Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl is a food and wine writer, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Personal life

Dara Moskowitz was born and raised in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1988. She got her start in the world of food as a dishwasher. She graduated from Carleton College in

Northfield, Minnesota Northfield is a city in Dakota and Rice counties in the State of Minnesota. It is mostly in Rice County, with a small portion in Dakota County. The population was 20,790 at the 2020 census. History Northfield was platted in 1856 by John W ...

in 1992. She lives with her family in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

and is a senior writer for ''Mpls.St.Paul Magazine''.

Writing

Originally focusing on fiction writing, she won two Minnesota State Arts Board grants, a fellowship from the Loft McKnight foundation, and the Tamarack Award in 1994. She was chosen by Joyce Carol Oates for the anthology ''American Fiction, Volume Nine: The Best Unpublished Short Stories by Emerging Authors''. Her primary outlet for food writing from 1995 to 2008 was in the '' City Pages'', a Minneapolis-St. Paul alternative weekly owned by

Village Voice Media Village Voice Media or VVM is a newspaper company. It began in 1970 as a weekly alternative newspaper in Phoenix. The company, founded by Michael Lacey (editor) and Jim Larkin (publisher), was then known as New Times Inc. (NTI) and the public ...

. Currently, she works for MSP Communications, where she writes for both ''Delta Sky Magazine'' as a travel writer and ''Mpls St. Paul Magazine'' with a restaurant column, profiles, and feature stories. She has been nominated for eleven

James Beard Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media award ...

s for both her food and wine writing and has won five times; her most recent nomination was for an MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award for “The Cheese Artist”. In both 2011 and 2013 she won the City and Regional Magazine Association Award as the nation's best restaurant critic in a city magazine. She has also written for ''

Gourmet Magazine ''Gourmet'' magazine was a monthly publication of Condé Nast and the first U.S. magazine devoted to food and wine. The New York Times noted that "''Gourmet'' was to food what ''Vogue'' is to fashion." Founded by Earle R. MacAusland (1890–1980 ...

'', ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

'', ''

Wine & Spirits ''Wine & Spirits'' is an American wine magazine. With offices in New York and San Francisco, the magazine publishes eight issues annually. History and profile The magazine was started under the name ''Winestate's Wine & Spirits Buying Guide''. In ...

'', ''

Bon Appetit ''Bon'', also spelled Bön () and also known as Yungdrung Bon (, "eternal Bon"), is a Tibetan religious tradition with many similarities to Tibetan Buddhism and also many unique features.Samuel 2012, pp. 220-221. Bon initially developed in t ...

'', ''Food and Wine,'' and ''

Saveur ''Saveur'' is an online gourmet, food, wine, and travel magazine that publishes essays about various world cuisines. The publication was co-founded by Dorothy Kalins, Michael Grossman, Christopher Hirsheimer, and Colman Andrews, who was also th ...

''. Her writing has been included in five editions of ''Best Food Writing''.

''Drink This: Wine Made Simple''

In her first book on wine, Grumdahl draws on her own experience to aid the reader into better understanding their own tastes and preferences as a guide to exploring the world of wine. The book presents nine parties to have at home to discover the reader's own taste when it comes to nine major varieties of wine including Zinfandel, Sauvignon blanc,

Riesling Riesling (, ; ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling wh ...

, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah,

Sangiovese Sangiovese (, also , , ) is a red Italian wine grape variety that derives its name from the Latin ''sanguis Jovis'', "the blood of Jupiter". Though it is the grape of most of central Italy from Romagna down to Lazio (the most widespread grape ...

Tempranillo Tempranillo (also known as Ull de Llebre, Cencibel, Tinto Fino and Tinta del Pais in Spain, Aragonez or Tinta Roriz in Portugal, and several other synonyms elsewhere) is a black grape variety widely grown to make full-bodied red wines in its ...

, and Pinot noir. The book features some wine history and economics of the industry as well as interviews from such critics, winemakers, and chefs as Robert M. Parker, Jr., Paul Draper, and

Thomas Keller Thomas Aloysius Keller (born October 14, 1955) is an American chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author. He and his landmark Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, California, have won multiple awards from the James Beard Foun ...

. ''Drink This: Wine Made Simple'' was released on November 24, 2009, by Ballantine Books (an imprint of Random House).

Radio

In 2012, Grumdahl began a radio program—Off the Menu—on WCCO, the Minneapolis CBS radio station. The program broadcasts live on Saturday mornings and includes a mix of conversations with guests (Gabriel Rucker, Dominique Ansel, Nina Teicholz) and answers to listener questions. Grumdahl also appears weekly on WCCO on

Chad Hartman Chad Hartman is an American radio talk show host on WCCO-AM. Personal Hartman is the son of longtime Minnesota sportswriter Sid Hartman. Hartman graduated from Robbinsdale Armstrong High School. In 1988 he graduated from Arizona State Univer ...

and is an occasional guest on MPR.

Live Events

In Minnesota, Grumdahl frequently emcees live events such as the

Andrew Zimmern Andrew Scott Zimmern (born July 4, 1961) is an American chef, restaurateur, television and radio personality, director, producer, businessman, food critic, and author. Zimmern is the co-creator, host, and consulting producer of the Travel Chan ...

and Anthony Bourdain tour Guts & Glory, the Fran Lebowitz interview for Living Legends, the Mpls. St. Paul Magazine Tastemakers live series and the MPR Top Coast festival.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grumdahl, Dara Moskowitz Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American food writers Wine writers Carleton College alumni Stuyvesant High School alumni Writers from New York City Writers from Minneapolis James Beard Foundation Award winners