Projects
Take a spin through what I’ve got cooking — more on each below:
Cooks Without Borders
The Brenner Report
The Masa Movement Project
The Communal Table Talks
Leslie Brenner Concepts
Cooks Without Borders
Since Leslie founded it in 2015, Cooks Without Borders has evolved into a fulsome international cooking brand with a rich website, a Substack where Leslie does her best writing, a highly engaged community, a CWB Cookbook Club and more.
CWB is dedicated to bringing you recipes steeped in culture, the stories behind them, cookbook reviews, essays and more. Through it all, Leslie delights in helping the CWB community find maximum enjoyment and fulfillment in the kitchen.
The website and the Substack have each won a People’s Voice Webby Award.
Sign up for a free or paid subscription to the CWB SUBSTACK.
The Brenner Report
Leslie’s email newsletter about food, the food world and cooking. Subscription is free.
The Masa Movement Project
In March of 2021, I became interested in a fledgling masa movement developing across the U.S. Chefs, aficionados and entrepreneurs had become passionate about nixtamalizing heirloom corn from Mexico, grinding it into masa and making delicious things and businesses using it. There’s also a home-cook analog — newly available masa harina made from the heirloom corn. Interest became obsession, and my deep dive into the subject — covering the people who nixtamalize, the cool businesses springing up around masa, and the endless ways to cook with it — has commandeered a good chunk of my life and work. That’s the Masa Movement Project.
The project is ongoing, including a series of stories at Cooks Without Borders called The Masa Life.
Heirloom maíz from Mexico, and masa made from it
The Communal Table Talks
An award-winning chef, a critic-turned-consultant and a creative design-thinker put their heads together — with the entire community — to reimagine restaurants. The series of free-flowing conversations is hosted by Bradford Thompson, Leslie Brenner and CarloMaria Ciampoli.
Leslie Brenner Concepts
Leslie’s consulting business. Leslie Brenner Concepts offers restaurant consulting, holistic marketing, quality control (The Restaurant Doctor and Restaurant Tune-Ups), PR, food and beverage business development, talent recruiting, menu development, wine list development and more.
