Dawn Perry is a writer and cookbook author, currently working on her first cookbook (Simon & Schuster, Spring ‘22). She is the former Food Director at Real Simple where she oversaw recipes and food content on all platforms. After stints in both the pastry and savory kitchens at Mike Tusk’s Quince restaurant, Dawn made her way back east where she worked as a private chef for several years before making her way into food media. 

Dawn’s first gig in editorial was cross-testing recipes for Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes which should have won her a medal, but instead earned her a full-time position developing recipes and food styling as Associate Food Editor at the much beloved Everyday Food (RIP). She moved on to work in the test kitchen at Real Simple (her first tour) where her “The Only Cake Story You’ll Ever Need” was nominated for an IACP award. In it, she paired 2 essential cake recipes with 27 frosting, filling, and decorating ideas for a grand total of 256,620 combinations. (It’s true, they did the math.)   

As Senior Food Editor at Bon Appétit she developed recipes for features and regular columns and collaborated with restaurant chefs and food personalities including Naomi Pomeroy, Joshua McFadden, and Mimi Thorisson. Assuming the role of BA’s first ever Digital Food Editor she wrote popular web columns, helped launch the BA’s Best series, and starred in instructional videos including “Test Drive” and “I Effed It Up”. Dawn shepherded the 2014 and 2015 Food Lover’s Cleanse and was instrumental in Bon Appetit’s landmark partnership with IBM’s Chef Watson. She spoke about that experience on The Sporkful and at South by Southwest 2015. Dawn contributed to BA’s James Beard award winning “Cook Like a Pro” package and represented the brand in television appearances including spots on The Today Show. 

Dawn left Bon Appétit to work with meal kit delivery service Martha & Marley Spoon, as their culinary content editor. As employee number 9 of the startup her recipes were cooked and eaten in more than 5,000 homes every week. 

Dawn’s recipes and writing have been featured on Epicurious, Tasting Table, Food & Wine and Extra Crispy, in Southern Living, Country Living and on The Lonely Hour. She has more than 17K organic Instagram followers who are especially fond of her Dinner With Dawn Instagram stories series. She is the author of Short Stacked Editions’ Cucumbers (Summer 2017). She lives in Brooklyn (like everybody else) with her husband and two kids.