother’s Pumpkin Sour Cream Pie and Coconut Cake. Alex appeared on Good Morning America, the Kelly Clarkson Show, and the Today show.

Amanda Hesser continues to grow Food 52, where she is now the co-CEO. Amanda appeared with American Express Business for their Office Hours series. Her new The Essential New York Times Cookbook was published last October. On her Instagram Amanda has a cooking series, Amanda Messes up in the Kitchen, where she tries out much loved recipes including Julia Child’s One-Pot Roast Chicken. Food 52 has been nominated for three 2022 IACP Awards: Best Culinary Recipe Website, Corporate Instagram Account and Best Recipe-focused Column.

Tanya Holland worked with Good Eggs to create two meal kits. She was also named one of the 100 Most Influential Women in the Bay area by the San Francisco Business Times. Tanya appeared on the ABC Awards Special of the 2021 James Beard Awards. In March, Tanya was a guest speaker at MAPP. Her latest cookbook debuts in October 2022, entitled Tanya Holland’s California Soul is published by Ten Speed Press.

Nathan Myhrvold’s book Modernist Pizza was published in 2021 and was nominated for a 2022 IACP Award for Best Self-published Cookbook.

Steven Raichlen’s book How to Grill Vegetables: The New Bible for Barbecuing Vegetables Over Live Fire, was nominated for the 2022 IACP Award for Best Single Subject Cookbook. He opened a new restaurant called Star Grill on Windstar Cruises. Steven also launched the fourth season of his Project Fire television series. He took part in an Instagram live with Crowd Cow’s CEO Joe Heitzberg to talk about all thing’s meat and on Trip Bouffe BBQ’s Facebook page. Steven has his 35 must-visit BBQ restaurants list on his website where you can sign up to his newsletter Up in Smoke. He took part in several master classes including Planet Barbeque with Alejandro Gutierrez. Steven also appeared on the BBQ Central Show, to talk about the Evolution of BBQ and was featured in the NY Times on How to Grill a Perfect Steak.

Nina Simonds was mentioned in The Harvard Gazette’s article Becoming Julia Child and in The Washington Post article on the legendary Claudia Roden. Nina has recently written articles for the Boston Globe.

Molly Stevens has started a podcast called The Everything Cooks. Her recipe for Pepper Jelly-glazed Chicken and Thighs with Grilled Peppers was published in Food and Wine magazine. Molly was also interviewed for Teen G.E.N.

Jonathan Waxman’s restaurant Barbuto was reviewed by the New York Times. He appeared on the Beyond the Plate podcast and took part in the Great Chefs Event to raise awareness and funds for pediatric cancer research. Jonathan attended the Food and Wine event Best New Chefs and was interviewed by Grub Street about his 50 years in the industry.

Virginia Willis continues to share recipes on Instagram including Roast Butternut Squash with Maple Syrup, Candied Orange Peel and Maple Pumpkin Bread. She was featured in the Atlanta Journal & Constitution: Go into a New Year with a New You. She also appeared in Eating Well magazine and in Woman’s World Magazine on the front cover. For Food Network, her recipe for Garlic-rubbed Skirt Steak and Vidalia Onions was featured in May, and she was profiled by Apple News on Great Food, Great Life.  Her How to Cook Grits recipe was published in The Washington Post. (more…)

ALUMNI NEWS FALL 2021

Mashama Bailey has been active in many live cooking classes and discussions, including one with Chefs Matthew Raiford and Adrian Lipscombe for MOFAD. She appeared in an episode of the Netflix’s children’s culinary series Waffles and Mochi featuring Michelle Obama.

Jessica Battilana has been active writing, including Turn Fresh Tomatoes into Succulent Flavor Bombs by Roasting Them for Pasta published in the San Francisco Chronicle; she also contributed to Michelle Polzine’s book Baking at the 20th Century Cafe: Iconic European Desserts from Linzer Torte to Honey Cake, published October 2020. Check out Jessica’s website: https://www.jessicabattilana.com for recent recipes.

Roscoe Betsill’s work was featured in the 125th Anniversary edition issue of Field and Stream magazine 2020. Roscoe also contributed to A Table in Paris, by John Donohue, published in March 2021.

Tamie Cook contributed recipes to Marcus Samuelsson’s latest book The Rise, published October 2020. Tamie is keeping busy as a Private Chef and as a food stylist.

Nathalie Dupree was featured in the Garden and Gun: What Nathalie Dupree Taught Me about Mixing Bowls and Moving On and in Leite’s Culinaria: What Nathalie Dupree Has Taught Generations of Women about Cooking.

