Through his work as a cookbook author, editor, and ghostwriter, as well as a busy corporate recipe developer, Rick Rodgers reaches countless cooks every day.
Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Rick’s culinary consciousness was shaped by the region’s great ethnic restaurants and local farms. He began in the food business during high school, and after graduating with a Theater B.A. from San Francisco State University, Rick moved to New York, where he was instantly immersed in the restaurant and catering world.
His catering firm, Cuisine Américaine, broke new ground when, as a young American chef, he created many events for the Services Culturels of the French Embassy’s offices in New York City. It was there that he initially fed the magazine editors, publishers, and food and beverage executives who would commission his first books and recipe development jobs. Through his work as personal chef to the late Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, he met and catered for many of New York’s show business elite. These relationships paved the way for his career in helping celebrities and chefs tell their own stories.
A number of Rick’s projects have landed on The New York Times Best Seller list or gone on to win Beard, IACP, and Gourmand Awards and nominations. Click here to see the details of his publishing history.
Rick’s combination of down-to-earth humor and unique teaching skills helped make him the winner of the prestigious Bon Appétit Food and Entertaining Award for Outstanding Cooking Teacher. He is now concentrating his cooking talents on his own website, coffeeandcake.org, where he teaches how to make exquisite desserts from cafés and coffeehouses around the world.
He has also appeared as brand ambassador for top food, beverage, and housewares companies, including Kingsford Charcoal, Grand Marnier, Four Roses Bourbon, and Perdue Farms. He has been on Today, CBS Morning Show, Good Morning America, and Food Network Challenge, and other shows in every large local media market. His recipes can be found online on Epicurious, as well as many other sites. You can also find Rick on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Partial Listing
Corporate Cookbooks
- Williams-Sonoma: Comfort Food and eleven other titles (author)
- Tommy Bahama: Flavors of Aloha, Flavors of the Southern Coast, and Flavors of California (author)
- Good Housekeeping: The All-New Good Housekeeping Cookbook (head writer)
- Nordstrom: Flavors and The Nordstrom Family Table Cookbook (writer)
- Mr. Boston: Official Bartender’s Guide: 75th Anniversary Edition (coeditor)
- Kingsford Charcoal: Complete Grilling Cookbook (author)
- Sur La Table: Tips Cooks Love (author)
- Fresh Market: Cooking in Season (author)
Celebrity Cookbooks
- Frankie Avalon’s Italian Family Cookbook (coauthor) Gourmand Award 2016
- Lisa Oz: The Oz Family Kitchen (recipe tester)
- Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ Lisa Vanderpump: Simply Divine (recipe tester)
- Marla Heller, R.D.: The DASH Diet Cookbook (coauthor)
- Extra Virgin’s Debi Mazar & Gabriele Corcos: Super Tuscan (coauthor)
- Patti LaBelle: Desserts LaBelle (coauthor, recipe developer)
- Nadine Redzepi: Downtime (consultant)
Chefs, Restaurants, and Bakeries
- Chopped’s Chris Santos: Share (coauthor)
- Chelsea Market: The Chelsea Market Cookbook IACP Award winner 2015
- Carrabba’s: Carrabba Grill’s Cookbook (author)
- Sarabeth’s: Sarabeth’s Bakery (coauthor) James Beard Award nominee
- Patsy’s: Patsy’s Italian Family Cookbook (writer)
- Model Baker: The Model Bakery Cookbook (coauthor)
- Tate’s Bake Shop: Baking for Friends (writer, editor)
- James Beard (Estate): Essential James Beard Cookbook (writer, editor)
- Emily’s Restaurant: Emily Loves Pizza (coauthor)
New York Times Bestsellers
- Weber’s Grills: Smoking and New Real Grilling (recipe developer, tester)
- Patti LaBelle: LaBelle Cuisine (recipe tester)
- Art Smith: Back to The Table (recipe tester)
- Teresa Guidice: Fabulicious!: Teresa’s Italian Family Cookbook
(recipe developer)
Self-Authored Cookbooks
- Thanksgiving 101 and Christmas 101 100,000+ copies sold
- Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from Classic Cafés IACP nominee
- The Carefree Cook IACP nominee; Food & Wine “Best of The Best”
- The Big Book of Sides (over 450 recipes)
Print and Digital
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Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Cooking Light, Fine Cooking, Men’s Health, Epicurious.com; online cooking classes for Craftsy and coffeeandcake.org.
Barbara Fairchild
Former Editor-in-Chief, Bon Appétit
“Rick Rodgers has an impressive depth of culinary knowledge and a discerning palate. He is a joy to work with and though he started out as a recipe tester he quickly became a friend. I would highly recommend him to anyone embarking on the adventure of cookbook writing.”
Lisa Oz
Author and television personality
“Working with Rick Rodgers has been a revelation to me. Not only I made a new friend, but I tapped into a cornucopia of culinary talent and historical information that makes each and everyone of our working sessions something I wait for impatiently. His quick wit, his deep understanding of my Italian roots, and our shared appreciation for simplicity in good food may prove to be a curse to him—it will be hard to get rid of me now! ”
Gabriele Corcos
Cooking Channel star and author of Extra Virgin and Super Tuscan
“Working with Rick is an absolute pleasure. He puts our clients instantly at ease, his recipes are impeccable and he is fast and well-organized. And he has great ideas! I recommend him highly.”
Catherine Huchting
Director of Business Development, Chronicle Books
“Rick Rodgers dreams up delicious ideas, cooks them with finesse, and writes the recipes with clarity and precision. You can add to his list of honed and reliable skills his editing, food styling, and just about anything else related to cookbooks. Rick is a complete pro.”
Jamie Purviance
Managing Director, Weber Grills Publishing Program
“Rick is a pleasure to work with. He truly understands every aspect of the food universe. He has extensive knowledge of cooking terminology in many languages and the actual techniques needed to translate recipes from the professional chef to the home cook. Talented and professional, Rick brings high-quality writing to every book that he crafts, whether it is his own or with chefs like me.”
Sal Scognomillo
Chef-Owner, Patsy’s Restaurant
“I’ve worked with Rick for over 20 years both in my job at Chronicle Books and as the owner of my own company and he is the absolute BEST. On every project, he works with full integrity, bringing each project to its full potential. Not only is he a meticulous writer, editor, and recipe-tester, he is an insightful book developer, project manager, partner, truth-teller, and most importantly, a rigorous advocate for the quality of the book. When you work with Rick, you know you will create a smart, substantive project of the highest quality.”
Leslie Jonath
Connected Dots Media
“Rick’s deep knowledge, passion, professionalism, and versatility—not to mention sense of humor—made him my go-to guy for any cookbook project, no matter how complicated. Throughout my many years of working with Rick I could always rely on him to deliver a quality manuscript on time and I often relied on his sage advice. I’ve recently taken on a different publishing role, but I wish I had more cookbooks on my list just so that I could work with Rick again!”
Jennifer Newens
Former Associate Publisher, Weldon Owen Publishing
“Rick is the type of freelancer every editor dreams of encountering, much less hiring. He’s always been quick to respond to my queries and quicker still to begin offering creative yet entirely on-point suggestions for the direction a project could go. I know that even when I’m still puzzling out what I want from a particular project, I can count on Rick and his encyclopedic knowledge of cooking to help clarify the opportunities and possibilities.”
Greg Hollander
Former Senior Editor, Publications International, Ltd.