UMAIMA MERCHANT

UMAIMA MERCHANT

That photo captures just about all the great loves of my life—food, travel, language, history, context… and of course, the husband. 😊 It was taken at Çiya Sofrası in Istanbul, a magical little restaurant run by the legendary Musa Dağdeviren. He’s one of Turkey’s most...
TONY ALBANESE

TONY ALBANESE

As native of the Chicago area, I was raised on a melange of culinary influences including southern Italian from my paternal influence, central European on his mom’s side, and Ukrainian cuisine courtesy of my stepfather. Over the course of my career, I have honed my...