J. Kenji López-Alt

The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science is On Sale Now!

J. Kenji López-Alt is the Managing Culinary Director of Serious Eats, author of the James Beard Award-nominated column The Food Lab, and a columnist for Cooking Light. He lives in San Francisco. A New York native, Kenji cut his cooking chops the old-fashioned way by working his way up through the ranks of some of Boston's finest restaurants. With an education in science and engineering and as a former Senior Editor at Cook's Illustrated and America's Test Kitchen, Kenji is fascinated by the ways in which understanding the science of every day cooking can help improve even simple foods. His first book, The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science will be released this September, followed by a second volume in September of 2017.

Hi everyone. I’m Kenji.

I write books, including the James Beard Award-winning and bestselling cookbooks The Food Lab and The Wok, and the best-selling children’s book Every Night is Pizza Night. You can get any of my books wherever you typically buy your books, or order them here.

I have a YouTube channel with more subscribers than is reasonable where I post cooking videos and other food-related content. I shoot a lot of them with a GoPro strapped to my head which may or may not be your style. If it is, please enjoy. If not, there are lots of other great channels out there to watch!

I’m also a New York Times food columnist, and the Chief Culinary Advisor for Serious Eats, home of the best, most thoroughly-tested and explained recipes and food features, well, pretty much anywhere. Additionally, I’m the the former chef and founding partner at Wursthall in San Mateo, a German-inspired California beer hall and restaurant. You can try some of my food there. I’m also a huge fan and partner at Backhaus, a San Mateo bakery specializing in naturally-leavened sourdough, pretzels, and European-style pastries. I live in Seattle with my wife Adriana, our children Alicia and Koji, and our dog Jamón.

People ask me about my name. My mother is Japanese and my father is American of German descent. My parents named me James Kenji Alt. I have always gone by Kenji. When my wife, Adriana López, and I got married, we both changed our last names to López-Alt. I am not latino in any way, though I do visit Colombia at least once a year and love food from all over Latin America.