Marian Betancourt

On the trail of great food I was inspired to write two cookbooks. The latest, The New Native American Cuisine: 5 Star Recipes from Arizona's Kai Restaurant, was published in 2009 by Globe Pequot Press. Kai, at Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa on the outskirts of Phoenix, is one of only six U.S. restaurants to achieve AAA's 5-diamond status, and the nation's only Native American restaurant to have earned this distinction along with a Mobil Five Star rating. Not only filled with great recipes, this book tells the story of the rich agricultural heritage of the Gila River Indian Community, where farm-to-table and Slow Food was a way of life long before today's foodies learned about it.

The Texas Hill Country Cookbook: A Taste of Provence, published in 2007, also by Globe Pequot, is about one chef's love affair with the Texas Hill Country, which gives him access to the same kind of fresh local food he found in Provence where he trained. Co-authored with Chef Scott Cohen, this book was praised by Jacques Pepin among other culinary notables.

As a contributing editor for Sante magazine I have written about the cuisines of Portugal and Germany and the search for the blue-footed chicken. Most recently, I wrote about lamb, Eastern oysters, and The Harrison restaurant in Tribeca. Currently, I am writing about New York restaurants for Promenade magazine. For Luxury Web magazine, I rhapsodized on the great Salade Nicoise at Philadelphia's Sofitel hotel, and also reported on the emergence of luxury hotels in Eastern Germany. I've written more than 20 articles for Associated Press Features including profiles of chefs Daniel Boulud, Michael Lomonaco, Jimmy Bradley, and John Doherty.

My travel articles for American Heritage explore the American connection in the Azores (and eating dinner cooked in a volcano), and the Virginia wine country. Stories for Irish America magazine include a profile of Chef Bobby Flay as well as features on the Kennedy Museum in Berlin, the Moran and the McAllister tugboat families and the Fighting Irish 69th Brigade.

The rights and welfare of women have always been important to me and two of my earlier books are now back-in-print, thanks to the Authors Guild. Playing Like a Girl: Transforming Our Lives through Team Sports (Contemporary Books, 2001), and What to Do When Love Turns Violent, 1997, Harper Collins, were both praised in The New York Times. The latter was also featured on the Oprah and Montel Williams TV shows.

I've been writing for a very long time and you can find a comprehensive listing of my work in the bibliography section.