Melissa Clark writes about cuisine and other products of appetite. After brief forays working as a cook in a restaurant kitchen, and as a caterer out of her fifth floor walk-up, Clark decided upon a more sedentary path. She earned an M.F.A. in writing from Columbia University, and began a freelance food writing career. Currently, she is a food columnist for the New York Times, and has written for Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Every Day with Rachel Ray, andMartha Stewart, amongst others.
Her acclaimed cookbook,In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite, came out in the fall of 2010 with essays and recipes based on her popular New York Times Dining section column, A Good Appetite. Clark's most recent book, Cook This Now,a peronsal collection of seasonally driven, inventive comfort food, is due out in October 2011, published by Hyperion.   All told, Clark has written 32 other cookbooks, many of them in collaboration with some of New York’s most celebrated chefs including Daniel Boulud (Braise), David Bouley (East of Paris), Claudia Fleming (The Last Course), and Bruce and Eric Bromberg (The Blue Ribbon). A book of dessert recipes, The Perfect Finish, written with White House pastry chef Bill Yosses, came out in June 2010. Her collaboration with chef Peter Berley, The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen, received both a James Beard award and Julia Child Cookbook award in 2000. Clark was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York (with her sister, Prospect Heights Patch Editor, Amy Clark), and now lives in Prospect Heights with her husband, Daniel Gercke, their toddler daughter Dahlia, and their formerly cosseted cat.