About Nicole
Nicole at a book signing
Hi, my name is Nicole Aloni. I’ve been cooking, writing about cooking, teaching about cooking, and thinking about cooking since I was 9. I’ve taught and written books about the art of entertaining for the last 12 years.
At the same time, I’ve always been aware that you are what you eat. I’ve had a lifelong passion for unprocessed, natural ingredients—what I call “clean” food. These interests have merged to create this blog (and forthcoming book) about natural, sustainable eating and entertaining.
I promise to handle this serious topic, about which so many are down right somber, with a light touch. If you don’t enjoy the way you entertain, even if you feel virtuous for a bit, you just won’t keep it up. And I just can’t keep my quirky sense of humor out of the mix. The subtitle I envision for my book says it very well, “How to have a good time doing the right thing.”
So, this blog will reveal my upcoming book, A Conscious Feast, as it’s developing. Some of the recipes and tips included here will make it into the book and some may not. I hope I hear from you with recommendations or improvements to recipes and comments about what you’ve found most useful or delicious.
Because food, food history and cultures are my passion, there will also be essays from time to time about traditional BBQ, or Basque restaurants in America, or my trip on a Turkish freighter with three hundred Egyptian women on a Hajj to Mecca and what they ate. And every once in a while I’ll take a day trip into recipes for inspiring cocktails made with fine, fresh ingredients.
About Nicole
I have enjoyed an exciting, diverse career in the culinary arts. In my teens, I opened a small catering business. In my twenties, I completed the diploma course at La Varenne, Ecole de Cuisine in Paris and stayed on to work as a chef at a chateaux in Burgundy. In California, I owned a natural foods restaurant, directed one of the country’s most prestigious catering operations, owned my own catering company and produced a line of gourmet food products.
For six years, I was the Director of Catering at the Los Angeles Music Center where I catered the Academy Awards four times, prepared a state luncheon for HRH Queen Elizabeth II, and produced galas in honor of three American presidents, foreign dignitaries, divas and Julia Child. Julia was the one that wowed me!
Then I opened my own company, Nicole Cottrell Productions, Inc. My company catered elegant events for clients such as the Four Seasons Beverly Hills, the Tournament of Roses and the Kirov Ballet. We also manufactured packaged foods for fine grocers like Vons/Pavilions, Gelsons, Trader Joe’s, Larry’s and Neiman-Marcus.
Writing
Ultimately all of this had provided me with plenty to talk about, so I began to write books.
- Secrets from a Caterer’s Kitchen: The Indispensable Guide for Planning a Party
published by Putnam in 2001 - Cooking for Company: All the Recipes You Need for Simple, Elegant Entertaining at Home
Putnam 2003
- The Backyard Bartender: 55 Cool Summer Cocktails
published in 2007 by Clarkson Potter
I’ve also written hundreds of articles for various national magazines. To see more information about my books, magazine features, and TV appearances, please visit my personal homepage. I also talk about cooking and entertaining across the country on television and radio, teach at schools like Sur La table, Draeger’s and Central Market. I live and cook in Seattle, WA.
How this blog works
Comments & questions: If you leave a comment that requires an answer, I will likely get back to you within 24 hours.
Tools and Kitchen: I also include recommendations for special ingredients and list my favorite, tried and true tools in my Kitchen Store. You can order these from Amazon right in that link, or buy them at your local store. But you can be sure I’ve included only tools and equipment that I’ve used for years and personally recommend.
Printable Recipes: We have set up a “print” function on all of the posts, so you can create your own little binder if you like. Look for the printer icon at the top of each post.
Recipes: There are listings of past recipes by main ingredient (beef, chicken, etc.) and type of recipe (main course, dessert, etc.). All of these recipes are tested by me, in my kitchen (see a photo below). While I am a professional food writer, I do not use special, professional equipment to prepare these recipes. My kitchen is probably just about like yours (with a few more gadgets like nutmeg graters and lime squeezers). For the specifics about how I select ingredients, go to the Recipe page on the site.
Photography: Many of these pictures were taken by the noted Dallas pro, Manny Rodriguez. As I go along, I am trying to get more of my own, with my new Canon G11. All of the images are labeled as to photographer.
Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by.
Ciao, Nicole Aloni
What good is a house, if you haven’t got a decent planet to put it on?
—Henry David Thoreau
A look at the cozy kitchen where I'm cooking up a conscious feast.
Sometimes it snows in Seattle. This is my sous chef, Louis.
