Jess Damuck

Jess Damuck is an American New York Times best-selling food writer, chef, food stylist, and artist.[1][2]

Damuck grew up in Shelter Island, an only child.[3] Her family traveled to Vermont frequently, visiting the Brattleboro Food Co-op, her "first true exposure to a hippie store and a health food restaurant."[4] She began cooking around age seven, utilizing recipes from her American Girl Doll Cookbooks.[2] She attended a private high school called the Ross School.[3]

Damuck aspired to be an orthopedic surgeon prior to becoming a cook and writer. She worked for the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York while studying for her MCATs.[3] Ultimately, she decided she did not want to work in a context where she would be confined to one room for hours at a time, so she dropped the profession in favor of culinary school.[3] During school, she worked for a restaurant called Planet Bliss, which she had started employment with in high school; it was there that the proprietor introduced her to the concept that food "doesn’t have to be boring or bland."[4]

Prior to her independent career, Damuck worked as Martha Stewart's assistant for a decade, helping create television shows and magazines, initially interning for Stewart and gaining employment subsequently.[1][3] She attended the French Culinary Institute at night.[3] She eventually became Stewart's personal salad chef.[5]

In 2022, Damuck published Salad Freak, which became a New York Times bestseller.[2] In March 2024, Damuck published Health Nut, a "throwback to ‘70s California health food."[5] In April 2024, Damuck co-authored Open Wide: A Cookbook for Friends―Fun and Easy Recipes for Food Freaks with music producer Benny Blanco.[5]

In June 2025, it was announced that Damuck would appear as a panelist at the environmental education event the Garden of Tomorrow Festival in Los Angeles alongside Bonnie Wright, Kristen Caissie, and others.[1]

• Salad Freak, Abrams Books, 2022 (ISBN 978-1419758393)
• Health Nut, Abrams Books, 2024 (ISBN 978-1419770371)
• Open Wide: A Cookbook for Friends―Fun and Easy Recipes for Food Freaks, Dey Street Books, 2024 (ISBN 978-0063315938)

Damuck's partner is Ben Sinclair, creator of High Maintenance.[5][4] She and Sinclair moved to Los Angeles during the COVID-19 pandemic.[3]