Layla Khoury-Hanold

In addition to writing for outlets like Food Network and the James Beard Foundation, Layla also served as food editor at INDY Week, an alt-weekly newspaper in Durham and Raleigh, North Carolina, and as a blog producer at TasteBook, an online recipe, and food community.

Layla is also an avid home cook and product tester—friends and family consistently ask her for recipes and recommendations, from hot sauce to springform pans (she once made 16 cheesecakes to find the best one).

Layla’s food obsession and adventurous palate developed early on. Growing up in cities like Paris, Aberdeen, and Jakarta, she counts escargots, haggis, and beef rendang among her first memorable meals. She has also lived in Paris, New York City, and across the American South. Wherever she lives and travels, she relishes uncovering stories about places and people through the dishes and ingredients that define them. Layla is also writing her first book, a food memoir about appetite and growing up as a third-culture kid.
She currently calls Roanoke, a charming town in the valley of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, home.

Layla earned a B.A. in Marketing and French from Northern Michigan University and a professional certificate in Fashion Marketing, Merchandising and Communication from ESMOD Paris. She has also completed Techniques of Fine Cooking I at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City.

Other work:

• 20 Edible Gifts for the Person Who Takes Their Pantry Very Seriously, Food Network
• These Silicone Baking Cups are My Meal Prep MVP, Food Network
• An Appetite for Asheville, Chicago Tribune

Simply Recipes Product Review Editorial Guidelines & Mission