Katie Lee Joel

Raised in her grandmother’s Southern kitchen, Katie Lee Joel’s passion for cuisine started at an early age. Currently, Katie is writing her first cookbook, to be published next year by Simon and Schuster. The book is a compilation of updated classics from her archive of family recipes using the best seasonal ingredients.

Katie is a contributing editor to Gotham magazine and her culinary and lifestyle column, Katie’s Kitchen, is published weekly in its sister magazine Hamptons. She regularly appears on Extra as a special correspondent, covering everything from food to fashion, and also served as the host of the first season of Top Chef. Katie has also appeared on Martha Stewart, Today, Iron Chef America, Access Hollywood, CBS Early Show, Fox News, E! News Daily, Fine Living’s Pairings and has been featured in publications like People, In Style, Celebrity Living, NY Dog, Life and Style, and Hamptons Style.

Katie is very proud to be a part of Chefs for Humanity, a group that provides humanitarian aid worldwide. She is also a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier, an organization that educates and mentors women in the culinary profession.

In July 2005, Katie co-created the website www.oliveandpeach.com, a site dedicated to food and the importance of “conscious consumption.” Katie has worked in several restaurants and gourmet food and wine stores. In 2003, she helped to open Jeff and Eddy’s Restaurant in the Hamptons. There she served as the house fishmonger. Katie received her bachelor’s degree in English and journalism at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and also studied in Florence, Italy. In 2004, she returned to her classroom in Italy to teach American students about dining in Tuscany.

Outside of her culinary adventures, Katie enjoys spending time in her organic garden, traveling, exercising, and playing with her two pugs. She resides in the New York area with her husband, musician Billy Joel.