Let me share my story with you…
My name is Julia Pemberton Hellums and I have worked in and around the food and publishing worlds for the last 30 years. I was born and raised in New York City and I am proud to be a sixth generation New Yorker. Growing up surrounded by the varied food culture of New York made me a “foodie” from a young age. I now live in Houston, Texas where I work as a writer and an editorial consultant. Over the last twenty years I spent much of my energy raising my now college-aged kids, with my native Houstonian husband, a fourth generation Texan. Texas has a rich history that, like New York, can be appreciated and understood through its own extraordinary melting pot of culinary influences. I love to hear stories about what inspires people to cook, and believe that the idea of “place” and the memories of food and family meals are key to helping us discover and understand each other. Writing about food and the importance of “place”, helping others to tell their own stories -these are my passions.
My professional food career began when, after graduating from the New York Restaurant School in 1987, I went to work for Chef Barry Wine at The Quilted Giraffe in the then Sony Building on Madison Avenue in New York City. The restaurant, which closed in 1992, was considered one of the most innovative in the country and broke ground by being one of the first to elevate American ingredients and culinary presentation to the level of nouvelle French cuisine. I also worked for Sally Darr at La Tulipe - a jewel-box of a restaurant that was located on the street level of her townhouse home on West 13th street. Sally had been the food editor at Gourmet Magazine throughout the 1970’s and had also been personal friends with James Beard when he was her neighbor living on 12th street. She counted Julia Child, Jacque Pepin and the culinary luminaries of that time as friends and customers. Sally was constantly developing and re-testing the recipes of every classic French country dish she put on the La Tulipe menu. It was a magical place to work and an incredible place for me to learn.
In 1989, I started work for Martha Stewart in Westport, CT. At that time Martha was transitioning from caterer-cookbook author to media mogul. She did not yet have her now famous magazine but I learned much from her about recipe development and food styling. My time working for her helped me discover my love for producing editorial content about food and style. Over the next five years, I went on to work as a recipe developer and stylist at Ladies Home Journal, ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today Show along with many other magazines and television programs produced in New York.
In 1995, I married my husband Jay and moved with him to England. From 1997 -2003, I worked in London for Dorling Kindersley Publishing where I edited cookbooks. It is there that I met Rosie Kindersley, owner of the fabulous cookbook store Books for Cooks, just off the Portobello Road in Notting Hill. I worked with Rosie and her now husband Eric Treuille to develop a new look and style for DK’s cookery book titles. It was one of the best jobs I have had in my career and gave me the expertise to develop successful cookbooks.
In 2004, my husband and I moved back to the States with two young children and made our home in Houston, TX. I soon discovered that New Yorkers and Texans share a similar “big idea” orientation. The positive mindset of “anything can happen with the right attitude and effort” is as contagious here as it is in New York City.
I continue to work as a cookbook editor and I am especially proud of the two cookbooks I project managed and edited for Chef Hugo Ortega, 2017 James Beard award winning “Best Chef of The Southwest”, and his partner in both business and life, Tracy Vaught. Together they own and run Backstreet Cafe, Hugo’s, Caracol and Xochi - some of the most exciting restaurants in Houston.
I am proud my work for Yahoo - creating online content for their family travel and parenting magazines gave me an understanding of how to create effective digital media content.
On a personal note, I have recently been caretaker to my mother who is suffering from advancing vascular dementia. Retreating to the kitchen and the comfort of old recipes has become even more important to me. Connecting to what we used to cook together allows me to hold on to our shared experiences as they fade from her memory and to preserve them in mine.
Currently, I am teaching cooking classes in Houston, as well as working on a novel and writing about preserving family recipes. I hope you will reach out to me about anything I share on this site that interests you.
“Julia Pemberton Hellums was our all-round project editor, guiding us on content, recipe format, prop and photo-styling…and continually reminding us that there was great value in what we were doing when we had self-doubts.” Chef Hugo Ortega and Tracy Vaught, Backstreet Kitchen, 2013
Let’s talk!
I love connecting with new people, hearing their stories and bringing them together with the resources that they need.
I would love to hear about what interests you. Let me help you with content development or culinary education.