I love food. I love eating it, I love cooking it, and I love sharing it with others.
Hi! I’m Chris. Husband. Father. Music Teacher. Food Photographer. Long Island Wedding Photographer. And all around lover of food.
My passion for food actually started back in the 2nd grade, when I somehow got enrolled in an after-school cooking class with a teacher we affectionately called “Mr. Scoops”. Before long, I was helping my mom cook dinners in the kitchen and was holding bake sales for the neighborhood (I was apparently the little culinary entrepreneur as a kid). One of my favorite phrases my mom would tell me as a kid is: “Chris, there are 2 types of people in the world: Some people eat to live, and others live to eat.” I, of course, am the latter… and love it.
I was debating going to culinary school when the time came in high school to make those big decisions. I was torn between that and my other passion, music. My next door neighbor at the time owned his own restaurant. That was always a dream I wanted to accomplish, but after seeing the crazy hours he worked and the personal life sacrifices he constantly had to make, I decided to keep food as my greatest hobby. I am currently a proud music teacher on Long Island.
It’s a good decision I made becoming a music teacher. It’s a job I love, and it also led me to meet my wife.
It’s a long story about how we met, but it was through a coworker and his girlfriend, with whom we were and are still both mutual friends with at our church. After one sushi dinner and one walk down Madison Avenue, we were inseparable. Besides being amazingly beautiful and a talented Physician Assistant, Asheley is a fellow food fanatic. She happily joins me on culinary eating adventures, and is my go-to recipe tester. We tied the knot in July of 2012 on the east end of Long Island.
We welcomed our sweet little Olivia Madison into the family in 2015, and I am so in love with her. We have the best time together. And yes, I’m already giving her cooking lessons.
Cooking is so much fun. Eating a fantastic meal is one of life’s greatest joys. But to me, what makes food so special is its ability to bring people together… sharing food with friends and family, creating memories. That’s what it’s all about. And that’s why Shared Appetite was born. To tell you all about our experiences eating throughout New York City, and to share those spectacular recipes I’ve come across.
This blog is a tribute to the great food I’ve eaten, the fanstastic recipes I’ve cooked, and the awesome people I’ve gotten to share it with.
Eat. Cook. Share.
-Chris
Contact Me:
chris@sharedappetite.com
All photos, recipes, styling, and design on this website has been created by Chris Cockren unless otherwise noted. All content © Chris Cockren 2011-2015, All Rights Reserved. Please feel free to re-post my content on your blog/website/facebook etc, but please credit me with a link that says “Photos by Chris Cockren for Shared Appetite”. And if you remember, send me a quick note when you link to any of my content… I’ll try to give you a shout-out. Thanks!
Meet Tyler.
He is the reason this blog is up and running. Tyler helped me first create Shared Appetite, and makes sure everything is smoothly running in the technical department. He is also a really great friend and partner in crime in sharing recipes and finding new places to eat in NYC. His passion is in baking bread and trying to perfect the at-home pizza. One day he hopes to get one of those fancy outdoor pizza ovens. I’ll be spending a lot more time at his house when this purchase happens. Here he is enjoying a falafel sandwich from Taim:
Asheley and I have really enjoyed going to a lot of food events throughout the past couple years. Here are some of the pictures with the chefs and food personalities we’ve gotten to meet.
