An American writer, chef, and cooking blogger, born in New York, United States, to a father who was a Jewish refugee from Germany and an American mother. She grew up in Greenwich Village, New York, and attended a boarding school in Montreal, Canada, before studying sociology at the University of Michigan. She also earned a master's degree in art history, then moved to Berkeley, California. She joined the several partners-owned restaurant Swallow as a result of her interest in food. She also wrote about food in the book "Mmmmm: A Feastiary" and worked as an editor for New West magazine. Her credits include Garlic and Sapphires, Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie (2006), and Delicious!.