Because her own mother didn't like to cook, Louise McCready watched the Food Network, read cookbooks, and worked at a catering company. After transforming a summer of truffles, gelato, and olive oil in Florence, Italy into the Lexington Herald-Leader’s quarterly travel section’s cover piece, she knew she wanted to combine her two passions: writing and food.

During a semester abroad in Paris, Louise not only perfected her French and sampled France’s several hundred cheeses, but she also started visiting daily markets to pick the freshest produce and chat with the merchants. Returning to Paris for the following two summers to work at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, Louise researched and wrote a book on the biographies of the 20th Century U.S. Ambassadors to France which will be published in 2010. She also tried, in vain, to convince the producer of one mushroom tapenade -- available on Tuesday's in the Marais market -- to bottle his product and move to the US. After internships at The New York Observer, Saveur, and Gourmet (RIP), she is currently working at Condé Nast.

From an initial interest in food, chefs, and restaurants, Louise now understands the proverbial power of the fork. Deeply concerned about the effects of humans' insatiable diet on the environment, animals, and other people, she tries to convince others that the words sustainable and local are creeds to live by, not just popular buzzwords. Louise earned a B.A. in French and English, with a concentration in Creative Writing, at the University of Pennsylvania, and a Masters degree at NYU’s Journalism School in their magazine department.

Blog Entries by Louise McCready

French Cuisine Today According to Le Fooding & French Chefs

2 Comments | Posted December 1, 2009 | 04:38 PM (EST)


Over Thanksgiving dinner, my father asked me what happened to French cuisine and cooking with butter. Remembering the Julie and Julia-inspired butter revival eagerly embraced by home chefs around the nation, I initially disagreed. However, upon further reflection, I saw his point. Where has French cuisine gone? After its height...

Read Post

Barbara Fairchild On Today's Changing Foodscape

Posted November 22, 2009 | 06:55 PM (EST)


Thirty-one years after starting at Bon Appétit as an editorial assistant typing recipes, Barbara Fairchild is being honored by MinOnline as one of 2009's 21 Most Intriguing People in Media and will be celebrating ten years as editor-in-chief in 2010. Recently I sat down with her to discuss Thanksgiving, 2009's...

Read Post

Gillian Duffy on the Expanding Populist Food World and How Neighborhood Joints Will Benefit from the Recession.

Posted October 31, 2009 | 06:13 PM (EST)


To say New York's culinary editor, Gillian Duffy, is a food expert is an understatement. The author of two cookbooks, Hors d'Oeuvres, Simple, Stylish, Seasonal and New York Cooks, The 100 Best Recipes from New York Magazine, Ms. Duffy has produced...

Read Post

Food Beware: How Non-Organic Food Will Kill You

1 Comments | Posted October 27, 2009 | 12:14 PM (EST)


Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution, or Nos Enfants Nous Accuseront (Our Children Will Accuse Us), is the latest documentary designed to open the public's eyes regarding the danger of food. While Food, Inc. uncovered the horrors of the industrial food system and

Read Post

The Gastronomy of Marriage Author on the Tempestuous Relationship between Love and Food

1 Comments | Posted September 14, 2009 | 11:25 PM (EST)


The way to a man's heart might be through his stomach, but keeping him well-fed night after night is trying at best -- and a recipe for an unhappy woman at worse. Michelle Maisto knows that opposites may attract, but only after moving in with her fiancé does she learn...

Read Post

A Future Without Fish: End of the Line Casts Scary Forecast for the Sea

4 Comments | Posted September 2, 2009 | 05:51 PM (EST)


Films such as Food Inc and Fresh do a wonderful job teaching audiences that food can be hazardous to our health depending on how it was raised, grown or processed. Medical experts, like Dr. Kessler, remind Americans that the quantity...

Read Post

Fresh's Director and Producer, Ana Joanes, Explains the Difficulty of Filming a Documentary and What Sustainability Means

Posted July 7, 2009 | 06:04 PM (EST)


Fresh, a documentary that highlights people working to change the current industrial food system, is a refreshing compliment to Food, Inc.. While Robert Kenner did a fantastic job of exposing how much is wrong with our food system, Ana Joanes chose to focus...

Read Post

Food, Inc.'s Robert Kenner Discusses What Gives Him Goosebumps, and What Gives Him Hope

6 Comments | Posted June 23, 2009 | 12:44 AM (EST)


Robert Kenner gives the American public a twenty-first century Upton-Sinclair-look at the industrial food system in his latest film, Food, Inc., and not since The Jungle has the food in the U.S. seemed so unappetizing or so unsafe. Journalists and food...

