Vivian Jao

Vivian Jao has almost 25 years of experience as a chef, caterer, recipe developer, food stylist, and culinary producer. For the past 20 years, she has worked in various food media platforms - magazines, newspapers, television, and digital.

Vivian was the Director of the Test Kitchen at Saveur and wrote a kitchen equipment review column, Well-Equipped, for Every Day with Rachael Ray. Her work has also appeared in Health, Shape, Weight Watchers, Prevention, Wall Street Journal, and All You. She has developed recipes for Volpi Foods, Smart Balance, and meal kits (for FIX). She has worked on Food Network shows such as The Kitchen and Chopped as well as The Food Network live-streaming app. She started working with Simply Recipes in 2021 as a recipe developer.

Vivian co-authored Judy Joo’s Korean Food Made Simple and contributed to Steven Rinella’s The MeatEater Fish and Game Cookbook, Food Network Kitchens Cookbook, Food Network Kitchens Making It Easy, and edible Jersey Farmers’ Markets Cookbook.

Vivian was an IACP Awards Finalist for Instructional Writing in 2013.

Fun Fact: While visiting my uncle in Los Angeles - a mecca for Asian food - after high school graduation, I turned down many meal suggestions, saying I didn't particularly like those dishes. My uncle finally turned to me and said, "You don't like these dishes because your mother is a terrible cook." And a new world opened up.