Hannah Selinger

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Hannah Selinger is an American author and columnist, known primarily for her writing on food, wine, and the restaurant industry. She published a memoir, Cellar Rat: My Life in the Restaurant Underbelly, in 2025.

Career

Hannah Selinger started her career in the restaurant industry in the early 2000s, working as a server and sommelier in New York City establishments such as Jean-Georges and Momofuku. She began her writing career in the late 2000s to early 2010s, following her transition from the restaurant industry. [1] [2]

Her essay “In My Childhood Kitchen, I Learned Both Fear and Love” was featured in the 2022 Best American Food Writing anthology. She was a finalist for the 2022 James Beard MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award. [3] [4]

In 2025, Selinger published her debut memoir, Cellar Rat: My Life in the Restaurant Underbelly, through Little, Brown and Company. The memoir details her experiences in the fine-dining industry. [1] [5] [6]

With over 15 years in journalism, Selinger has contributed to esteemed publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Travel + Leisure, [7] Food & Wine, The Wall Street Journal, [8] Bon Appétit [9] , CNN, [10] The Independent , [11] HuffPost, [12] and Al Jazeera, [13] among many others.

References

  1. 1 2 Eber, Hailey (2025-03-26). "Momofuku somm reveals what it was really like to work for David Chang and wait on Gwyneth Paltrow". New York Post . Retrieved 2025-05-23.
  2. Wells, Pete (2021-01-05). "From Toxic Chefs to Covid, Restaurant Workers Deserve Better". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2025-05-23.
  3. "Hannah Selinger Talks 'Toxicity and Trauma' of the Restaurant Industry in Upcoming Memoir (Exclusive)". People.com. Retrieved 2025-05-23.
  4. "April 29, 2025 - Hannah Selinger, Eephus, and Rock to Baroque: Four Decades of Music Photography". GBH. Retrieved 2025-05-23.
  5. Makalintal, Bettina (2025-03-24). "In 'Cellar Rat,' A Sommelier's 'Righteous Indignation' About the Restaurant Industry". Eater. Retrieved 2025-05-23.
  6. "The restaurant industry tore her down. In her memoir, she ..." Washington Post. 2025-04-04.
  7. "The High-end Hotel Amenity That's Worth Shelling Out for This Year". Travel + Leisure. Retrieved 2025-05-23.
  8. "Hannah Selinger". Wall Street Journal . Retrieved 2025-05-23.
  9. Selinger, Hannah (2021-07-02). "In My Childhood Kitchen, I Learned Both Fear and Love". Bon Appétit. Retrieved 2025-05-23.
  10. Selinger, Hannah (2020-07-03). "How the hot dog became an American icon". CNN. Retrieved 2025-05-23.
  11. Selinger, Hannah (August 12, 2019). "Trump-loving in-laws went viral – then I got a rude awakening from the right-wing media". The Independen.
  12. "It Might Be Time To Cut My Right-Wing, Trump-Loving In-Laws Out Of My Kids' Lives". HuffPost. 2019-08-07. Retrieved 2025-05-23.
  13. Selinger, Hannah. "How we remember them: The friend who died too young". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2025-05-23.