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.
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.