CV

Literary Agent: Janis Donnaud

BOOKS

FOCUS: Global and regional cuisines and recipes, narrative (story-driven) books and reporting (people, culture, culinary history with a modern eye, and anything else that sparks an interest, from music to comedy), personal memoir-drive cookbooks for a specific target audience.

Select books include:

• SECRET SUPPERS: Rogue Chefs and Underground Restaurants (2008) by JENN GARBEE (narrative nonfiction/reporting, with recipes) – Sasquatch Books

• “The intimate evenings profiled and their recipes capture the spontaneity and spirit of truly homegrown dining.” – Bon Appetit February 2009 print magazine review of Secret Suppers
• “In Secret Suppers, Jenn Garbee is a smashing writer as well as a cook.” – Los Angeles Times review

Collaborator / Writer + Recipe Developer / Tester + Project Manager (incl. book proposals)

• DON’T MESS UP YOUR RICE: 70 Recipes to Impress Uncle Roger (Fall 2026) by comedian NIGEL NG with JENN GARBEE (Collaborative comedy/narrative writer and recipe developer, focusing on authentic and culturally significant South and South East Asian, Chinese, and Asian-American recipes) – Simon Element
• PHIL’S FAVORITES: Recipes and Stories from Friends and Family to Make at Home (2025) by (the wonderful!) PHIL ROSENTHAL and JENN GARBEE (Collaborative writer and recipe developer/tester; part memoir, part storytelling and reporting featuring friends/family, chefs, and mom-and-pop shops, with 75 recipes) – Simon Element
• THE PARTY SHIRT COOKBOOK: 100 Recipes for Next-Level Eats (2023) by techno DJs X DI PETTA & NICK IAVARONE (aka X & Ivy/@PartyShirt) and JENN GARBEE (Collaborative comedy/music writer and recipe developer) – Abrams Image
• SOMEBODY FEED PHIL THE BOOK: Untold stories and Favorite Recipes (2022, NYT Best Seller) by PHIL ROSENTHAL and JENN GARBEE (Collaborative writer and recipe developer/tester; storytelling and reporting on the chefs, bakers, home cooks, and communities worldwide featured in Somebody Feed Phil, with 65 recipes) – Simon Element
• THE FIRE OF PERU: Recipes and Stories from My Peruvian Kitchen (2017) by chef RICARDO ZARATE and JENN GARBEE (Collaborative writer and recipe tester; part memoir, part Peruvian food history, with 65 recipes) – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• URBAN INGREDIENTS (2017) by beer expert CHRISTINA PEROZZI and JENN GARBEE (for Goose Island Beer Co.; Collaborative writer and recipe developer focusing on global and Chicago-focused beer history and beer education incl. styles and food pairings) – Prospect Park Books
• TOMATOMANIA: A Fresh Approach to Celebrating Tomatoes in the Garden and in the Kitchen (2015) by Tomatomania founder SCOTT DAIGRE and JENN GARBEE (Collaborative garden how-to writer and recipe developer) – St. Martin’s Press
• DAS COOKBOOK: German Cooking…California Style (2014) by chefs HANS ROCKENWAGNER and WOLFGANG GUSSMACK and JENN GARBEE (Collaborative writer and recipe tester) – Prospect Park Books
• THE THYROID SOLUTION DIET (2014) by Dr. RIDHA AREM (Recipe developer within specific Mediterranean diet guidelines) – Atria Books
• Untitled – Memoir featuring Don Alias, the premier jazz conga drummer behind music icons incl. Miles Davis, Eartha Kitt, Jaco Pastorius, Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell, Elvis Costello, Herbie Hancock, and numerous others. (Unfinished due to author’s passing.)

Freelance Editor (Recipes and narrative text; Prospect Park Books is now an imprint of Turner Publishing)

• LA MEXICANO: Recipes, People, and Places (2017) by Mexican food journalist/authority Bill Esparza – Prospect Park Books
• WHO WANTS SECONDS? Sociable Suppers for Vegans, Omnivores, and Everyone in Between (2013) by Jennie Cook – Prospect Park Books
• AUNTIE EM’S: A Musician’s Guide to Breakfast and Brunch (2014) by Theresa Wahl – Prospect Park Books
• EAT LOS ANGELES (2008, 2010, 2012 editions) – Prospect Park Books