Read Post

The Barefoot Contessa Discusses Entertaining the First Family and Shopping Like the French

8 Comments | Posted June 17, 2009 | 08:57 PM (EST)


Ina Garten, better known as the Barefoot Contessa has spent her culinary career emphasizing simple meals and quality ingredients. Today, as Americans debate whether local or organic is better, the Obamas planted a vegetable garden on the White House lawn, and Slow Food is gaining...

Read Post

Dr. David Kessler, author of The End of Overeating, On Why We Can't Stop Eating

254 Comments | Posted May 6, 2009 | 08:38 AM (EST)


Last week, Dr. David Kessler, former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration under presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, published The End of Overeating. During a seven-year investigation, Dr. Kessler met with scientists, physicians, and food industry insiders to learn...

Read Post

Robert Sietsema and Sarah DiGregorio at the Second Annual Village Voice Choice Eats

Posted April 1, 2009 | 12:41 PM (EST)


If, as a double-chinned, buffet-loving nine-year-old, I had suddenly chocked on a King Size Nutrageous, and seen a glimpse of my own personal fat kid heaven, last night's Second Annual Village Voice Choice Eats would have been it. A half hour before the doors opened, the line...

Read Post

Francophile Food Critic and Cookbook Author Patricia Wells on Writing, Cooking, and Running

Posted March 29, 2009 | 11:43 PM (EST)


James Beard Award winning cookbook author Patricia Wells started as a food critic in the U.S., and then Paris. Today, she runs marathons to keep in shape and teaches disciples how to cook simple, healthy, and delicious dishes. I stopped by Patricia's pad in Paris to find...

Read Post

Curious Wylie Dufresne Defends the Science of Cooking

Posted March 15, 2009 | 07:55 PM (EST)


Philosophy major Wylie Dufresne hopes to dine with founding fathers, Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson; compares line cooks to lab researchers; and rejects the term molecular gastronomy to define the cuisine at his Michelin-star namesake restaurant, wd~50.

LM: Your cooking has been called a form of

Read Post

Expat Robert Camuto On His Oenophilic Excursions In France

Posted March 8, 2009 | 05:45 PM (EST)


Robert Camuto, recently published Corkscrewed, a collection of profiles on French winemakers he's met during the past seven years he's been living in France. During his U.S. book tour, I caught up with Camuto—over coffee—to discuss biodynamic wines, Robert Parker, and wine as food.

LM: In...

Read Post

Michael White: From Football to Cooking Thanks to the Discovery Channel

Posted February 12, 2009 | 06:17 PM (EST)


Michael White, chef at New York restaurants Convivio and Alto has earned three Michelin stars, a three-star review from The New York Times, and glowing praise from culinary titans. White weighs in on expanding New York's transfats ban, respecting ingredients, and the recession's silver lining.

LM: Why did...

Read Post

Salty Sweet

Posted February 12, 2009 | 10:40 AM (EST)


Last year, a study in Israel announced babies born with low sodium are more likely to crave salt and consume more sodium throughout their life. However, when my boyfriend recently accused me of being "salty," I had a sneaking suspicion he wasn't referring to my natal body composition. Recently...

Read Post

Chef Eric Ripert on Esoteric Black Truffles and the Importance of Value

Posted February 3, 2009 | 12:40 PM (EST)


Chef Eric Ripert feeds the world's most discerning clientele at four-star stunner, Le Bernadin, but that does not prevent him from helping out those for whom every meal is greatly appreciated. After announcing he is donating $1 for every customer served and On the Line book sold...

Read Post

David Chang: the Porcine Prince Respects the Circle of Life and Worries about the Future of Food

Posted January 23, 2009 | 04:42 PM (EST)


Momofuku dynasty owner and chef, David Chang, describes himself as a "lucky son of a bitch," but serendipity cannot explain two James Beard Awards, Food & Wine's Best New Chef Award in 2006, 2007 Chef of the Year Award from both Bon Appetit and GQ, and international acclaim...

Read Post

Chef Marco Canora on Cooking Under a Master's Wing and How to Avoid an Ulcer

Posted November 25, 2008 | 02:29 PM (EST)


Marco Canora -- co-owner and chef of Hearth, Terroir, and Insieme -- can now add a Michelin star to his dazzling resume. As someone who learned the craft of cooking under the knowledgeable tutelage of Tom Colicchio and Cibreo's Fabbio Picchi,...

Read Post

Veggie PR Spokesmom Tanya Steel on Julia Child, Snickers, and the Home Chef

Posted November 17, 2008 | 05:53 PM (EST)


Tanya Steel, editor-in-chief of Epicurious.com and co-author of the new book, Real Food for Healthy Kids, mourns the lack of humor in today's food shows, fights for daily indulgences, and dishes on brioche French toast and British accents.

LM: You were born in London and raised here...

Read Post