Melissa Muller is covering the food industry with a focus on the local food movement.

Melissa has a degree in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures from the Columbia University School of General Studies, a Culinary Arts degree from the French Culinary Institute, and a certificate in Italian Wines. Once dubbed “the Kitchen Mistress” by a New York Post critic, Melissa was born in New York, but has lived much of her life abroad, where summers spent in her grandmother’s Sicilian hometown turned into longer stints studying and working with chefs across Italy. She has opened both an Italian restaurant and a pizzeria in Manhattan.

Melissa is a private chef and chef consultant, and plans to become a food writer. She lives in Manhattan with her husband Tarek.

For more info on Melissa, visit her blog at: www.foodiswhatido.com