Home / About

Editorial Staff

You can contact a specific staff member by writing to that person’s first name at TheNibble.com or at the “click here” in his or her bio. We appreciate all of your comments and feedback.

Karen Hochman

Editorial Director

Karen, a New York foodie, is the founder of THE NIBBLE. She had been dining royally around town since high school. Upon receiving an MBA, it was not surprising that she went to work for the CEO of Bloomingdale’s and was sent on assignment to the gourmet housewares department. She never left the sixth floor, metaphorically speaking; although she did switch to a career in corporate marketing and advertising. It was at Citibank for credit card customers that she began to write her first culinary newsletters. A cutting-edge cook, she is thrilled to be putting out a virtual buffet of specialty foods.

Cricket Azima

Contributing Editor, Family & Children

Cricket Azima is a professional chef and cookbook author who specializes in cooking for and with children. Since 1999, Cricket has given cooking classes to more than 1,000 children at schools, Girl Scout groups, the Children’s Museum of Manhattan, Whole Foods Market and other locations throughout the New York area. She is the Director of Kids’ Programs for Kidfresh, an innovative company in New York City offering all natural, freshly prepared foods for kids. Previously, as the Food Editor for KIWI magazine, a bi-monthly family magazine focused on healthy and organic living, Cricket focused on international recipes and food-related culture. Cricket’s newest children’s cookbook, Everybody Eats Lunch, was published by Glitterati Inc., in May, 2008. She is also a mom and a spokesperson for a several food companies.

Rowann Gilman

Contributing Editor

Rowann has spent more than 20 years in senior editorial positions at In-Touch Weekly, Woman’s Day Holiday Baking, Light Meals in Minutes, Jenn Air’s Creative Cooking, and other special-interest publications. She was editor-in-chief of Changing Homes and Decorating Editor of McCall’s. She is also a passionate cook and baker—but, she hastens to add, accepts invitations to enjoy others’ cooking and baking.

Ruth J. Katz

Contributing Editor, Home Zone

A contributing editor at New York Magazine and Redbook, Ruth is an expert in consumer goods and services. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, the Daily News, Self, Woman’s Day, and many others. Ruth explains that she has a black belt in shopping. For Nibblers, she’ll be hunting “finds” in kitchen appliances and gadgets, tableware and items for entertaining. We hope no one gets hurt.

Michael Mascha

Contributing Editor, Bottled Waters

Michael, a food anthropologist and culinary expert, was one of the first people to recognize the fast emergence of bottled water connoisseurship and the need for an authoritative source to help consumers make sense of the category, a $6 billion industry with hundreds of different choices. He founded FineWaters.com in 2003 and it has become a popular destination site. Michael consults with restaurants nationwide on food and and water pairings. He has a background as a wine collector and is also a connoisseur of fine chocolate. He holds a Ph.D. and is a former assistant professor of Visual Anthropology at the University of Southern California. Click here to e-mail Michael.

Kris Prasad

Contributing Editor, Wine

Kris, who holds a Ph.D. in chemistry, has been a wine instructor in New York City for more than 10 years and has sailed the Seven Seas as wine lecturer for the Royal Viking Line. As the New York sectional winner of a Wines of Spain competition, he was rewarded with an all-expenses-paid trip to their great wine regions; and in non-prize-winning years pays for his own trips to the finest vineyards of Europe. A dazzling chef as well as a great palate, Kris is the director of a wine-and-food-connoisseurs’ tasting group. We consider it a good day when he brings in leftovers.

Andy Whitman

Contributing Editor

Andy has spent his entire career in food, and has expertise in specialty, natural and organic, and mass market foods. His trend articles, featuring the best of industry trade shows, are read by more than 10,000 professionals. Andy is also a craft beer enthusiast, but to date has been too modest to take on this area of reporting for THE NIBBLE.

Erika Meller

Editorial Assistant
Erika spent the first part of her career as a news reporter, but was never given restaurant assignments. She is now experiencing more types of food than she ever imagined existed.

Peter Rot

Chocolate Reporter
After an epiphanic taste of Valrhona Le Noir Amer 71%, Peter’s passion for chocolate became a full-fledged scholarly pursuit. He recently completed a graduate degree in one of the worst places to ship chocolate, New Mexico, and moved to cooler Portland, Oregon. Peter is also a reviewer for the international chocolate connoisseurs’ discussion forum, SeventyPercent.com.

R. Veronique Fitzgerald

Wine Writer

A candidate for the Wine and Spirits Education Trust Diploma of Wine and Spirits, Veronique has developed her passion for wine through traveling and living abroad in the UK and New Zealand for a cumulative three years with her husband Chef Shehu Fitzgerald. Veronique has led seminars on various topics at wine events in New York City and around the northeast, as well as participated in Women for WineSense events on both the east and west coasts. She lives in Staten Island, NY and has recently joined Vino Volo, an airport winebar/retail concept, opening their fifth location at JFK International Airport. She is a wine broker for South Pacific Wines and the membership chair of the New York City chapter of Women for WineSense.

Lester Brickman

Wine Writer

Lester, who is based in New York City, has spent considerable time in France focusing on food and wine. Like Robert Parker, he is an attorney by trade.

Clodine Mallinckrodt

Researcher
Clodine Mallinckrodt grew up enjoying a cuisine well ahead of its time: French-California fusion. This was due to her French mother, who emigrated to the Golden State from France, having a then-unfashionable penchant for southern French cooking and fresh (not canned or frozen!) American ingredients.  Currently in New York City, Clodine scours trade shows and venues of local producers for gems worthy of consideration for review by THE NIBBLE.

Writers

Bob Bartley, Emily Chang, Leah Hansen, Hannah Kaminsky, Bernadette Marciniak, GG Merkel, Dan Whitman, Stephanie Zonis

Photographers

Edward Hochman, Hannah Kaminsky, Scott Lasser

© Copyright 2005-2009 Lifestyle Direct, Inc. All rights reserved. Images are the copyright of their respective owners.