The CA names Chandler new reporter for food and dining
Jennifer Chandler, a veteran Memphis food writer who has written four cookbooks, has been hired as The CA’s food and dining reporter. She starts July 30. “I am excited about how vibrant the Memphis food and restaurant scene has become. It’s far more than barbecue and soul food. There’s a lot to try,” Chandler said. “I’m looking forward to diving in and discovering the cool things that people are doing in the food and dining world and sharing that with the readers of The CA.”
Some readers may already be familiar with Chandler because she previously wrote two freelance columns, “The Weekly Dish” and “Dinner Tonight,” for The CA. She also has been a frequent contributor to local publications, including Style Blueprint, At Home Magazine and Edible Memphis. Additionally, she is a regular commentator for the local NPR affiliate, WKNO-FM 91.1.
She has written the following books: “The Southern Pantry Cookbook,” “Simply Salads,” “Simply Suppers” and “Simply Grilling.”
Born in New Orleans, Chandler moved to Memphis with her family when she was 5.
Chandler, 47, took a circuitous path to food writing.
After getting an undergraduate degree in international finance from Georgetown University in 1992, Chandler recalls surprising friends and family members when she told them she was giving up a career in finance to move to Paris to learn to cook. She took a crash course in French and then enrolled at the famed cooking school Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. A year later, she graduated at the top of her class.
After Paris, Chandler started her food career with a six-month training program at a Washington, D.C., restaurant group, rising to become a manager. She stayed for about a year.
“I was a dishwasher for a few weeks, a hostess for a few weeks. I literally did every position in the restaurant as part of the training program,” Chandler said. “I really learned the ins and outs of the business.”
She moved back to Memphis 1995, and four year years later Chandler opened her own place, a prepared foods market and bakery market called Cheffie’s Market & More in the Sanderlin Center. It was open for three years before she closed the business because of the demands of a growing family.
Through it all, Chandler kept writing about food and working as a restaurant consultant, food stylist and recipe developer. “I made a living by playing with food,” she said.