Researcher (historic recipe provenance)

• THE COOKBOOK LIBRARY: Four Centuries of the Cooks, Writers, and Recipes that Made the Modern Cookbook (2012) by Anne Willan – University of California Press

JOURNALISM

LOS ANGELES TIMES FOOD / ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT / TRAVEL & LA TIMES MAGAZINE (2005-2008 in house; 2009-2014 freelance)

Select work here

• LAT Reporter, Food,Calendar,Travel, 2005-2014: Various food/arts beats incl. underground restaurants, cookbook reviews, profiles, offbeat travel, indie musicians/artists/magicians, et al
• LAT Cooking and Baking Writer, Food Section (multiple years): General cooking and baking stories with both original and chef/small business recipes
• LAT Artisan Columnist, Food Section (multiple years): Covering small family businesses throughout SoCal with a longstanding and deep connection to the community (many now closed) incl. Nanka Sieman Japanese Noodles, La Zamorana Mexican Candy, Nory Lokum Turkish Delight Factory, Kruegerman Pickle Factory, et al
• LAT Craft Beer & Craft Spirits Columnist, Food Section (multiple years): Covering the rise in craft brewers and artisan spirits companies from LA to San Diego
• LAT Editorial Assistant, Food Section, 2006
• LAT Recipe Testing and Development Assistant, Test Kitchen, 2005

Other Featured Venues (Food, Drink, Arts)

• Columnist, LA WEEKLY, 2012-2015: Cooking with farmers, artisan/family food businesses, chef/food industry profiles
• Cooking & Cocktail Columnist, TRIBUNE NEWS WIRE 2008-2010 (Nationwide distribution): Chicago Tribune, Daily Press, Orlando Sentinel, Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, and others; including original recipes
• Contributor, COOKING LIGHT, BON APPETIT, ROBB REPORT, LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE, US AIRWAYS MAGAZINE, EPICURIOUS, THE TASTING PANEL + various online outlets
• Project Developer & Consultant / Executive Managing Editor, INGRAIN Magazine 2017-2020; Goose Island Beer Company: Feature length 120-page, Chicago-centric indie beer, food, arts/culture, and music feature-length magazine (including recipes) with quarterly distribution via Bon Appetit, GQ & Wired
• Brand development consultant, writer, and recipe developer, Select Private Clients: AB-InBev, Yvan Valentin Chocolate, Chilean Tourism Board, Blue Ocean Australian wine, multiple CA wineries

Cookbook Judge, JAMES BEARD AWARDS, multiple years (2011, 2012, 2013)

Featured Guest, NPR’s SPLENDID TABLE

Guest Judge, THE NEXT FOOD NETWORK STAR, Los Angeles episode (Definitely not “journalism” but I have no clue where to list this.)

Education & Other Training

Pastry Chef Assistant, LUCQUES restaurant, 2005 (chef Suzanne Goin / pastry chef Breanne Varela) / stage (This was fun! Except when it was past midnight, after the night shift clean up and after working a full-time desk job in museum admin, which started again in a few hours.)

Diplôme de Pâtisserie / Le Cordon Bleu, CA School of Culinary Arts, 2005 (Best surprise of the year: the NASA engineer, there for fun, who made the most incredible, multi-tiered *blown* sugar sculpture the very last weekend before graduation. Who knew? Great guy, but he couldn’t bake a decent looking pastry all year.)

Culinary Instructor (adults + kids, multiple years): Epicurean Culinary School West Hollywood, Chefmakers Academy Pacific Palisades, Crossroads School Santa Monica, UCLA Fowler Museum; developed a curriculum for ages 5 to 15 yrs and adult beginning cooks with targeted skills classes and original recipes

Arts Administration, Museums

• Manager, Budgets and Administration (2002 – 2005); HR Manager and Retail Store Director (2003 – 2005), UCLA Fowler Museum (Hired to handle museum budgets/admin; later took over both the HR department as well as the museum store — the latter with a great group of long-retired volunteer ladies who *loved* those wholesale merch buying trips.)
• Budget and Finance Associate Manager, Exhibitions, J. Paul Getty Museum, 2000 – 2002
• General Administration and Development Associate, The New Museum of Contemporary Art, late 1990s
• Development Assistant, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, late 1990s

MBA, Nonprofit focus, UTexas, Austin

BA Philosophy, Davidson College