MEET THE TEAM

Co-Publisher and Editor in Chief Carol Newman’s devotion with Art Culinaire began in a quiet corner of the Conrad Hilton Library as a CIA, Hyde Park student [1994-1996]. Between rows of books, she cracked her first AC issue and let its beguiling pages seduce her. She also picked up Food Arts, Saveur, and Chocolatier magazines, the latter where she landed an internship just as publisher Michael Schneider launched magazine, Pastry Art & Design. In the small editorial department on West 34th Street, she jumped at every opportunity: shopping for fresh produce for photo shoots, testing recipes, and contributing to the magazine. She traveled to Paris, France to write features on hotel pastry chefs at Plaza Athénée, Hôtel de Crillion, and Georges V. Carol jettisoned CIA to pursue editorial work. In 2003, Franz Mitterer offered her the executive editor position at Art Culinaire. Carol shepherded Issues 71-75, and edited the third ‘Best of Art Culinaire’ book. At Campton Place, Carol interviewed newcomer Daniel Humm, and worked with chefs David Bouley, Lidia Bastianich, Michel Richard, Ron Siegel, Charlie Palmer, Gray Kuntz, and Charlie Trotter. She left her full-time position at Art Culinaire and freelanced, taking on story assignments from Michael Batterberry, founder of Food Arts and writing for Rosewood Hotels Magazine. She kept in touch with Franz Mitterer of Art Culinarie, and as a freelancer contributed to several AC issues (84, 85, 104,109, and 110). A highlight: covering Virgilio Martínez Véliz at Central and Pedro Miguel Schiaffino of Malabar. In 2014, Carol and Lars Ryssdal became the new owners of Art Culinaire forging ahead with Issue 111.

Co-Publisher and Director of Operations Lars Ryssdal hustled early Huey Lewis and the News, Commodores, Blondie, Greg Kihn, and countless albums as a record promoter on the west coast. A proud achievement: he made San Francisco the breakout market for the late Bobby Caldwell’s hit, ‘What You Won’t Do for Love.’ When Lars traded records for wine, he dove into roles as salesman, educator, twice-certified sommelier, working sommelier for Seastar Restaurant, The Herbfarm, Cascadia, and brand Manager for Corliss Wine Estates. He became such a fixture on the Northwest wine scene for 25 years, that in 2011, the Washington Wine Commission awarded Lars as the state’s first and only “Ambassador of Wine.” When Lars returned to California in 2012, he took on a General Managing role for Ackerman Family Vineyards in Coombsville, while he and Carol transitioned AC and operations from Issue 110 in New Jersey to Issue 111 in California. Lars enjoys helping facilitate the careers of aspiring sommeliers with his heartfelt involvement in the Court of Master Sommeliers and Society of Wine Educators. He continues to head the sommelier teams at Taste Washington (he has since 2003) and as Chef Sommelier for the Children’s Hospital Auction of Washington Wines (for over a decade). For the past 11 years, Lars has led the wine team at San Francisco’s Annual Meals on Wheels Star Chefs & Vintners Gala. He is a panel judge for TEXSOM International Wine Awards and a judge for The San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. He is the brainchild of Art Culinaire’s Looking Glass section, bringing wine education to the magazine through quarterly blind tastings, and day-to-day he facilitates AC’s behind-the-scenes functions as printing, subscription, retail and advertising liaison…and then some.

Art Director and New York-based designer Isabel Abdai has loved cooking for as long as she can remember, especially the quiet precision of baking. She honed her visual storytelling approach at Martha Stewart Living, focusing on the interplay between craft, typography, and image. At Art Culinaire, she calibrates photos and narratives with clarity and restraint, using design magic to safeguard and elevate each chef’s nuanced expressions. Isabel lives in Manhattan’s Turtle Bay with her two rescue cats, Finn and Loïe.+ Check out Isabel’s website

