I am fascinated by the connections between science and cooking. I've always enjoyed cooking, but it became a more integral part of my life during a year in Singapore, a culinary melting-pot that gave me a chance to explore a broad swath of the culinary spectrum: from home-cooking to fancy restaurant meals. I spent my free time reading books by cooks, listening to food podcasts, etc. I was especially intrigued by the training to become a chef and their instatiable curiosity about food, as well as their quest for perfection.

Several of my grad school friends and I recently started a blog to feature various aspects of food and drink from a physicist's perspective: Observational Gastrophysics

For a final project in my computer science class, I created an interactive visualization of the rankings to the top Boston restaurants.

• Harold McGee: Author of On Food and Cooking, the essential book for anyone interested in the science behind what they eat and drink.
• Anthony Bourdain: Kitchen Confidential was one of the most influential books that I've read. His status as a chef is somewhat controversial now, but I admire him especially for his skills as a writer and his insatiable curiosity about the world on the show No Reservations.
• Heidi Swanson: I've cooked dozens of recipes from 101cookbooks.com, which has introduced me to a whole new world of ingredients and techniques.
• Mark Bittman: the Minimalist cook and author of How to Cook Everything and How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, among others. His encyclopediac knowledge combined with his approachable style make him a regular source for culinary ideas.