NEWS FALL 2025

This year, our special edition Alumni News spans the last two years.

Alex Guarnaschelli has had two top 10 New York Times selling books, Cook it up in 2023 and Italian American Forever in 2024. She has continued to appear in The Food Network TV shows: Chopped: Julia Child, Selena and Chef, and Wildcard Kitchen. Alex appeared on the front cover of First for Women magazine in October 2024.

Amanda Hesser retired from Food52 in May 2025. She is writing a popular Substack called Homebound.

Anna Watson Carl opened a French-style neighbourhood café called The Yellow Table Café in January 2025 after hosting pop-up events in 2024. She was interviewed on the Global Glory Chasers podcast in 2024.

Caroline Wright published Soup Club: 80 Cozy Recipes for Creative Plant-based Soups and Stews to Share in December 2023.

Cynthia Nims writes her Seafood Savvy Substack and launched another called Long Live the Recipe Box in January 2025 in addition to continuing to consult on recipe development.

Faye Levy’s recipe for Sesame Semolina Bread won the title of Star Baker in the Twitter Bake along in September 2023. Faye has been busy writing for publications including Edible San Fernando Valley, the Orange County Register, The Los Angeles Daily News, and The New York Daily.

Jessica Battilana as staff editor at King Arthur Flour was involved in the publication of their King Arthur Baking Company’s Big Book of Bread published in 2024; it reached number 1 on the NY Times bestseller list. Sweet & Salty! King Arthur Baking Company’s Cookbook for Young Bakers was published in September 2025. She was interviewed for the She’s My Cherry Pie podcast about Making Swirl Breads.

Jonathan Waxman’s new restaurant Bar Tizio opened in May 2025 and Barbuto Brooklyn opened in June. Barbuto was listed in the NY Times 100 Best Restaurants in New York City, in April 2024 and ranked 10^th in The New York Times Top 10 Reader Favorites from 100 Best New York Restaurants.

Kate Krader continues to cover food, drink and restaurants for Bloomberg News in London. She was included in Hanna Lee Communications Inspiring Leaders series in November 2023. She also served on the Jury for the Julia Child Award.

Kelsey Youngman wrote several articles for Food & Wine magazine in 2023 including 9 Types of Squash and How to Cook with Each, This Holiday Season, Join the League of Cookies and 8 Ways to Make the Best Potato Latkes of Your Life.

Marah Stets was a contributor to the book Maydan: Recipes from Lebanon and Beyond published in December 2023. She also wrote: Two Recipes for Baklawa for Slate in November 2024.

Marjorie Taylor’s new cookbook French at Heart was published in April. Her shop: The Cook’s Atelier partnered with clothing brand, Frank and Eileen to design their shirts and clothing to sell in-store in 2025. Marjorie also appeared on the Today Show and the Radio Cherry Bombe podcast. Her new book was listed in Food & Wine’s: 5 Cookbooks That Will Take You Around the World and she was interviewed for Food52: The Mother-Daughter Duo Bringing French Cooking (and Joy) Home.

Mashama Bailey opened a new restaurant, L’Arret by the Grey in Paris’ 7^th Arrondissement serving breakfast and lunch. In 2025, she appeared at the Aspen Food and Wine Classic, on the cover of Cherry Bombe, The Power Issue and as an American Express ambassador celebrating the launch of the Culinary Collective by The Centurion Lounge.

Nathan Myhrvold published Modernist Bread at Home in March 2024 in English, French and Italian editions. He was interviewed by the Heritage Radio Network. Chef Radio Podcast in August 2024 and Geek and Wine Podcast in April 2025.

Nicole Quessenberry Litvack has written articles for Blue Dot Living including: Spiny Lobster Season in San Diego County, Small Fish Make a Big Impact, and Darian Schramm’s Paramount Fish Brings Local Catches to Inland Communities.

Nina Simonds wrote 50 years later; I’m still falling for Taipei for the Boston Globe.

Steven Raichlen took over Hungry TV  0n Independence Day and Labor Day weekends in 2024. He headlined the Open Fire Food Festival in February 2024. In October 2024, Project Fire was listed as one of The 18 Best Grilling Cookbooks, According to a Chef by Food & Wine magazine. Steven’s Beer-Can Chicken was republished in May 2024 and a new French edition of Sauces, Rubs, and Marinades was published in April 2025. His latest cookbook, Project Griddle, was published in April 2025.

Susan Herrmann Loomis launched a newsletter and held a 3-day cooking course in Fort Worth, Texas called French Cooking Comes to Texas in June 2025.

Tamie Cook was the Culinary Producer of season 3 of The Key Ingredient on PBS. She also led cooking classes at Rancho La Puerta.

Tanya Holland was a judge for the Marriott International Masters of The Craft in 2023, led a food tour in Oakland, CA with Soulful Sips and Bites in June 2024, headlined the Cooking for Kamala national Zoom in August 2024, was a keynote speaker at Cherry Bombe’s Jubilee Wine Country in Napa Valley and was named a Mellon Fellow at Dillard University’s Ray Charles Program in March 2025.

Virginia Willis is writing a fortnightly column in the magazine Good and Good For You. Her books Lighten Up, Y’all and Bon Appetit Y’all are out in paperback and How to Make Biscuits is available as an e-book. In March 2024, Virginia headlined the 2024 Laurette LePrevost Writers’ Symposium, Food for Thought and she was a guest chef with Mercy Chefs in May 2025.

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 20^th 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 125^th 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 50^th 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 20^th 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 10^th 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.