Andrea D’Agosto is a Los Angeles-based  lifestyle photographer and artist. She grew up in a small town in Wisconsin working in her family’s restaurants where food presentation and family recipes sparked her interest. After attending school in Madison Wisconsin, she moved west to Los Angeles. Since then Andrea has been photographing some of the best and most well-known restaurants in Southern California including Spago, CUT, Bestia, Tar & Roses, Rustic Canyon, Alma, Din Tai Fung, Salt’s Cure, Under Belly, Hinoki and the Bird, Little Fork and Willie Jane. Andrea’s work has appeared on countless Art Culinaire covers. A few of our favorites include 126 (Tristan Aitchison of Providence), 150 (Niki Nakayama of n/Naka), 153 (Josiah Citrin of Melisse), and 155 (Aitor Zabala of Somni).
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Steve Legato’s ’s images define Art Culinaire. With his artistic sensibility, elegance, and precision, Steve doesn’t just shoot images, he crafts compelling food and chef stories. If you own an AC collection, look for Steve’s work that goes back to issues in the 60’s. When he isn’t carrying a camera, Steve’s a passionate wood worker and a multi-instrumentalist, notably an accomplished bass player in a Rush tribute band. Steve never misses an opportunity to cook and often his home cooking involves long braises or smoking fish. Past speaking engagements on food photography include seminars at Temple University, The Institute of Culinary Education (ICE), The Antonelli Institute, and Philadelphia Inquirer. Philanthropic endeavours include The Vetri Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Operation Second Chance (providing support for wounded combat veterans), Neighborhood Bike Works and Manna, Philadelphia.
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Evan Sung is a prominent food, lifestyle, and travel photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. A native Manhattanite, Evan has made his way through the world from Iceland to Senegal to Seventh Avenue. In addition to his freelance tenure with The New York Times, and many book bylines, we are fortunate to have Evan make magic happen inside the pages of Art Culinaire. Find Evan’s brooding shots of Wolfgang Ban’s dishes in Issue 111. In Issue 116, find Evan’s dazzling cover shot of David Bouley’s Scottish Langoustine, among many lovely others.
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Kelly Puleio pushes the conventional ideas of beauty. A fine art photography graduate of the Art Institute of Philadelphia and the California College of the Arts, Kelly’s unique perspective graces our pages. We’re fortunate to have such a dynamic talent based locally in San Francisco, not far from Art Culinaire’s headquarters. In Issue 113, her camera captures the minimalist finesse of James Syhabout at Oakland’s Commis. Issue 117 features Kelly’s beautiful cover shot of Christopher Kostow’s chocolate blackberry.
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Greg Rannells’s high school classmates voted Greg “most versatile,” recognition that amused him. Today, he wonders if there might be some truth to it. After graduating Southeast Missouri State University with a business degree, Greg sold Xerox machines, then surgical lasers, frequently observing eye surgeries. He disc jockeyed for several radio stations, drove a dump truck, and set dynamite until his career transformed to photography. Greg spent eight years photographing fashion in Los Angeles before emotionally connecting to food photography. All food cultures fascinate Greg, driving his own kitchen experiments. Over the years his home has evolved into a food lab with continuous projects clogging counters; masas made from various colored corns and numerous fermentations that include home-brewed Lao Padaek fish sauce, still unopened after 1½ years. Greg says “I learn something from each interaction in three decades of visual storytelling. The culinary artisans I meet are so generous in sharing their knowledge.” We’re incredibly fortunate to have crossed paths and collaborate with Greg who began shooting with Art Culinaire in 2021. His back-to-back photographs grace the covers of Issues 139 and 140. Greg embodies his Mantra: “I eat, I travel, I live!”
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Charity Lynne Burggraaf hails from the Pacific Northwest where she studied commercial photography at Seattle Central Creative Academy. For the past 15 years she’s worked as a food photographer collaborating on over 30 national and international cookbooks. Since 2011, Art Culinaire has been fortunate to team up with Charity on features in Seattle and the Olympic Peninsula, Canada, and the Mountain States. Charity’s gorgeous cover shot illuminates Issue 114 as it captures the Pacific Northwest perfectly: Olympia oysters on the half shell with lemon ice and trout roe photographed in the rain. It provides a window into Chef Renee Erickson’s broader oysters feature.  When not passionately documenting the lives of artisans, chefs, and restaurants, Charity gardens, throws pottery and cooks at home.
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Greg De Villiers has spent more than four years living in and traveling around the Southern Cone—Peru, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, and Argentina. He hails from South Africa, but currently works between Lima and Buenos Aires as a freelance food photographer and writer. We met Greg in Lima where he photographed chefs Pedro Miguel Schiaffano (Malabar) and Virgilio Martinez (Central). Greg triumphs in Issue 112 with his colorful cover photograph, and inside stories and photos about three prominent Cape Town, South Africa chefs. In Issue 115 Greg visits Kamilla Seidler of Gustu in La Paz, Bolivia.
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Barb Legato, copy editor to Art Culinaire Magazine is also a freelance marketing consultant specializing in cultural analysis to help brands stay in step with consumers by anticipating change. She has deeply explored such topics as the future of snacking, beer, and breakfast, evolving meanings of ‘generosity’ in the U.S. for a chocolatier, and of ‘authenticity’ for a cheesemaker, and the transformation of stigmatized products from ‘ick to wow’. In Issue 115, Barb writes about native cuisine’s Renaissance. In AC Issue, 119, Barb explores the challenges of feeding school kids who live in Barrow, Alaska.
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