is a writer with a flair for synthesis and a gift for revitalizing familiar subjects. Her broad knowledge of food and wine, food history and health and nutrition was acquired during a long career in food writing. She began writing for national newspapers and magazines, and is now editing and writing cookbooks.
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In 1996 she opened Fresh Food Writing, based in Chicago, and specializes in food writing, consulting, recipe testing and development for a variety of clients. She has written The Berghoff Family Cookbook, released August 2007 by Andrews McMeel, currently writing and recipe-testing Jackie Shen's cookbook (Shen is executive chef of Red Light restaurant, Chicago), co-authoring Paradise Remembered: Heavenly Desserts from Elizabeth's Blue Danube Kitchen (Elizabeth is an 87-year-old pastry cook, an émigré from Yugoslavia), and co-authoring two cookbooks for children. |
Ryan says that her least favorite job was restaurant reviewing. "I became an accomplished reviewer but could never lose sight of the potential for damage from a negative or lukewarm review. I have worked in restaurants and know how demanding the business is, how hard chefs and restaurateurs work, how capricious the dining public is and how one unprofessional waitperson can drive away customers and generate bad word-of-mouth."
Her favorite job so far is cookbook writing and ghost writing. "Cookbooks are enormously satisfying," she says. "They have a beginning, (the proposal), a middle (the text and recipes, and often food photography), and an end (the published cookbook). But cookbooks are always multifaceted and a challenge. And sometimes--to misquote T.S. Eliot--they end 'not with a bang but a whimper.' A good agent and a good publisher are indispensable to success."
Ryan's career highlights include:
*Culinary editor, Plate magazine
*Senior editor, Cuisine magazine
*Food editor for 15 years, Restaurants & Institutions magazine
*Restaurant reviewer and "Liquid Assets" writer for two years, CS (Chicago Social) magazine
*Author, Great Chefs: The Louisiana New Garde (companion cookbook to the PBS Great Chefs TV series, 1995)
*All New Joy of Cooking, (Scribner, 1997): the bread chapter
*Author, New Currents in American Cuisine: Cooking with Team USA, 1992 (The official U.S. Culinary Team)
*Author, Taste of Gold: The 1988 U.S. Culinary Team Cookbook
She also wrote a book for children,
Jataka Tales: Fables from the Buddha (Houghton Mifflin)
Freelance clients have included:
Self magazine
Vegetarian Times magazine
Chicago Tribune
Great Chefs magazine
encartaencyclopedia.net
Publications International Ltd., Diabetic Cooking magazine
Ryan has a loving husband, three devoted children, six delightful grandchildren, and two demanding and ungrateful cats.
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