Alex Guarnaschelli’s latest cookbook, Cook with Me: 150 Recipes for the Home Cook was published in October 2020. Alex continues to appear on The Food Network in All Star Best Thing I Ever Ate and as host of Supermarket Stakeout. She also ran a pop-up restaurant Fare by Alex Guarnaschelli during the 2021 US Open.

Amanda Hesser edited a new edition of The Essential New York Times Cookbook, The Recipes of Record, published October 2021 by W.W. Norton. She is now CEO of Food52 in addition to being its co-founder.

Tanya Holland recently created the series Tanya’s Kitchen Table for OWN and appeared on Masterchef Legends on FOX. Her opinion piece: Time to Put Equity on the Plate in Our Restaurant Industry appeared in Newsweek in July 2021 and she was featured in Sweet July about how black women business owners are making it work. Dishes from her Oakland restaurant Brown Sugar Kitchen featured on the menu for the 50th anniversary celebration of Alice Water’s Chez Panisse.

Faye Levy continues to write for the Orange County Register and contributed to the chapter on Jewish cooking in Katie Chin’s Global Family Cookbook published in June 2021.

Susan Herrmann Loomis started a new cooking platform Dancing Tomatoes, which features online cooking demonstrations. Her latest cookbook, Plat du Jour: French Dinners Made Easy was published in January 2021.

Nathan Myhrvold’s study of the composition of Snowflakes was featured in an article in The New York Times by Kenneth Chang. His newest cookbook collection: Modernist Pizza publishes in October 2021.

Steven Raichlen’s latest cookbook How to Grill Vegetables was published in May 2021 alongside the launch of Season 3 of his television grilling series Project Fire. He continues to offer his Barbecue University classes.

Nina Simonds was interviewed on the Let’s Talk About Food podcast for Heritage Radio Network about losing her sense of taste and smell after Covid.

Molly Stevens continues to teach online classes; check out Cooking at Home with Molly Stevens from Milk Street Live Online Cooking School.

Jonathan Waxman had The Barbuto Cookbook published in September 2020 and was featured in Guy’s Ranch Kitchen on The Food Network. He has served on the judging panel for Food Network’s Tournament of Champions and as a guest judge on Food Network’s Guy’s Grocery Games and FOX’s Masterchef: Legends.

Virginia Willis has featured new recipes for Almond Crushed Baked Peaches, Strawberry Bread and Peaches and Cream Cake on virginiawillis.com. She continues to host Cookbooks with Virginia on Facebook and YouTube and works as a chef-instructor for the digital streaming platform Food Network Kitchen.

Caroline Wright has created a blog called Soup Club featuring recipes from the underground soup club she runs for friends and family; a book based on the blog is in the works. She published two children’s cookbooks in September 2021: Cookie Truck: A Sugar Cookie Shapes Book and 1234 Cake! A Count-and-Bake Book.

Kelsey Youngman continues to write for Food & Wine magazine including recent articles: This is the Secret to the Best Homemade Veggie Burgers, The Best Wok to Buy for Your Kitchen and The Best Way to Stir-Fry; she also appears in food demonstration videos for Food & Wine including The Secret to Slicing and Chopping Onions.

 

Alumni News Fall 2020

Mashama Bailey participated in Southern Restaurants for Racial Change where her restaurant The Grey offered three flavors of bear claws. Mashama also appeared in virtual cooking demos for Unitedcardevents.com and ABC7 New York.

Jessica Battilana writes for the San Francisco Chronicle, and was nominated for an IACP Food Writing Award. Jessica also tested the recipes for her friend Michelle Polzine’s book Baking at the 20th Century Café, to be published October 2020. In August, Jessica’s article on Three Highly Portable Picnic Options That Aren’t Sandwiches was published in The New York Times.

Tamie Cook took part in the 10th annual Serve & Protect fundraiser at the Tennessee Aquarium Sustainable Seafood.

Alex Guarnaschelli appears on the Food Network online show The Kitchen. Alex is also casting the new season of Supermarket Stakeout also for the Food Network. Her book Cook with Me: 150 Recipes for the Home Cook comes out in October 2020.

Amanda Hesser of Food 52 has been recording the series At Home with Us and Amanda Messes Up in The Kitchen on YouTube/IGTV where she made the restaurant Kindred’s famous milk bread. Her new book called Food 52 Your Do-Anything Kitchen was published in September 2020.

