About

Meet Nicole

“Southern food is a packed pantry of stories, but luckily there is a new generation making sense of it like never before. Nicole Taylor has penned a beautiful ode to the land I call home.”
- Hugh Acheson, chef/ author

Georgia native Nicole Taylor spent her early twenties trying to distance herself from her Southern cooking roots, until a move “up” to Brooklyn gave her a fresh appreciation for the flavors of her childhood.

The Up South Cookbook is a bridge to the past and a door to the future. The recipes in this deeply personal cookbook offer classic Southern favorites informed and updated by newly-discovered ingredients and different cultures. From smoked trout in her deviled eggs to fresh hibiscus flowers in her punch, Nicole’s recipes honor tradition while reinterpreting them. Along the way, she tells the story of her generation of home cooks, who are reclaiming their culinary heritage in a whole new way.

Nicole A. Taylor hosted Hot Grease, a food culture podcast, and is the principal of NAT Media. She has contributed to Wine Enthusiast, James Beard Foundation, Food & Wine, Esquire, Good Company, Epicurious, The New York Times, Edible Manhattan, Saveur, The Bitter Southerner, Extra Crispy, The Undefeated, Wine4Food, Civil Eats, Sheknows, First We Feast, Cherry Bombe, Amtrak, Gravy Quarterly, and Travel Noire. Her cookbook has been featured in The New York Times, Ebony Magazine, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and New Republic. She lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.