CIA Alumni Bio
As a cooking instructor, food writer, cookbook author, and food stylist, Jessica Bard has a full plate.
First CIA Bachelor’s Class
After Jessica graduated with the CIA’s first BPS class, she joined the team that produces the CIA’s cookbooks. She stayed there for five years, setting up the foundation for a career that’s brought her into the kitchens of major consumer magazines. Along the way, her book, An Apple and Art Recipe Book, featuring apple recipes and art from Hudson Valley residents, won the 1991 Eclat Award.
Jessica earned a bachelor’s degree in literature/dramatic studies from the State University of New York at Purchase before coming to the CIA. Her AOS and BPS degrees are in the culinary arts but she also did an extended internship in a pastry kitchen.
Freelance to Fine Cooking
After leaving her position at the CIA to work as a freelance recipe tester/developer for Unilever-Best Foods, Jessica decided she wanted to keep her hand in the world of food publishing. “I had been very interested in working in magazines, and offered to do an unpaid internship at Saveur,” Jessica recalls. “I assisted the photo editor for a few months while looking for full-time positions elsewhere.” It didn’t take long before Jessica was commuting from her home in New York’s Hudson Valley to Connecticut to work as a food stylist and photo coordinator at Fine Cooking magazine, where she worked for three years.
Maya Kaimal Fine Indian Foods
Jessica is currently working closer to home on editorial and educational projects while raising her most precious creation, daughter Grace. She continues contributing to magazines and cookbooks and serves as a research and development chef for Maya Kaimal Fine Indian Foods. Jessica started her own business—Jessica Bard Culinary Services—in which she utilizes her very own test kitchen for consumer and professional recipe testing, recipe development, evaluations of contest recipes, and revamping chefs’ recipes for use in the home kitchen. Jessica Bard Culinary Services also outlines recent updates in food writing, food styling, and photo shoots. Her web site offers a full career portfolio, biography, project information recipes, and more. You can keep up with Jessica through her Web site, www.jessicabard.com.
Chef Jessica Bard majored in culinary arts at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY. She is an author, food stylist, and works as a research development chef for Maya Kaimal Fine Indian Foods in Rhinebeck, NY.