Ella Quittner Author Talk • Obsessed with the Best

Ella Quittner is a food writer, cultural journalist, and screenwriter who often writes about obsession. She splits her time between writing recipes, books, screenplays, and journalism, mostly for The New York Times, New York Magazine, and T Magazine. She has had work appear in The New Yorker, The Baffler, TIME, Food & Wine, The Wall Street Journal, Man Repeller, Family Style, Bon Appétit, Saveur, The Los Angeles Times, TASTE, Prior, and across many group chats.  OBSESSED WITH THE BEST advances a viral project she began after she left a career on Wall Street for a job in food media. 

Obsessed with the Best — Some might think the “best” roast chicken means “most efficient without sacrificing juicy meat,” while others might think “best” is the one that you won’t be able to stop thinking about for years, no matter how long it takes in a sous vide bag. When writer Ella Quittner (creator of Food52’s “Absolute Best Tests”) is cooking or baking something, she cannot rest until she’s tested every method she can to arrive at the best result. Even if that means traveling to Tokyo to learn the trick to extra juicy tsukune for her tender meatballs or spending time in the Alabama Black Belt gathering intel from the pros for her flakiest biscuits. 

In Obsessed with the Best, Ella walks you through the results of 24 head-to-head tests of cooking methods to help you find the perfect choice for your palate. From these building blocks, Ella shares more than 100 recipes, grounding you in minimalist techniques that maximize flavor, and sharing creative options as jumping off points for your own favorite flavors.