Bio for Chef Julie Giuffrida
Bachelor of Arts - Syracuse University
Master of Management in Hospitality - Cornell School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration

Julie is the daughter of a caterer from Stamford, Connecticut and Julie's interest in things culinary emerged from her early life experiences. Her mother’s business focused on classic French and continental fare, but also offered several “ethnic” Chinese and Italian dishes that were considered quite exotic at that time. The seemingly endless array of her paternal grandmother’s Sicilian delicacies also influenced her young palate. As a result of these culinary role models, she quickly developed a voracious appetite for cookbooks and gastronomic works.

In addition to her early schooling in her mother’s and grandmother’s kitchens, she has learned from home cooks throughout Israel and America, and has studied with professional chefs like Andre Soltner, Jacques Torres and Miriam Brickman. She has traveled to many parts of Europe, Asia, and South America, planning her itineraries around food markets and meals.

Julie lived in Israel for the better part of 10 years after completing her Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Jewish Studies at Syracuse University.

While living in Jerusalem, she studied Jewish and Israeli history, literature, religion, sociology, and, of course, food. Teaching international teens and college students at The Jewish Agency’s Educational Centre, she drank in as much from them about their cultures as she fed them about communications skills, techniques of informal education and things Jewish. She also lived in Tel Aviv, where as a journalist and food writer, she relished learning about and eating the vast array of foods presented by Israel’s diverse residents. She savored every opportunity to learn to prepare the family recipes of her Iraqi and Yemenite in-laws, and whoever else Moroccan, Turkish, Greek, Polish, Dutch, Tunisian, Argentine, Persian, Israeli (or of whatever other descent) would let her in their kitchen.

Julie earned her MMH degree in Restaurant and Hotel Administration at Cornell’s Hotel School and spent many years working with the world's largest independent foodservice consulting firm, Cini-Little International, where one of her primary roles was designing menus for a variety of restaurants. She currently lives in Los Angeles, where she runs her own restaurant consultancy, Food and Restaurant Ventures.