Renée Marton spent the first chapter of her culinary life as a chef in NYC French restaurants, including Restaurant Florent. The second chapter involved the acquisition of an MA in Food Studies from NYU, and a return to writing about food history and gastronomy. She has written widely on foodways, and commercial food industries. Her fist book, Rice: A Global History, was published by Reaktion Books in 2014. She also teaches at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York.