For the seasoned cook who wants to squeeze the most out of their food-life
Welcome! Want to expand your knowledge and increase your kitchen pleasure without wasting time, money and ingredients? You’ve come to the right place. I think you’ll love being part of this community of friendly, open-hearted, experienced, intrepid cooks. (Maybe you’ll share some of your knowledge with us, too!)
Here you’ll find:
The recipes you want — without the glitches. As a two-time James Beard Award-winning food journalist and former Food Editor of the Los Angeles Times, I’ve tested, retested and refined them to save you time and money
Techniques and ingredients that’ll make you an even better cook
Culinary traditions to make you a richer person and connect you with the world
Entertaining, inspiring, informative stories, reviews and other posts
How to make the most of the season’s best
The most exciting new cookbooks — whose recipes actually work
Recipes rehabbed: When cookbook authors stumble, I know how to repair the damage and make the recipes deliciously workable
The history of iconic dishes
Quintessential versions of classic dishes from around the world
Respect for health, including the health of the planet
Led by two-time James Beard Award-winning journalist Leslie Brenner, Cooks Without Borders has been an exciting voice in international cooking since its inception in 2016.
Our posts build on the spirit and content of the Webby Award-winning international cooking website and give you direct access to what Leslie is marinating, musing and cooking.
Paid Cooks Without Borders subscribers get:
• Weekly newsletter featuring stories, essays, recipes and reviews
• Full access to all linked recipes — both original and adaptations (often corrected or improved versions of the originals)
• Full access to the entire Cooks Without Borders Recipe Collection (coming soon!)
• Access to the full archive of inspiring, entertaining, informative Cooks Without Borders Posts
• Invitation to participate (at no additional cost) in the Cooks Without Borders Cookbook Club
• 20% discount on CWB ebooks (coming soon!)
• Community: Members-only chat, invitation to pop-up socials and more
• Exclusive access to the Cooks Without Borders Cookbook Buying Guide
• Pop-up live CWB Food Explorers sessions (with catch-this-later recordings) and ask-me-anything events
• Perspective, inspiration, curation and expertise you can’t get anywhere else
I also love and appreciate free subscribers!
Free subscribers get plenty of full posts
• Hungry for more? Want to try the recipes? Treat yourself to all the benefits of a paid subscription.
What Leslie brings to the table
➤ Two James Beard Journalism Awards
➤ Two Webby Awards (the New York Times called the Webbys the “Oscars of the Internet”) — one for Cooks Without Borders Substack, the other for Cooks Without Borders the website
➤ Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Cooks Without Borders
➤ Author of six books:
• The Fourth Star: Dispatches from Behind the Scenes at Daniel Boulud’s Celebrated New York Restaurant
• American Appetite: The Coming of Age of a National Cuisine
• Essential Flavors (co-author)
• Fear of Wine: A Guide to the Grape
• The Art of the Cocktail Party
• Greetings from the Golden State: A Novel
➤ Four years as Food Editor of the Los Angeles Times
➤ Nine years as Restaurant Critic and Dining Editor at the Dallas Morning News
➤ Former Contributing Editor at Travel + Leisure
➤ Freelanced for The New York Times, Washington Post, Bon Appétit, Saveur, New York Magazine and many more
➤ Deep experience in professional recipe development
Leslie knows how to help you take your cooking to the next level and derive maximum enjoyment from it.
Come cook with us!
Are you on a fixed income or having financial difficulty? I’d be delighted to treat you to 3-month paid membership. Email me at leslie@cookswithoutborders.com.
