ABOUT THIS COOK:

I started as a pastry chef, I then became a cooking teacher, and for the past ten years I have been a restaurant critic and columnist for The Montreal Gazette. Review cookbooks and kitchen equipment/gourmet foods as well. Married to a pastry chef. Have two cute kids who are fussy eaters. Love most everything, save for monkfish liver. Good luck with Food 52 ladies! Looking good so far.

• What is the strangest food you have ever eaten?
  lamb testicles in Nice

• What do you cook when home alone?
  spaghetti w/ olive oil, lemon and parmesan (River Cafe recipe)

• Your most treasured kitchen possession:
  my great-grandmother's rolling pin

• The ideal number of guests for a dinner party is:
  8