About Steve
Steve Siegelman got his start in the world of food when, at age six, he requested an Easy-Bake Oven for Hanukah and immediately began developing recipes. His first, Peanut Butter Rice Krispie “Cake,” was met with enthusiastically feigned critical acclaim.
After graduating from UC Berkeley with highest honors in Comparative Literature, Steve worked as a cook for four years, first at Mark Miller’s Fourth Street Grill in Berkeley and later as a cofounder of Bette’s Oceanview Diner, which remains one of the Bay Area’s best-loved breakfast and lunch spots. He also worked as a caterer for companies and private events.
Seeking a break from the heat of the kitchen, he decided to pursue another lifelong interest, theatrical design, and spent three years creating props and scenic elements for more than 40 theater and opera productions throughout the US at such companies as American Conservatory Theater, American Repertory Theater, Santa Fe Opera, Michigan Opera, Berkeley Rep, South Coast Rep, and the Eureka Theater, where he was prop master.
In 1988 he joined San Francisco public television station KQED, where he worked for three years on a variety of cooking, documentary and performing arts programs. Since then, his TV writing credits have included seven critically acclaimed seasons of “Mexico, One Plate at a Time,” a series hosted by Rick Bayless currently airing on public TV; Food Network’s “Mario Eats Italy,” 25 half-hour programs featuring Mario Batali, shot in Italy; and two James Beard Award-winning seasons of “Yan Can Cook.” He has written continuity/voice-over material for “Today’s Gourmet, with Jacques Pépin,” “Mollie Katzen’s Cooking Show,” “Cooking at the Academy,” and “Weir Cooking in the Wine Country.” In 2017, he co-wrote the documentary “Jacques Pépin: The Art of Craft” which aired nationally on the PBS series “American Masters.”
Since 1990 Steve has worked in the food marketing group of Ketchum, San Francisco. He currently works with Ketchum on a part-time basis as a VP Executive Creative Director. In this role, he has written copy and developed concepts for national trade advertising, collateral, web and public relations campaigns for dozens of clients including Kikkoman, The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, The US Potato Board, Nestlé, Avocados from Mexico, Dixie, ConAgra, J.R. Simplot, Pepsico, Häagen-Dazs, DIRECTV, and the California Avocado, Almond, Dried Plum and Strawberry Commissions. His work has won numerous creative communications awards including top honors in several Mercury, Addy, National Agri-Marketing Association and Silver Anvil competitions. He also works as a Creative Director/Writer for Ketchum IDea, the agency’s brand identity consultancy.
Steve has written, ghost-written or contributed text for 39 cookbooks for publishers including Artisan, Chronicle Books, Hyperion, Ten Speed Press and Time-Life, as well as for Book Kitchen, the custom-publishing imprint he cofounded in 2003.
In the area of restaurant creative, Steve has created menu ideas, product names, signage, menu copy, promotional materials and advertising for Subway, iHop, Chevys, Trader Vic’s, UFood, Yan Can Restaurants, Fuzio, Pasta Pomodoro, Alioto’s, Wipeout, Park Chow and Chowders.
On the Web, he was a co-creator of The Camping Kitchen and his web writing clients have included Kikkoman, PALECEK, Williams-Sonoma, Silver Trident Winery, and Clos Pegas among many others.
A serious Italophile, Steve spent a year studying in Padova during college and later returned to study art in Rome for a second year. He speaks Italian and owns a house in a tiny hill town in Umbria.
Steve is past president of the board of Berkeley’s Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, where he continues to be a student. He has served as president of the International Foodservice Editorial Council and as a member of the board of directors of the San Francisco Professional Food Society and the Lawrence Pech Dance Company. He currently serves on the board of the California Bach Society, a renowned early music choir.
His Jack Russell terrier, Milo, was the inspiration for the canine hero of the popular movie, “The Mask.” Neither he nor Milo ever saw any residuals. However, he did receive a really cool Milo figurine from the studio. It’s sitting in his office, right next to the Easy-Bake Oven.
Still smells like peanut butter.
Publications
Author/coauthor
Trader Vic’s Tiki Party! (Ten Speed Press, 2005)
The Pancake Handbook (Ten Speed Press, 2003)
Firehouse Food: Cooking with San Francisco’s Firefighters (Chronicle Books, 2003)
Ghostwriter/text contributor
Spaghettata: Love and Pasta from Panicale (Rastrello LLC, 2024)
Impossible: The Cookbook (for Impossible Foods; Chronicle Books, 2020)
Season: A Year of Wine Country Food, Farming, Family and Friends (for Jackson Family Wines; Cameron + Company, 2018).
The Pizza Bible (with Tony Gemignani, Ten Speed Press, Fall 2014)
Mourad: New Moroccan (with Mourad Lahlou, Artisan, 2011)
Get Cooking (author: Mollie Katzen, HarperStudio 2010;)
Taste the World: The Foods and Flavors of Oceania Cruises (2010)
Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Italian (Oxmoor House, 2007)
Williams-Sonoma Holiday Entertaining (Oxmoor House, 2007)
Williams-Sonoma Food Made Fast: Salads (Bonnier Books, 2007)
Williams-Sonoma Food Made Fast: Grilling (Oxmoor House, 2007)
Eat, Drink, & Weigh Less (Hyperion, 2006; authors: Mollie Katzen and Walter Willett, M.D.)
Williams-Sonoma Food Made Fast: Weeknight (Oxmoor House, 2006)
Williams-Sonoma Food Made Fast: Soup (Oxmoor House, 2006)
Williams-Sonoma Cocktail Parties (Free Press, 2006)
Williams-Sonoma Dinner Parties (Free Press, 2006)
Williams-Sonoma Easy Entertaining (Free Press, 2005)
Williams-Sonoma Outdoor Entertaining (Free Press, 2005)
Williams-Sonoma Thanksgiving Entertaining (Free Press, 2005)
Williams-Sonoma Christmas Entertaining (Free Press, 2005)
Williams-Sonoma Entertaining (Oxmoor House, 2004) Winner: IACP Best General Cookbook, 2004
Williams-Sonoma American Christmas (Oxmoor House, 2004)
The American Boulangerie (Bay Books, 2004; author: Pascal Rigo)
Nuts (Ten Speed Press, 2001, for Diamond of California, named Cookbook of the Year by Food and Wine Magazine)
The Chevys Fresh Mex Cookbook (Ten Speed Press, 2000)
Douglas Rodriguez’s Latin Flavors on the Grill (Ten Speed Press, 2000)
Terra: Cooking from the Heart of Napa Valley (Ten Speed Press, 2000; authors, Hiro Sone and Lissa Doumani)
Weir Cooking in the Wine Country (Time-Life, 1999; author: Joann Weir)
Martin Yan’s Feast (Bay Books, 1998)
Martin Yan’s Asia (KQED Books, 1997)
Martin Yan’s Culinary Journey Through China, (KQED Books, 1995)
Writer, packager, editorial director
Macy’s Thanksgiving & Holiday Cookbook (Book Kitchen, fall, 2011)
Great Gatherings (for Macy’s, Book Kitchen, 2008)
The Frango Cookbook (for Macy’s, Book Kitchen, 2007)
The Marshall Field’s Cookbook (for Marshall Field’s, Book Kitchen, 2006)
The Art of the Skewer (for Robert Mondavi, Book Kitchen, 2005)