Alison Roman

As a recipe developer, food writer and pastry chef, Alison Roman’s love for food knows no bounds. She’s on a mission to make cooking more accessible to everybody, even your younger brother in college that eats nothing but ramen. Teaching others about food is one of her favorite hobbies, a constant source of delight for someone who lives to discover new ingredients, techniques and recipes.  

You can usually find her at her home in Brooklyn, New York where she spends most of her days developing new takes on old classics. She’s been a pastry chef at Momofuku, New York’s most legendary bakery; served as the Senior Food Editor at Bon Appetit Magazine and BuzzFeed, and regularly creates recipes for publications like The New York Times, GQ and Lucky Peach. She’s also the author of Dining In, a cookbook devoted to teaching amateur cooks how to craft beautiful dishes with elegance. Her style of food is soulful and simple, with recipes like her Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies becoming the stuff of legend, described by many a food blogger as “one of the only chocolate chip cookies recipes you ever need to make again”.

With her deep knowledge of food, passion for elevating simple ingredients and love of cooking for others, Alison is our favorite choice for helping you navigate the winding streets of Vietnam. Her gift for creating comfort food will make you feel at home no matter where you are in the world, surprising even the most refined palates with flavor combinations that are new and familiar all at once.

Tastemaker Page: Why We Love Alison 

Few people are as community oriented as Alison. She has the soul of your favorite grandma that always insisted on baking you freshly made cookies from scratch, and is the kind of person who loves nothing more than to bring people together with food. Her writing style is funny, accessible and poignant, connecting with readers in such a way so that she seems like your cool best friend teaching you how to cook. Her passion for trying new things inspires us to be better, to experiment and cook our hearts out like never before. 

Alison is here to show us all that cooking isn’t a challenge, but really is a labor of love. 

“Cooking a steak for people I really love is my favorite hobby,” she says.

Her book is devoted to inspiring everyone out there that dreams of cooking but isn’t sure how, a dedication to the everyday chef that says “you can do it, I promise”. 

“I wanted the book to be for people who like food and eating but aren’t super confident...it’s for anyone who thinks they can’t cook but wants to, and for anyone curious about what I think of boiled potatoes,” she adds. We can’t help but laugh as we hear her warm, friendly voice take us through each mouth-watering recipe step by step.