Christine E. Nunn

Christine E. Nunn is an award-winning chef and lifelong preppy. She is the former executive chef and owner of Picnic the Restaurant, which was a Zagat award of excellence and 3.5 star dining establishment in New Jersey.

Heavily influenced by her mother’s appreciation of quality cuisine early in life, Christine has been cooking since the first light bulb was installed in her Easy-Bake Oven. Following stints as a writer, editor, and a fundraiser, Christine decided on a mid-life career change. She pursued her love of cooking as an occupation rather than a hobby and graduated at the top of her class from the esteemed Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park at the age of 39. Shortly after graduating from the CIA, Christine started a boutique catering company, Picnic, with the moniker “fun, fabulous, food.”

Her love of manners, madras, and campy cuisine inspired her to write The Preppy Cookbook. In a world where people are “foodies” and chefs are celebrities, Chef Christine feared that the wonderful retro recipes of the 60s and 70s are being kicked to the curb. She has come to be known for her simple yet elegant twists on classic recipes, from meatloaf with morel mushrooms, to saltine cracker crusted halibut with blackberry-thyme gastrique.

When Christine is not in the kitchen, she spends her time volunteering for the Junior League, gardening, and relaxing at her lake house in Sussex. She lives in Fair Lawn, New Jersey.