camillebecerra@gmail.com
@camillebecerra @brightcooking
SUBSTACK
@brightcooking “school”
Camille Becerra is a celebrated chef, food stylist, and author recognized for her influence on New York City’s restaurant scene. With two decades shaped by New York’s kitchens and the evolving world of food media, her work reflects a balance of refinement and ease—rooted in healthful, seasonal, and locally sourced ingredients. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Becerra began cooking after high school, studying at the Academy of Culinary Arts on the New Jersey coast before cooking at a macrobiotic restaurant in Philadelphia and at a Zen monastery while studying in New Mexico and California, where she deepened her connection to natural foods and the rhythms of seasonal cooking.
Becerra went on to leave her mark on downtown New York with restaurants such as Navy, Café Henrie, and DeMaria—the latter earning a James Beard Award for design. Across these kitchens, her food translated a modern sensibility through a vegetable-forward lens, drawing from her roots in macrobiotic and vegetarian cuisine while reinterpreting American cooking through thoughtful sourcing and design.
Her first cookbook, Bright Cooking (Chronicle Books, 2024), extends her philosophy to the home kitchen and has been featured on CBS Saturday Morning, and in leading publications. She continues this dialogue through Bright Cooking School, her Substack companion newsletter that functions as a hybrid test kitchen, nature diary, and cooking classroom, encouraging readers to slow down, cook intuitively, preserve what’s in season, and explore the cultural and ecological stories behind their food. Alongside her culinary work, she continues to build a strong digital presence through creative partnerships with top brands—including Apple, Dyson, Anthropologie, Guittard Chocolate, California Olive Ranch, and Ace Hotel, among others—blending food, design, and visual storytelling across social platforms and editorial collaborations.
Currently, Becerra is developing a café project.
Her work bridges food and storytelling through research, ritual, and craft.