About the Girls

GIRLS ON FOOD FOUNDERS

JULIANNE GABERT

Sacramento, CA ---> Seattle, WA ---> Los Angeles, CA

I was born and raised in the suburbs of Sacramento, California. I grew up as a “McDonald’s kid”. I was also very picky about what I ate and refused to try new foods. No fun, I know.

Mom started taking me on trips to Europe when I was a teenager and that’s when my palate for finer foods began to develop. Some of my favorite meals include Veal Bolognese in Rome, Gyros in Athens, Paella in Lisbon and Duck L’Orange in Paris. I’m no longer a fast food junkie and I enjoy cooking at home creating my own dishes. 

Even with all this travel and experience, the food that makes me tick the most is just good old American grub. I still love cheeseburgers, fries and milkshakes. I also love traditional Southern cooking; fried chicken, collards, mac ‘n cheese and cornbread. For this site I will be reviewing high-end restaurants, dives, food trucks and meat shops. I'll hopefully be posting some of my original recipes along the way. 

   

TIFFANY 
Sacramento, CA ---> Los Angeles, CA

I’m a good cook and a better baker but my borderline unhealthy obsession with dining out tends to keep me out of the kitchen. I absolutely love discovering new restaurants and devouring all the best they have to offer. Here I’ll share my best finds and hopefully hear yours, all in an effort to add to my ever-expanding-and-contracting culinary bucket list. 

  

GIRLS ON FOOD CONTRIBUTERS

             

BONNIE ANTONINI
Sacramento, CA  

I’ve been cooking from scratch – ever since I can remember.  Frugal by nature (okay – cheap!), I just can’t see buying pre-made food when it’s so easy to make it yourself.  Plus, when you prepare your own food, you know what’s in it.  Since I’m also skeptical by nature (okay – a bit paranoid!), I worry what germs, bugs, and unpronounceable ingredients my family and I are eating.  

As an actress, I decided to merge my love of cooking with my love of being in front of the camera, creating an online show called VEGETARIAN COOKING FOR CARNIVORES (vegcookingforcarnivores.com) – a show for people who like meat but want to eat vegetarian.  The next step was blogging (vegcookingforcarnivoresblog.com), followed by tweeting (@vegcooking4carn).  Geez – where does it end?

I don’t preach vegetarianism – I’m just there for those of you who want good vegetarian food (which also includes desserts, by the way).

MEGAN

New York City, NY

Born in Virginia and raised on the mean streets of Garden City, Long Island, I've learned to appreciate any type of cuisine from a late night burrito and tatcho's to a tasting menu and wine pairing.  I'm a bit of an adventurer when it comes to food and am always up for an eating challenge where I can find one.  I may or may not have eaten sixteen chili tacos to become "The Taco Queen" of a small hole in the wall Mexican eatery.  I also couldn't help myself from ordering whale in Oslo (please don't tell Green Peace) and can't resist a zany menu choice.

A writer and performer, I like to pair my meals with a good play and you can find my reviews on New York Theatre Guide.  Baking is a guilty pleasure and I'm constantly preparing confectionaries with surprises inside.  I hope one day to compile all my recipes into one called "Get Stuffed".

I'm looking forward to the next culinary adventure I carve out and sharing them with you.  I may just need to create an entire series devoted to "did they really just make this Asian/Mexican/Korean/Italian fusion a food truck?". Cheers!

CHRISTINA

San Francisco, CA--->Los Angeles, CA

Growing up Italian I am predisposed to enjoy good food and wine. In fact I would probably be excommunicated from the family if I stopped eating any major food group (or just mercilessly ridiculed). Being raised on wine and loud family gatherings it is no surprise I ended up behind a bar. 

I’ve been bartending for almost 8 years now with my focus being on craft and classic cocktails. This year I was honored to be one of the regional finalists for the prestigious Diageo World Class bartending competition. I’m continually futzing around with new recipes and techniques at home and at work, I look forward to sharing with you my original recipes and favorite bars.

JULIETA 

Mexico City, Mexico ---> Los Angeles, CA 

Dine, eat, cook, drink and eat some more!

I’m originally from Mexico City and as love would have it, I met a gringo and moved to Los Angeles in 2005.

Even as a kid I was always curious about food: the good, the bad and the ugly. There was always some new street food vendor, restaurant and good eats around my home. Food felt comforting and a natural thing to love and enjoy.

