Alison Roman

Alison E. Roman (born September 1, 1985) is an American food writer, chef, and internet personality. She is best known for her viral recipes, such as #TheStew and #TheCookies, which were widely shared on social media platforms. Roman has held senior positions at Bon Appétit and Buzzfeed Food, and served as a columnist for New York Times Cooking. Roman is the author of several cookbooks, including the New York Times Bestseller Nothing Fancy.

Early life and education Roman was born September 1, 1985, and raised in Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley area.

Career

Bon Appétit and early career (2011–2018) Roman began as a freelance recipe-tester at Bon Appétit in 2011 soon after the magazine had come under the leadership of editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport. She quickly gained a full-time position at the magazine and eventually became a senior food editor. Months later she joined New York Times Cooking as a regular columnist. The cookbook stresses the value of "unfussy" ingredients and the importance of authenticity when hosting friends and guests. Several of the recipes she developed for the book and The New York Times went viral, including the #TheStew.

Roman's recipes and online presence took off during the COVID-19 pandemic as more people turned to home cooking. Her shallot pasta recipe (commonly known as #ThePasta), was particularly popular amidst the food shortages and constraints of the pandemic due to its use of everyday, pantry ingredients. In May 2020, Roman was criticized on social media for an interview in which she made critical remarks about the product lines of Chrissy Teigen and Marie Kondo, both of whom are of Asian descent. Critics claimed these remarks had racial undertones and pointed to her past practice of using Asian flavors in her recipes without acknowledging the sources of these flavors. After Teigen responded on Twitter and then locked her own account, Roman apologized.

Departure and continued career (2020–present) In December 2020, Roman announced she would be leaving The New York Times to begin a "new chapter" elsewhere. Starting in 2021, she produced a series Home Movies with Alison Roman, a cooking show, on her YouTube channel. She was set to produce a new cooking program for CNN+ in 2022. After shutdown of CNN+, the show was moved to CNN as (More Than) A Cooking Show but then pulled. She filmed two seasons and is seeking a new outlet for distributing the series. In 2023, she opened a small market called First Bloom in the Catskills in Bloomville, New York. In 2025 she launched her own tomato sauce, A Very Good Tomato Sauce.

Personal life Roman has lived in Brooklyn, New York, since at least 2018. She describes herself as "half-Jewish" and regularly celebrates Passover and other religious holidays since moving to New York. She married producer Max Cantor on September 9, 2023. On their first anniversary, Roman announced via her Instagram page that the couple was expecting their first child . On January 23, 2025, Roman posted a photo of newborn son Charlie Davis Roman Cantor, noting that he had been born "almost a month early".