Photo by Sophie Sahara
I am a bilingual, Latinx NYC-based food writer, restaurant critic, cook, and recipe developer for publications like the Michelin Guide, Zagat, Food & Wine, Infatuation, Wine Enthusiast, VinePair, Thrillist, PureWow and more. I am the creator of the guide's popular column Eating Off Duty: What celebrated chefs eat outside their kitchens. My range within the food industry is wide, from original recipe development, in-depth reporting, on-camera work, writing and photography, there’s not just “one” thing I do. I believe in order to be a great writer, journalist, and host, I have to know everything about my subjects — so I decided to do what they do myself.
The number one question I get asked is “How did you become a food writer?” followed with “Where are you from?” Let’s start with that one first!
World Traveler
When people ask “Where are you from?” I tell them to get comfortable — because I am from many places. I was born in Panama City, Panama. I lived there until I was about just 3-ish years old before I moved to Honolulu, Hawaii where I lived until the age of 6. Hawaiian cuisine is a true fusion of the island’s food, Japanese, Portuguese, Puerto Rican and American influences. From Hawaii, my family and I moved to Japan for almost 5 years. We spent the majority of our time on a tiny island you may know called Okinawa! As a child, I would eat, drink, and live Japanese food and culture every day. Japanese culture is an essential part of who I am and how I think. We would vacation in South Korea frequently, where I developed my taste and familiarity with the cuisine early on in life. After Okinawa, we settled in northern Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C. NoVa, as it is colloquially referred to, is a melting pot of Latin-American, Chinese, Vietnamese, Ethiopian and many more immigrant cultures. The late and great Anthony Bourdain frequented Northern Virginia in his shows.
“Why did you move around so much? What did your parents do?” I am originally a Panamanian citizen. My mother remarried an American in the military and we took off around the world. That marriage lasted just a couple of years. I do not know who my biological father is.
Much like the many places I’ve grown up in and traveled to, I think of myself as a culinary fusion in the way I approach my work as a writer, cook, and recipe developer given my global upbringing.
My mother, a single mom, would doctor up meals and desserts in her best Martha Stewart ( or Maria Stewart as I refer to her — Maria is my mother's name) manner for my sister and me. She loves Martha, Julia Childs, and Jacques Pepin. Despite being a single mother, she made sure we were exposed to and tried to all kinds of cuisines and recipes from the greats, no matter where in the world we were — through their cookbooks. My maternal grandmother is from Havana, Cuba. She was a showgirl and a dancer. As I child, I grew up eating Cuban (and other Latin) recipes while abroad, passed from my grandmother to my mother to me. Even while living in Hawaii and Japan, we ate Cuban food, replicating our family’s recipes the best we could using the country’s local ingredients. Imagine making ropa vieja (a classic Cuban dish), using only ingredients found in Japan?
Global Food Writer
A single bit of an anchovy-stuffed olive in Madrid changed my life; it made me want to become a food writer. But I’ve always been a writer — in college, I thought I was either going to be the next Christiane Amanpour or a dietician. Perhaps now I am a little bit of both. Storytelling brings me joy, weaving words together in an exciting yet compelling manner. Finding and deeply researching ideas that no one else is already writing or talking about.
So anyway, back to Madrid, 2010, the Mercado de San Miguel, an anchovy-stuffed olive. This single-serving culinary awakening was my Remy-the-rat Ratatouille moment, a full-body fireworks feeling that inspired my calling and career as a food, travel and lifestyle writer and host. I was completely floored by the sublime umami, salty, savory meatiness of that mouthful. But whereas such an exquisite explosion of flavors might send the rest of us on a simple quest for more (How many of these can I get and what’s the largest jar I can carry?), my mind went straight to curiosity: How did this come together? What’s the process, the backstory? What can I learn about the events and history that led up to this combo, this moment, this perfect food?
My entry-level day jobs post-college (working as a business management consultant and a web analyst in DC) were the bland but necessary milk-and-flour staples, a series of small kitchen externships and gigs moonlighting as a food writer was the star ingredients that gave my life the spice, color and full-bodied flavor I craved. A 2014 corporate layoff turned out to be my blessing in disguise because it pushed me to finally put all of her eggs in one basket and make the move to New York City where I further diversified my culinary experience, writing, and operating my own small copywriting business.
I was interviewing chefs during lunchtime, baking for my business, and researching by night. It was big fish, eat little fish so to speak. The more I continued writing about food, the more my name got out there. The more chefs I met. Editors started reaching out to me to write for them.
As a result of having written hundreds of articles in the food and cooking space, producers began reaching out to me as an on-camera expert and host given my culinary expertise and food journalism experience.
Education & Culinary Resume
I attended Cornell University and graduated with a B.S. in Media Communications and focus in Nutrition. I took culinary school courses and wine tasting courses. During that time, I spent almost a year in Madrid, which led to a life-altering decision to dedicate my life to food. I was a cater waiter during school and I also hosted 10+ person dinners as a part of Cornell’s Hillel organization. I’ve worked as a chef’s assistant post-university and even ran my own underground wholesale granola business for several years, serving boutique hotels across New York City. It was called Granolita. I baked 50 pounds of granola a week.
While writing, I began doing recipe development for publications. Currently, I write for the top leading food publications while also executing recipe development, hosting on-camera, and running my own small copywriting and marketing strategy consulting business writing the words for major food brands and companies.
Wine & Cocktail Expert
While at Cornell University, I also studied viticulture and enology (the studies of grape cultivation and wine and winemaking respectively). I also took wine tasting courses and frequented the vineyards that Ithaca, NY is famed for. As a result of my studies, I began to specialize in wine writing in addition to food. Personally, I love to focus on unique wine and food pairings. I’ve written about vegan cheese, Mexican food, pizza, sushi & wine pairings and more. Wine consortiums and tourism boards have reached out to me to visit famed wine regions across the world. I have traveled to Chablis, Cote de Bourgogne, Sicily, Champagne, Napa, and many more famed wine regions for stories for top publications like the Michelin Guide, VinePair, Wine Enthusiast and INSIDER. I can tell you the difference between the various types of Italian bubbling wines, what biodynamic means and why it matters, vegan wines and much more.
I also specialize in food and cocktail pairings. In fact, I was the host of United States of Spirits on the Spirits Network. I take viewers on a journey through New York City’s best bars and restaurants, showing them how to pair cocktails with food. My expertise on cocktails is wide, from cocktail trends to reviewing the best cocktail bars in New York City.
Press & Accolades
I've been featured on NYT Cooking and do recipe development/digital videos for The Spruce Eats, The Kitchn, Food52, Delish, Buzzfeed Tasty, Tastemade and more. I am a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, the Newswomen's Press Club of New York, and the International Association of Culinary Professionals. This story I wrote for Zagat was the #1 read story for the publication of 2020.
CONTACT: mariselmsalazar@gmail.com
Instagram: @mariselmsalazar | Twitter: @mariselsalazar | Clubhouse: @mariselmsalazar
Media kit, speaking and hosting engagement fees available upon request.