When I moved to LA I quickly realized that the comida I loved so much was virtually impossible to find so my love for cooking was born. I recreated all the Mexican food I loved and missed. I even started baking. 

I grow my own vegetables and get the biggest pleasure of cooking with them. I absolutely love trying new restaurants and I am obsessed with churros. I look forward to sharing with you my recipes and my favorite spots in Los Angeles and Mexico. Besos!

MONIQUE

Miami, FL

Meat and potatoes is the traditional midwestern cuisine, but I'm not a typical midwestern kind of girl. I'm from Ohio originally but my father's Army travels have taken me everywhere from Savannah, GA to Wiesbaden, Germany. Along the way I picked up a love of relocating (I am a Miami native now) and unique cuisines. I call myself the "reluctant foodie" because I ended up trying new foods as a result of health issues. With a clean bill of health now, I still venture out to find the most delicious and interesting cuisines around. I am partial to Italian food and sushi especially. Seafood is my weakness, literally, as I love it so but am deathly allergic to it. 

I am one of those infamous "can cook but prefers not to" types, but recently I have begun renewing my skills in the kitchen. I am newer to the Miami area and contributing to Girls on Food has finally given me a reason to venture all over town to find the best food the city has to offer. I love a good "hole in the wall" restaurant with great unexpected food and can't wait to share the pocket gems in Miami with you! 

LIANA

Seattle, WA

I grew up in the Seattle area and moved to California for college. After getting made fun of for saying the word "pop" (never soda) one too many times, I learned that you can take the girl out of the Pacific Northwest, but you can't take the Pacific Northwest out of the girl. 

During my four years away, I decided that craft beer is a better alternative to pop, not to mention, it gets me fewer strange looks. I can’t wait to explore new breweries back home and share them with you! And of course, since we all love food here, I plan to report on a few of my favorites: cheese, chipotle everything, and chocolate. 

I should mention that I'm a vegetarian (I love my cats too much to eat their friends), but no worries - this hasn't held me back. I survived Italy and Vietnam without meat, and I'll be taking on Nicaragua this summer, so you'll be hearing all about that. I hope you’re ready to read about my culinary adventures from my travels and my homeland! 

MARCIE

New York City, NY

Born and raised in Sacramento, CA, 10 months ago I made the biggest move of my life to New York City. I am a bartender, and I have been in the restaurant industry for 11 years. I currently bartend at an upscale diner in lower Manhattan making handcrafted cocktails and boozy milkshakes... yummm. When I am not working, I am frequenting the local dive bars, brunching with my pals in lower Manhattan's hot spots, having dinner dates with my boyfriend, and traveling the east coast soaking up the eating and drinking culture. I love a local beer with a whiskey and a pickle back, a sangria or a mojito on a hot day, or a lovely glass of crisp New Zealand Sauvingnon Blanc with dinner. 

Cooking has also become a passion of mine over the past few years. Good Mexican cuisine is tough to find on the east coast, so I always find myself making a huge bowl of homemade guacamole or roasted vegetable enchiladas. I am also a huge advocate for crockpot cooking, making healthy black bean or lentil soups during the frigid winter months here in NYC. 

I can't wait to share with you all my adventures of discovering new food, restaurants, fun and exciting ways of wetting my whistle, and the sheer beauty and history that the east coast has to offer us. 

 

ALEX

Orange County ---> LA---> San Diego 

Most everyone is convinced that I only moved to San Diego for the mexican food, and I can't say they're wrong. There is nothing I love more than chips, guacamole and a margarita on Taco Tuesday. I grew up in Orange County as the world's pickiest eater, my mother entirely convinced I would never eat anything except chicken nuggets. I was literally on the pilot episode of Food 911 quoted as saying "I love chicken nuggets" in olive green corduroy overalls, my proudest moment to date. I then got pretty unfortunately chunky in college, and when I started getting skinny I realized broadening my horizons was a must. In the past 5 years I have become a major foodie, and a huge fan of everything green. I have recently taken on the challenge of teaching myself to cook, and make the best brussel sprouts on earth. Aside from my love of mexican food and foray into healthy home cooking, I have the biggest sweet tooth around and love anything and everything dessert. I make it a point to eat something sweet after every meal, and usually have some sort of candy on me at all times, which I balance out with a daily yoga practice and lots of running around like a crazy person.  I am itching to get out and start exploring all San Diego has to offer, and am so excited to be able to share my findings here with all of you! 

