Maria Zizka is a James Beard Award nominated and New York Times bestselling cookbook author. She studied biology at UC Berkeley and food culture at UNISG in Northern Italy, where she now teaches as a visiting lecturer. Maria loves to host outdoor parties at her home in the Berkeley Hills with her husband and two young sons.

My cookbooks

I’ve written five cookbooks of my own: My first solo book, The Newlywed Table, was published in 2019, followed by both Boards, Platters, Plates and One-Bowl Meals in 2021. Cook Color came out in 2023. My newest book, The Hostess Handbook, is available now.

Collaborations

I’ve collaborated with leading chefs and authors, including Pamela Anderson, Yotam Ottolenghi, Fuchsia Dunlop, Chad Robertson, Nicola Lamb, Helen Goh, Marie Mitchell, Nigel Slater, Elena Reygadas, Norma Listman and Saqib Keval, Roxana Jullapat, and Suzanne Goin, and contributed to more than 50 cookbooks.