I have been a San Francisco resident for nearly a decade, living in the New York City and Los Angeles metropolitan areas previously. I write a weekly food column, “Appetite“, for, and also work part time at, the Guardian, San Francisco (and one of the nation’s) oldest alternative weekly newspapers. I also write for Go2 Media and Wine Consumer, have worked at an acclaimed culinary academy and am the food critic for a Bay Area radio station on a live call-in show.

For years, I’ve written reviews, provided personalized itineraries, even tours – a “where to go and what to do” – for friends and their friends. In San Fran alone, I’ve frequented well over two thousand restaurants, cafes, bars and many cultural, artistic sites and events, sharing my passion for beauty, the arts and adventure, constantly refining my tastes and hunger for discovery.

Spending months traveling around the world has sharpened my knowledge of other locales, which I write about in the “Wandering Traveler” section of my monthly newsletter. I’ve been known to eat my way through mountain towns in Switzerland, sample gelato in the cities of Italy, or take a BBQ road trip through the South. I provide itineraries and meal/drink recommendations for other cities, my knowledge of New York City, Los Angeles, New Orleans and Italy being especially keen.

I am a lifelong writer and self-sustaining culinary imbiber and critic, paid minimally for writing in my freelance jobs, but I buy all my meals and, yes, spend a small fortune exploring multiple new places a week. Though invited to occasional industry events or restaurant/bar openings, it’s never to write favorable reviews. I’m fiercely devoted to honesty in my assessments, though I tend to not write about a place if it thoroughly disappointed me – there are too many great places to focus energy on. I welcome opportunities to sample things for free (us “starving artists” have to!) but will always return to a place I like to confirm its status in a “normal” visit.  My passion for food, drink, travel and authentic, communal moments around those things has been part of this adventure of life I love to share!