About
The long version.
I'm a street-smart Brooklyn kid with the brassy, old-school accent to prove it. I split my time between my hometown and Baltimore, where I've lived for the past ten years and will happily argue is America's coolest city. My whole career has been chasing one question: how did this get here, and why does it matter?
Before I was a writer, I was a D-list celebrity chef. (Some would say C-list, but my Catholicism keeps me humble.) My bakery, Robicelli's, was named one of New York's best. I cooked on VH1, Food Network, and Cooking Channel, and invented multiple viral desserts that made headlines on six continents. I never hired a publicist, an agency, or any outside help. I got to be a big name through a combination of being clever, charismatic, and having a whole lot of moxie.
In 2016 I traded the kitchen for the keyboard, and that same year I was nominated for a James Beard Award. I spent years writing for The Washington Post, and my work has run in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Eater, and The Infatuation, where I reviewed restaurants. I started the first non-alcoholic drinks column in American food media, years before anyone else was ready to take it mainstream, and I've written four books, including cookbooks for the WWE and Back to the Future.
Today I'm a speaker, a consultant for destinations and brands, and the founder of The Onesta Agency, which pairs students with professional journalists.
Outside of work, I've done a lot of living. When Hurricane Sandy hit, I ran a relief dispatch center out of my apartment. I raised two sons who are now in college. I'm a lifelong thrift shopper, I'm deep into underground art, and you'll find me at hardcore shows more weekends than not.
And I will travel anywhere with a good story. I love old architecture, almost-abandoned cities, weird histories, hidden histories, dive bars, roadside shacks, old carousels, old zoos, old cemeteries, and older churches. I've slept in hotels that used to be funeral homes and state asylums, seen a dancing horse show, and visited three of the four presidential assassination sites. Give me twenty minutes and I'll talk you into Buffalo. Give me an hour and you're booking Grand Rapids.