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Elaine Louie
James Beard Award winner
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
Elaine Louie works across the newspaper forms that shape how people read domestic life: house, home, dining, and Sunday coverage at The New York Times, alongside freelance journalism in New York. That mix gives her writing two useful pressures at once — the editorial discipline of a major paper and the flexibility of independent reporting. Her range sits in the overlap between rooms, tables, and the habits that make both legible.
Coming Up
The House and Home desk was the first training ground at The New York Times for Elaine Louie, where she worked as assistant to the editor of the section. That post sits close to the mechanics of edit, taste, and household coverage, and it gives a writer early contact with the paper’s way of treating domestic space as a serious subject. From there, Louie moved into broader bylines and a wider set of assignments across the paper’s domestic and cultural coverage.
Where They Are Now
Louie’s current position is split between institutional contribution and freelance work: she writes for The New York Times house, home, dining, and Sunday sections, while also working as a freelance journalist in New York. The arrangement keeps her inside the paper’s editorial flow while leaving room for independent commissions, a useful balance for a writer working across the practical and the expressive. The continuity is clear; so is the range.
Signature
Elaine Louie’s signature dishes include The Occasional Vegetarian, Chinese Home Cooking, The Shun Lee Cookbook, Summer Corn Soup, and Persian Herb Frittata. Read as a set, these titles cover a broad domestic register: vegetarian cooking, Chinese Home Cooking, cookbook work, a seasonal soup, and a herb-forward frittata. The range is practical rather than ornamental, moving between family table cooking, published collections, and dishes that sit comfortably in home kitchens.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Elaine
What is Elaine Louie's current role?
As of 2026, Elaine Louie is contributor to The New York Times house, home, dining, and Sunday sections.
Where did Elaine Louie work before?
Elaine Louie's earlier career included The New York Times.
