About

Emiko is an Australian-Japanese food writer, photographer and cookbook author, based in Tuscany for the past 20 years. After gaining a Bachelor of Fine Arts, she ended up in Florence, Italy, to study art restoration before falling into food writing. She and her sommelier husband, Marco Lami, opened Enoteca Marilu in 2023 — their own space for hosting cooking classes, culinary workshops and a natural wine bar in San Miniato, between Florence and Pisa. See what the Sydney Morning Herald wrote about them here.

Cookbooks

Emiko has written six cookbooks, Florentine: The True Cuisine of Florence (March 2016 and a new edition in November 2020), Acquacotta (March 2017 and a new edition in February 2023), Tortellini at Midnight (March 2019), Torta della Nonna (March 2021), Cinnamon & Salt (April 2022), published by Hardie Grant. In September 2023, Gohan: Everyday Japanese Cooking, was published by Smith Street Books and it won Fortnum & Mason’s Cookery Book of the Year and the Andre Simon Special Commendation awards. Her seventh book, The Japanese Pantry will be out in November 2025.

Emiko’s work

Emiko has been writing about regional Italian cuisine and travel for well over a decade. She contributes to a monthly recipe column in top Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera’s “Cook” liftout. In her four year old column for Food52  you can still find 200 articles and recipes of hers on regional Italian food. She has been a judge for the Guild of Fine Food World Cheese Awards, a consultant for best selling author Sarah Winman’s Still Life novel (set in Florence) and features in the Florence episode of Stanley Tucci‘s latest Heart of Italy series. She contributes to publications such as the Financial Times, The New York Times, The Canberra Times, Saveur, Food and Wine, Conde Nast Traveler, Gourmet Traveller, The Kitchn and more. She interviewed Massimo Bottura for the BBC World Service and appeared on TV for Adam Liaw’s The Cook Up (SBS Australia, 5 epsisodes) and Clive Myrie’s Italian Road Trip (BBC) and was recently named one of 50 powerful women in food by Italy’s leading newspaper, Corriere della Sera.

Cooking Classes & Workshops

Emiko runs regular culinary workshops and weekly cooking classes at Enoteca Marilu, as featured in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Financial Times. Make sure to check the workshops page to see all culinary experiences available (such as annual workshops in Sicily and Venice) and the classes schedule at Enoteca Marilu, in San Miniato, Tuscany.

Florence & Tuscany Travel

If you’re traveling to Florence be sure to check also the travel articles and in particular this piece on how to eat and travel sustainably in Florence for her favourite recommendations, as well as the video below, made for Monocle Magazine. Emiko’s Substack Newsletter, Notes from Emiko’s Kitchen, has more recommendations too and you can see the archive of travel articles here.

Keep in touch

Find Emiko on Instagram or, for regular posts in your inbox sign up to her newsletter here. For any media enquiries, book extracts, interviews, or collaborations please email info[@]emikodavies.com. You can also download my Press Kit here