Marie Simmons

Coming Up

Training at Pratt Institute and Marlboro High School gave Simmons a discipline that shows up in the way she writes: exact, but not rigid. That discipline carried into Copia, the American Center for Food, Wine, and the Arts in Napa, where she served as director of culinary programs and worked in a setting where food culture and education sat in public together. Her later columns at Bon Appetit magazine and Los Angeles Times Syndicate widened the reach of the same ingredient-led approach. Today, as columnist of 14 Bay Area publications, Marie Simmons continues to work in close observation, treating detail as the basis of authority.

Where They Are Now

Simmons’ columns still rely on the same method: begin with what is in season, then test how far it can be stretched. Fruit, salads, and the small adjustments that shift one preparation into another are recurring terrain in her work. The logic is direct. “I figured if figs, peaches and blueberries go into salad, why not melon?” she has said, and the question shows how she builds from what is already available rather than forcing a dish into a fixed template. That approach is also visible in her account of repetition itself: “Each and every melon creation has been a pleasing culinary revelation.” The line is practical in tone, but it also describes her larger practice—staying with an ingredient long enough to learn what it can do. “Each variety is slightly different — in sweetness, texture, spiciness — but generally I’ve discovered they can all be used interchangeably in almost any of the salads I toss together.” For another working artisan, that is the point: comparison, substitution, and restraint are part of the craft, not afterthoughts.

Signature

Marie’s signature dishes include Taste of Honey, Fig Heaven, 365 Ways to Cook Pasta, and The Good Egg. The titles map the range of her work: ingredient-first, direct, and attentive to everyday use. They fit the same logic as her columns, where the point is not embellishment but making close attention legible on the page.

In Their Words “Each variety is slightly different — in sweetness, texture, spiciness — but generally I’ve discovered they can all be used interchangeably in almost any of the salads I toss together.” “I figured if figs, peaches and blueberries go into salad, why not melon?”

Honors

Marie’s honors include James Beard Award and Julia Child Award. Those recognitions sit naturally beside a body of work built on clarity, comparison, and the steady discipline of doing more with less.