Maria Helm Sinskey

Maria Helm Sinskey is a chef and cookbook author. A graduate of the California Culinary Academy, Sinskey honed her pastry skills in Denmark before returning to the States to work the line at several venerable San Francisco restaurants, including Boz Scagg’s Blue Light Café, the Sherman House, and Plumpjack Café, which she left in 1999 to pursue a life combining family, food, and wine in the Napa Valley. Currently, she runs the kitchens at her husband’s winery, Robert Sinskey Vineyards, where you may find her laying out plots for her organic gardens, teaching, writing, and raising two children.

In 1996, she was named Best New Chef by Food & Wine Magazine, and has also earned the honors of SF Magazine Rising Star Chef, SF Chronicle Rising Star chef, in addition to appearing on many PBS and Food Network Shows. Her first cookbook, “The Vineyard Kitchen: Menus Inspired by the Season”, published by HarperCollins was released in September 2003. “Family Meals: Creating Traditions in the Kitchen”, published by Oxmore House, followed in November 2008.