After working in professional kitchens throughout his college years at the University of California, Berkeley, Chris Ying abandoned food for a career in publishing. He worked his way up from an intern, to designer, to editor, and eventually to publisher of McSweeney’s Publishing in San Francisco. As fate would have it, food would eventually pull him back in.

In 2009, Ying edited, designed, and published McSweeney’s first cookbook, Mission Street Food. In 2011, he co-founded Lucky Peach, a magazine that has since won numerous James Beard Awards and carved out a nice place for itself in food media. He served as editor-in-chief for the first twenty issues of the magazine, stepping back to become editor-at-large in 2016. In 2017, he took on the role of creative and editorial director of MAD, the nonprofit organization founded by Rene Redzepi, chef of Noma in Copenhagen. With MAD, he’ll be working to make food better—healthier, more delicious, more sustainable, more available—through ongoing events, publications, and the annual MAD Symposium.

Ying has edited and co-written numerous titles for McSweeney’s, Ten Speed Press, Ecco, Clarkson-Potter, and DK Publishing, including Ivan Ramen and The Mission Chinese Food Cookbook. He writes a regular column called “All Consuming” for the San Francisco Chronicle. In 2014, Chris co-founded a nonprofit, ZeroFoodprint, dedicated to helping restaurants and chefs fight climate change. He lives in San Francisco with his wife and daughter.