Executive Producer, Podcasts

A Bay Area native, Celine is a food anthropologist and media producer. Before Whetstone, she worked on seasons two and three of Christopher Kimball's Milk Street TV, as well as pre-production for Milk Street Radio. She has worked on events for Cherry Bombe Magazine & Radio and for The New Paris' Lindsay Tramuta's forthcoming book.

Celine earned her Masters in Gastronomy from Boston University in 2019. Through her graduate work, she spent a semester at the American University of Paris studying refugee foodways and the future impact adopted western diets will have on refugees.

She is particularly interested in preservation anthropology as it relates to food, meals and recipes.

Art Director

Alexandra Bowman is a California native, illustrator, designer, muralist and cat lover living in Oakland.

She graduated with a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago before moving back to the golden state in 2014. Some of her clients include: The New York Times, Pop Up Magazine and Food 52.

Alexandra’s art practice focuses on ways to celebrate representation through authentic experiences. By favoring accessible mediums including illustrated prints, and public art, her goal is to continue a dialogue about the importance of being seen in a world where many feel invisible. She recognizes representation is a step towards healing but often times, it is not nearly enough. Through monuments of visibility and depictions of herself and her community, she hopes that others can see her work as a call for social change.

Newsletter & Photo Editor

Lyric began her career as a food photographer while waiting tables and worked extensively with nationally-regarded chefs, photographing glazed lamb shoulder and pâté de campagne, while living on a college student's diet of ramen noodles. The work that came out of those days included photographing the sexiest salmon you've ever seen for Esquire, cheesy chilaquiles for Condé Nast Traveler and crispy trout for Garden & Gun.

Her years as a photo editor and writer at CNN helped her to cultivate her story-telling techniques. During that time as the assistant producer of CNN Photos her work with the team was recognized by the National Press Photographers Association. She worked on stories for CNN that dealt with everything from: women in the food industry breaking barriers, to one chef using natural resources on a remote island to make a sustainable food program, to a courageous Palestinian woman using food to reclaim her culture’s narrative.

She blends her background in the food world with her training in journalism for her work as a photographer, editor and writer.

Editor

Vidya Balachander is a journalist, editor and features writer with over a decade of experience. She started her career in Mumbai, India, working with prestigious media organizations such as Time Out Mumbai, Hindustan Times and the Indian edition of BBC Good Food magazine.

When she isn’t writing (or daydreaming) about food or traveling, Vidya enjoys cooking (especially Asian or modern Indian food), browsing local markets, stocking her pantry with ingredients from around the world, meeting people, snorkeling and planning future getaways. Wine is her go-to tipple but whisky is a growing passion. She has a weak sweet tooth but will go to great lengths to find a creme brûlée with a perfectly crackly crust.

Whetstone Magazine & W Journal

Layla Schlack is Senior Editor at Wine Enthusiast. She's written and edited stories about cooking, dining, spirits, entertaining and travel, as well as developed recipes, in various editorial roles at Fine Cooking and Hemispheres. Her writing has also appeared in TASTE, Extra Crispy, Edible Brooklyn, The Hairpin and The Toast. When she’s not editing Wine Enthusiast’s food, spirits and entertaining stories, she can usually be found clanging around her Connecticut kitchen.

Content Strategist

Justine Tai is a Bay Area-born and raised digital creator specializing in content strategy, brand building, and social media. Based in Hong Kong, she has worked with clients that range from Michelin-starred restaurants and luxury spirits brands to independent establishments and local chefs.

Head of Video

David Alexander is an independent multimedia journalist and documentary filmmaker/director with over 10+ years producing films on behalf of clients from all over the world.

His work has appeared in outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, TIME Magazine, The Economist, ESPN, ABC News, and others.

His work for organizations such as The Elton John AIDS Foundation, The Starkey Hearing Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, and others, has helped raise large sums of financial support, as well as public awareness for a variety of targeted developmental goals worldwide.

David earned his Masters degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2011.

Podcast Editor

Kat is a writer, editor, and producer based out of Los Angeles. Originally from Hilo, Hawaii, she’s always been fascinated with the ways food and media intersect to enhance the stories, history, and innately personal experience we have with what we eat. In addition to her role as Podcast Editor at Whetstone, her work has also been featured in The Infatuation, Writing For A Real World, and San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum, and has worked on projects like The Curious Eater and The Margaret Cho.

Associate Producer

Quentin is a multimedia producer and creative, helping to bring projects in video, audio, and digital to life. With a degree in business, he also works behind the scenes to assist in the day-to-day operations of Whetstone Media.

Being based in Seattle, when Quentin isn’t working, he’s usually exploring the mountains and nature that the Pacific Northwest has to offer.