JILL
Sacramento, CA

A lifelong foodie and experimental artist, food is probably one of my favorite things. Food is art in itself, whether nature-given or human-created, and when that art satisfies your tastebuds, it is a pleasure seeker's  dream come true. Although a Sacramento native (still trying to find the best of the best here), I spent some time living in San Francisco and India, which is (without a doubt) why healthy deliciousness, fair food and business practices, quality and authenticity (in ingredients, preparation AND presentation) and the words 'spicy' and 'ethnic' are important aspects of my foodie-ness. It is DEFINITELY possible to be madly in love with delicious food AND be healthy and beautiful. In fact, delicious food can MAKE you healthy and beautiful.

ALYSHA
Sacramento, CA
I am was born and raised in California and I did not try an avocado until I was seventeen years old. I am haunted daily by those lost avocados…
I was raised by a hard working single mother and I would not eat ANYTHING as a child. My mother could only rotate about three recipes for me and my opinionated palate. How she managed to keep the appropriate amount of nutrients in me is nothing short of a miracle. This habit continued as I became an adult and my diet was what can only be described as ‘basic’ and, more to the point, incredibly unhealthy.
As a hard working mom now in my adult life, I understand the plight of my mother more than ever. I recently became a food groupie via the flourishing food community in my hometown, the Farm to Fork capitol and started working to replicate or modify favorite recipes for my growing family. As cooking became more of a hobby for me in my late twenties, my kitchen style evolved into working on how to combine hearty and healthy with the decadent. Just in case I get too adventurous for my husband and six year old, I am lucky to have a wonderful, receptive test audience for my food in the form of a gaggle of girlfriends who never hesitate to let me cook for them.

CLAIRE
Sacramento, CA 
  
I am the beer and wine buyer for the Davis Food Cooperative in Davis, CA. I obsess, fantasize, and talk about beer, wine and food on a daily basis.  

   

I consider my job a dream, and there is nothing that I love more than ruminating over wine, beer, and food. But it is more often than not that I am running around my store like crazy, or schlepping boxes in the warehouse… and while talking about the bottles that I have chosen to carry is quite possibly my favorite aspect of my job, it is in all actuality one of the pursuits that I spend the least amount of time on. So here we are.

   

It is so often that I get referred to as the "wine lady", or get asked "are you the expert around here?" I do think of myself as a lady, but would never refer to myself as an expert. I am a buyer with many goals, and I am a consumer with just a few simple needs:

I seek value. And by Value, I mean I want you to feel you get your money's worth when you finish your experience with what you are drinking. I seek quality.  Enough said.

   

I seek variety.  I taste over a 1000 bottles a year, and I get bored easily.  This is not just another account of your typical California Chardonnay, or the next great Domestic IPA. Here you will discover my newest finds, writings on latest releases, revisiting of classics, pairings, recipes and food ideas, and lots of talk on cheese (it is the perfect accompaniment, is it not?).  And above all, you may find something new to love.

   

So please, enjoy what's in your glass. Salud.

BECKI 
Austin, TX

I run, cook, eat, drink, and love music. 
   
Growing up the youngest of seven kids with both parents working full time;  food and cooking were a huge part of my childhood. My Mom made sure to have a homemade dinner every night, yes she was Superwoman. Whether it be a quick soup during the week, or a huge Peirogis feast on the weekend, food was important to my parents. Being from a large family I didn't get to be choosy, you ate what was on the table or you didn't eat, simple. I learned early on in life to at least take a chance and try something/anything at least once. 
   
I grew up the first 25 years of my life in the Northwest. My passion for great seafood, and wine are directly related to my Northwest roots. I reside in Austin, Texas and for the last 5 years I have obsessed over new restaurants, new chefs, and the ever evolving food truck scene. I have steadily watched the Austin culinary scene blossom to a nationally recognized hub for foodies everywhere. 
   
I love eating out and trying new restaurants, but I also obsess and pour over cookbooks, magazines, and cooking blogs to find or recreate a new dish. Here I will share with you my favorite restaurants, dishes, recipes, music and travels.