Tanya Holland has launched  Tanya’s Table, a podcast produced by MuddHouse Media. Tanya also appeared on Melting Pot and in the new HBO series Selena + Chef, featuring actress Selena Gomez.

Steven Raichlen finished filming Project Fire Series 3 and his next book How to Grill Vegetables will be published in April 2021. As a frequent contributor to The New York Times, his article 6 Steps to the Best Barbeque Ribs was published in July 2020 and Charcuterie With All of the Smoke but None of the Meat was published in August featuring ham made from smoked watermelon.

Molly Stevens appeared on the podcast Inside Julia’s Kitchen in December 2019. Molly’s book All About Dinner was a finalist at the 2019 IACP Cookbook Awards. She spoke about the book on Now Serving LA in May 2020. Larkin Square also featured Molly in their virtual author series. She recently took part in a Facebook Live with Kiss the Cook Community Chats, and was on the podcast Bottle in China with Emilie Steckenborn.

Jonathan Waxman’s new cookbook The Barbuto Cookbook: Carolina-Italian Cooking from the Beloved West will be released in Fall 2020.

Virginia Willis is now a member of the William L Brown Farm Market. Virginia has also filmed a series of recipe videos and was a guest speaker at the Sustainable Seafood & Southern Cooking event and at the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival. Virginia cooked A Crumble Y’All on Tampa, Florida’s WFLA’s Daytime TV show. Virginia hosts a Facebook Live program called Cookbooks with Virginia where she recently interviewed Anne Willan.

Kelsey Youngman wrote an article for the Southern Living website on How to Dye Easter Eggs with Ingredients You Already Have in Your Kitchen. Kelsey also writes for the Food and Wine website; her most recent article: These Nesting Rubber-Bottom Bowls Make Every Kitchen Task Easier was published in September 2020. Kelsey has a YouTube channel called The BEST, where she demonstrates such temptations as The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies to Get You Through Quarantine.

 

 

 

Fall/Winter 2019 Alumni News

Mashama Bailey was recently featured on Netflix’s Chef’s Table; she won the James Beard Award for the best chef of the Southeast and her restaurant the Grey was named one of Food & Wines magazine’s best restaurants.

Franklin Biggs Chef and instructor, holds weekly classes at Sur la Table in Birmingham Alabama. He also offers classes for unemployed people in the East Lake neighbourhood at Peer Inc.

Amanda Hesser with fellow co-founder Merrill Stubbs, have sold a majority stake of Food 52 to venture firm TCG for $83 million.

Tanya Holland with her restaurant brand Brown Sugar Kitchen opened a flagship location in downtown Oakland, California in February 2019. She also launched a counter service takeout in the San Francisco Ferry Building.  

Nicole Quessenberry Litvack has started a culinary consulting business where she helps aspiring cookbook authors make their dreams a reality. She manages everything from proposal development, ghost writing and editing to recipe development. She’s just completed work on The Mexican Keto Cookbook for holistic nutritionist Torie Borrelli.

Susan Herrmann Loomis and her cooking school, On Rue Tatin, are offering classes in France, in California, and Maine.

Cynthia Nims is a writer and cooking teacher who, instructs classes on Craftsy. She now on the board of Tilth Alliance, a non-profit organic gardening and urban ecology organization offering classes and learning gardens and farms.

John McReynolds is the executive chef and culinary director of Stone Edge farm estate vineyards and winery. John’s book The Stone Edge Farm Kitchen Larder Cookbook, was published by Rizzoli International Publications in April 2019

Steven Raichlen is the star and producer the PBS television series, Project Fire, now in its second season.

Molly Stevens is a freelance cooking instructor, cookbook author and editor. Her a new book All about dinner: Simple Meals, will be published in November 2019.

Marjorie Taylor and her daughter Kendall Smith Franchini, run a cooking school and shop in Beaune inspired their cookbook The Cook’s Atelier, which won ICAP award in Food Photography and Styling and Design.

Tina Ujlaki has joined the Jury for the Julia Child Award; she was most recently Executive Editor of Food & Wine.

Virginia Willis is part of both the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Blue Ribbon Task Force and of the Atlantic Community Food Bank Advisory board.

Kelsey Youngman a former La Varenne intern, is now the Associate Food Editor at Food & Wine magazine.

 

Fall/Winter 2018 Alumni News

Alex Guarnaschelli is the executive chef and Food Network star, is a special judge on Chopped and executive chef of Butter restaurant in Midtown, New York.

