The Canal House
by Melissa Hamilton, Christopher Hirsheimer
Category: Cooking

Melissa Hamilton is a renowned food stylist and cofounder of Canal House. She previously worked at Saveur, which she joined in 1998, as the test kitchen director, and was its food editor for many years. Hamilton also worked in the kitchens of Martha Stewart Living and Cook's Illustrated, and she was the cofounder and first executive chef of Hamilton's Grill Room in Lambertville, New Jersey. She has developed and tested recipes and styled food for both magazines and cookbooks, including those by acclaimed chefs John Besh, Michael Psilakis, Roberto Santibanez, and David Tanis. She works with Christopher Hirsheimer on Canal House Cooking, for which the two do all of the writing, recipes, photography, design, and production. Christopher Hirsheimer is an award-winning photographer and cofounder of Canal House. Her experience includes establishing a publishing venture, running a culinary and design studio, and publishing an annual series of three seasonal cookbooks titled Canal House Cooking. Prior to starting Canal House in 2007, in Lambertville, New Jersey, Hirsheimer was the executive editor of Saveur, which she cofounded in 1994, and the food and design editor of Metropolitan Home. She cowrote the award-winning Saveur Cooks series and The San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market Cookbook. Her photographs have appeared in more than 50 cookbooks for such notables as Lidia Bastianich, Mario Batali, Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, and Alice Waters, and in numerous magazines, including Bon Appetit, Food and Wine, InStyle, and Town and Country. She works with Melissa Hamilton on Canal House Cooking, for which the two do all of the writing, recipes, photography, design, and production.