As an undergraduate studying English at UC Berkeley, Samin took a detour into the kitchen at Chez Panisse restaurant that has happily determined the course of her life and career. Since 2000, she has pursued her twin passions of food and words with equal vigor, aiming to create work that inspires, creates community, and raises cultural, social and environmental awareness.
She learned to cook at Chez Panisse, in Italy alongside Benedetta Vitali and Dario Cecchini, and at (the no longer extant) Eccolo in Berkeley. She studied poetry with Bob Hass, Shakespeare with Stephen Booth, and journalism with Michael Pollan. Alice Waters and farmer Bob Cannard have taught her more about land stewardship than anyone else.
Her first book is the #1 New York Times Bestselling, James Beard Award-winning Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking(link is external), which is illustrated by the inimitable Wendy MacNaughton(link is external). A documentary series based on the book is now streaming on Netflix(link is external). She was also a food columnist for theNew York Times Magazine(link is external)from 2017 to 2021 and continues to contribute to the Magazine and NYT Cooking(link is external) from time to time. In 2020, her and her good friend Hrishikesh Hirway (link is external)and launched Home Cooking(link is external), an award-winning, 4-ish part podcast to help listeners figure out what to cook (and keep them company) during the quarantine. Her second book, Good Things, will be published by Random House in the fall of 2025.
But mostly, she lives to cook and eat with friends, garden and swim, hang out with her pup, sleep under the stars, read, write and listen to good music.