Amanda Hesser is the cofounder of the food community Food 52.

Anna Watson Carl is a writer for Delish.com, Writes a dinner party column for Saveur.com and Owner of The Yellow Table.

Cynthia Nims writes for the Seattle Magazine, where her most recent article “Meet the new wave of female farmers” was published in June.

Faye Levy is a columnist and writer, with her husband, Yakir she is a culinary columnist of The Jerusalem Post since 1990. In February Faye was a judge at the Jewish Bread and Salt Cooking Contest.

Franklin Biggs is the Savoury Chef Instructor, at the Sur La Table in Birmingham Alabama. He is a Board Member, Volunteer and Consultant at the Pepper Place farmers market, which is Birmingham’s most popular farmers market. At Peer Inc he is a Chef trainer and Consultant. Most recently he has been appointed a Friend Chef at the East Lake United Methodist Church.

Jessica Battilana’s new book “Repertoire: All the Recipes You Need”, was released in April. Her recipes are listed in several publications including: Here and Now, Market Place and the San Francisco Chronicles. In Maine, Jessica is hosting cooking classes in the Summer.

John McReynolds is the Culinary Director at Stone Edge Farm, Sonoma CA.

Jonathan Waxman is a judge on Bravo’s Deception and starred in two seasons of Top Chef Masters. This year he is appearing at the Aspen Food and Wine Classic festival in June, and the Music City Food and Wine festival in Nashville in September.

Kate Krader is a restaurant editor, and writer for Bloomberg, software company. Her most recent article: “With recipes, the key to making millions is not about the food”, was published in May.

Linda Collister is a cook and baker and has written several well-known baking cook books including “The Great British Book of Baking” and “The Great British Bake Off”. Her new book is due to be released in August called The Great British Bake Off: Get baking for friends and family”.

Molly Stevens’s cooking classes continue to be a success, promoted on Craftsy and are in the following locations:  Richmond, Vermont, and Maine.

Marah Stets is a bestselling cookbook co-author and editor with two books released this year: her most recent books are: “Magnolia table”, by Joanna Gaines (William Morrow), and “Julep: Southern Cocktails Refashioned”, (Alba Huerta).

Nathan Myhrvold won the Jan Grigson Award for his book the Modernist Bread, at the IACP awards in February. The book shows the revolutionary staples of the human diet.

Nathalie Dupree’s most recent post entitled “What dish would you bring to the slow food potluck this Sunday?”. Was published in June by The Charleston Post Courier.

In the fall Natalie will make several appearances in South Carolina including: “Southern Seasons” Book signings in Mt Pleasant, SC.

Nina Simonds writes for the Boston Globe and is a contributor to the New York Times Travel Section.

Roscoe Betsill divides his time between New York City and the Hudson Valley, freelancing as a food stylist, table top prop stylist and a recipe developer.

Steven Raichlen’s new book stems from his TV Series “Project Fire”, an on set and off-road field trip that involves revolutionary new techniques that invigorate the backyard barbeque from ember roasting and slab grilling to fire heated iron and high-tech rotisseries. His show has featured on: AT & T, British American Comm, Broadcast/On the air TV and Frontier TV. Etc.  In the summer Steven teaches classes at the Broadmoor resort in Colorado Springs.

Susan Hermann Loomis’s most recent book was launched in June, called “The French Grill – 150 refined & rustic recipes.”  Susan is the inspiration of the cooking school “On Rue Tatin” with classes in Paris and Louvers, Normandy.

Tamie Cook attended the Lodge gave a cooking demonstration together with Cynthia Grayson in April at the 22nd Annual National Cornbread Festival.

Tanya Holland This past December Tanya was on Top Chef and is the Owner of Brown Sugar Kitchen, soul food in Oakland, CA. In April, Tanya appeared on the Golden State Warriors YouTube video “Our strength comes from you”, where she touched on her childhood memories and how her kitchen has broken down barriers which she has faced in the industry.

Virginia Willis’s new book “The Secrets of the Southern Table”, was released in June and she is taking it on the road in Georgia, Florida, Maine Virginia, and Massachusetts.

The May’s issue of People Magazine featured, her recipe for Buttermilk Pound cake with Roast Strawberries.

Caroline Wright has been busy… on Food 52 she has developed a recipe for her next birthday cake, her current projects show up on her website, and her blog, The Wright Recipes, has just been relaunched.

Next Edition Coming Soon!

As always, please send any contributions for our next issue of Alumni News to lvcontact@lavarenne.com. We look forward to hearing from you!