About Liv

Liv has founded three cooking schools, written two books, and worked for 18 years as food journalist, restaurant critic and blogger for newspapers and magazines [byline, “Olivia Wu”.]

In 2007, she joined Google as an Executive Chef. Later, as program manager, she launched the teaching kitchen, and trained the chefs for five global sites, especially with her innovative foundational curriculum for recipe-free cooking, food literacy and taste perception. 

Liv's Grand Wok Cookbook won the 1984 Tastemaker award; she was part of the San Francisco Chronicle team that won the American Food Journalists Best Section award. She is also a health coach, and yoga and mindfulness teacher. In 2016 she retired to return to writing and to share her method and philosophy for whole-person curriculum in food literacy, Food & Flavor Fundamentals, with a syllabus that is suitable for university entry-level studies in the Health Sciences. It is easily adaptable for general education at all levels.  She has taught groups that include children age 7, as well as Montessori teachers.

Liv’s Learning Kitchen

Liv’s Lab

Liv’s Learning Kitchen is a design award-winning kitchen by Win Dell'Ario of Designs Dell'Ario. It is located in Moss Beach--a 3-minute walk from the Pacific Ocean and Marine Reserve, 35 minutes each from San Francisco and from San Francisco airport. The nearby coastal towns and harbor offer easy access to the water, water sports, fishing, recreation, hikes, wine country and farms.

Liv also consults and trains onsite, at food service kitchens.
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