Christine Albano’s road to cooking was not a straight one. Although in hindsight, it was inevitable. Coming from a Greek-Italian family, she learned the importance of gathering around the table with loved ones at a very early age. But like most young adults she wanted to go out into the world and find her own way. She landed her first job in finance and initially was taken by the excitement of the markets. But after years of working on Wall Street and managing millions in assets, she felt lost. It was as if she was living someone else’s life. 

Christine decided to leave her job and enroll in The Institute of Culinary Education, it was a bold move and totally out of character for her but within weeks Christine felt as if she found her way. She fell in love with cooking and from that moment on set out to pursue her education in the culinary world. She wanted to learn as much as she could as fast as she could by the best in the industry. So, she sought after the most prestigious restaurant group in the world and started her new career under the tutelage of Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

Christine spent four years working for Chef Vongerichten at his four-star flagship, Jean-Georges. It was there that she learned not only how to cook with passion but how to develop her palette and compose exciting new recipes on her own. She was also one of the only female line cooks at the time to work her way up the ladder to eventually reach the position of Sous Chef.  And during these four years she moonlighted as a private chef to gain additional knowledge and experience.  It was a true master class at the highest level. 

Christine brought that experience with her when she joined Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, as a food editor, where she worked for nine years. It was while working there, creating thousands of recipes and beautiful food for her award-winning magazine, best-selling cookbooks and digital platforms, that she was asked to become Deputy food editor of the magazine. Christine discovered her true creative sensibilities during those exciting times in the world of media.

Today, as a food stylist and recipe developer, Christine works on Advertising and TV campaigns with some of the most influential publications and media outlets in the industry as well as great talents such as Ina Garten, Rachel Ray and many well-known industry influencers.