Priscilla Martel

Martel attended Phillips Academy in Andover and graduated in the school's first co–educational class in 1974. She graduated from Brown University in 1978. Her love of writing was influenced in part after taking a course at Wesleyan called Portraits of People taught by Anne Greene, in the 1980s.[14]

Martel married Connecticut restaurateur and chef Charlie van Over, and the couple often collaborate on recipes and cooking. Martel and van Over have cooked for 60 Minutes reporter Morley Safer, Chef Jacques Pepin as well as Broadway actor Peter Kapetan at their home in Connecticut.[15] Martel and van Over were co–owners of a restaurant in Chester called Restaurant du Village.[16]

Du Village was the kind of restaurant I’d dream about coming across on a back road in Burgundy, a place where everyone is welcomed as family, where the room hums with the lively chatter of friendship and celebration and where the food is so satisfying that I’d run a bit of baguette across the plates to grab sauce and then remind myself not to lick my fingers.

— Dorie Greenberg in the New York Times Magazine July 2021[3]

Martel and van Over were some of the first to start a farm-to-table trend of cultivating a network of local farmers, fishermen, producers and growers who brought fresh and hard-to-find ingredients to their restaurant.[3] Her cooking often reflects a Mediterranean emphasis.[17] She has a particular interest and expertise in almonds and desserts of the northeast. Martel and van Over hold patents regarding baking processes.[5]

Martel and van Over opened a Chester, Connecticut restaurant which they named Restaurant du Village in 1979 and sold it in 1990.[18] In 2010, they own a firm called "All About Food" which holds baking patents and collaborates with food manufacturers and restaurants on such matters as menus, marketing programs, and new products.[5]

Martel and van Over were quoted in the New York Times about doing rotisserie cooking using a fireplace; on occasions, Martel and van Over have cooked for fellow Chester resident and 60 Minutes reporter Morley Safer.[15] The couple would cook a multicourse meal in the fireplace while having sing–a–longs which sometimes included dancing, and their dinners often included quail, duck, venison or porterhouse steak.[15] At one point, Martel and van Over lived in a house with six[18] or seven fireplaces.[15] They grow vegetables and other foods in their garden for some of their meals.[17] Martel and van Over advise restaurants about such matters as how to create a brasserie.[19] Martel and van Over asserted in their book The Best Bread Ever that the best way to make the perfect loaf is to use a food processor.[18] Martel's recipes entitled Cod with creamy nut sauce and Chicken Almond Curry with Apricots appeared in Food & Wine magazine. She is co-author of culinary textbooks On Baking: A Textbook of Baking and Pastry Fundamentals and On Cooking: A Textbook of Culinary Fundamentals.[13] She worked as a consultant in product development to create international seafood chowders and Italian regional soups for Borden.[13] For Absolut Vodka, she was a spokesperson and developer of recipes.[13] She wrote over 150 columns entitled All About Food in Connecticut newspapers.[14]

• On Baking: A Textbook of Baking and Pastry Fundamentals, by Sarah Labensky, Priscilla Martel and Eddy Vandamme ISBN 978-0-13-157923-1
• Sampler Companion Website for On Baking: A Textbook of Baking and Pastry Fundamentals ISBN 978-0-13-504653-1[20]
• On Cooking: A Textbook Of Culinary Fundamentals, by Sarah Labensky, Alan M. Hause, Steven Labensky, Priscilla Martel; book/CD
• The Best Bread Ever: Great Homemade Bread Using Your Food Processor by Charles van Over and Priscilla Martel (1997)[21]

• Martel dessert page
• On Cooking Update textbook by Martel, Labensky and Hause
• Article by Martel in The Gourmet Retailer
• Author Priscilla Martel to Teach Food Writing Course announcement
• Priscilla Martel Living a Flavorful Life blog