From Charleston roots to global flavors—my journey through kitchens, cultures, and the art of home cooking
Where It All Began: A Kitchen Filled with Love
Hello! I’m Olivia Reid, the heart and hands behind CookScript, and my story begins where all the best food stories do—in a grandmother’s kitchen. Picture this: Charleston, South Carolina, 1995. A six-year-old me standing on a weathered wooden stool, flour dusting my cheeks, watching my grandmother work magic with nothing more than basic ingredients and decades of intuition.
Grandma Mae’s kitchen was small but mighty, filled with cast-iron skillets that had seen three generations of family meals and Mason jars lined with mysterious spices that seemed to hold secrets from another world. The aroma of her simmering chicken and dumplings could draw neighbors from three houses down, and her cornbread was legendary enough to settle family disputes. But it wasn’t just the food that captivated me—it was watching her transform simple ingredients into something that made people lean back in their chairs, close their eyes, and sigh with pure contentment.
Those early mornings spent learning to roll biscuit dough with the precision of a sculptor and the warmth of a storyteller taught me my first crucial lesson about cooking: food is never just about feeding bodies. It’s about feeding souls, creating memories, and building the bridges that connect us to one another across time and space.
From Curiosity to Calling: My Culinary Education
That childhood curiosity didn’t fade—it blazed into something bigger. By high school, I was the friend who brought homemade treats to every gathering and spent Friday nights experimenting with fusion recipes that horrified my Southern relatives. (“Kimchi grits, Olivia? Really?”) My parents, bless them, supported my passion even when it meant their kitchen looked like a tornado of flour, spices, and ambitious dreams.
The natural next step was the Culinary Institute of America, where I traded my grandmother’s intuitive approach for knife skills, classical techniques, and the kind of precision that comes from repetition and relentless practice. Those years were transformative but humbling. I learned that there’s a vast difference between loving to cook and knowing how to cook professionally. Every sauce that broke, every soufflé that fell, every service that went sideways taught me resilience, patience, and the art of grace under pressure.
Cities That Shaped My Palate
After graduation, I embarked on what I now call my “culinary pilgrimage”—years spent cutting my teeth in some of the most demanding and inspiring kitchens across America. Each city became a chapter in my evolving food story.
New York was my trial by fire. Working in a bustling Midtown kitchen during the height of dinner service taught me speed, efficiency, and how to maintain quality when every second counts. The city’s incredible diversity also introduced me to ingredients and techniques I’d never encountered—from hand-pulled noodles in Chinatown to the perfect bagel schmear that could make a grown person weep with joy.
New Orleans was where I discovered the poetry of Creole and Cajun cooking. The bold, unapologetic flavors of that incredible city—the holy trinity of celery, onions, and bell peppers, the complex depths of a perfect roux, the way a single pot of jambalaya could tell the story of an entire culture—changed how I thought about food as cultural expression. I spent countless evenings in neighborhood kitchens, learning family recipes passed down through generations and understanding that some of the best cooking happens not in restaurants, but in homes filled with laughter and love.
San Francisco introduced me to the farm-to-table movement and the beauty of letting incredible ingredients speak for themselves. The city’s emphasis on seasonal cooking and elegant presentation refined my palate and taught me that sometimes the most profound flavors come from the simplest preparations. Those California years also expanded my understanding of global cuisine, from the Mission District’s authentic tacos to the Richmond’s dim sum parlors.
The Birth of CookScript: Where Professional Meets Personal
After years of professional cooking, something was calling me home—not just to Charleston, but to the kind of cooking that feels like a warm hug. Don’t get me wrong; I loved the adrenaline of restaurant kitchens, the satisfaction of perfectly executed services, and the camaraderie of working alongside incredibly talented chefs. But I found myself longing for the storytelling aspect of food, the community building that happens when we share meals and recipes with genuine intention.
CookScript was born from that longing. This blog isn’t just a collection of recipes—it’s my attempt to bridge the gap between professional technique and home cooking heart. It’s where the precision I learned in culinary school meets the intuition I inherited from Grandma Mae. Every recipe I share has been tested not just for flavor, but for that intangible quality that makes people want to gather around a table.
My Cooking Philosophy: Joyful, Accessible, and Slightly Daring
I believe that cooking should feel like play, not work. Yes, technique matters, and I’ll always encourage you to properly season your food and taste as you go. But I also believe that the best meals come from a place of joy, experimentation, and the willingness to embrace beautiful disasters.
I’ve burned my fair share of bread (usually because I got distracted writing), over-salted countless soups (taste more, season less—I’m still learning this one!), and created some truly questionable fusion experiments that will never see the light of day on this blog. But every misstep has taught me something valuable, and I’ve learned to cherish those lessons as much as the triumphs.
My recipes are designed to be approachable for beginners while offering enough depth and variation to keep experienced cooks engaged. I believe in substitutions, adaptations, and the beautiful chaos that happens when you work with what you have instead of making three trips to the grocery store for specialty ingredients.
What You’ll Find Here: A Community of Food Lovers
CookScript is more than a blog—it’s a gathering place for anyone who believes that food has the power to create connection. Whether you’re a complete beginner looking for foolproof weeknight meals that won’t leave you ordering takeout in defeat, or a seasoned home cook chasing the thrill of mastering a new technique, there’s something here for you.
You’ll find recipes that span the globe but feel like home, techniques that seem complicated but break down into manageable steps, and stories that remind us why we fell in love with cooking in the first place. I share the successes and the failures, the family favorites and the bold experiments, the quick fixes and the labor-intensive weekend projects that fill your home with incredible aromas.
Looking Forward: Continuing the Journey Together
Food is a living, breathing art form that evolves with us as we grow, travel, learn, and connect with others. My culinary journey is far from over, and I’m grateful that you’re here to share it with me. Every comment, every photo of a recipe you’ve tried, every story you share about adapting a dish for your family’s tastes adds to the rich tapestry of this community.
So thank you for stopping by CookScript. Thank you for bringing your own experiences, preferences, and creativity to these recipes. Most importantly, thank you for remembering that the best meals are meant to be shared—whether with family gathered around a dinner table, friends crowded into a tiny apartment kitchen, or neighbors who become friends over a shared plate of something delicious.
I hope CookScript inspires you to roll up your sleeves, embrace the beautiful messiness of cooking, try something that scares you just a little bit, and share it with someone you love. After all, that’s what cooking is really about—not just nourishing bodies, but nourishing relationships, one meal at a time.
Happy cooking!
Olivia Reid
Founder & Head Chef, CookScript
Let’s Connect Beyond the Blog
The CookScript community extends far beyond this website! I’d love to connect with you on social media where we can share cooking tips, celebrate your kitchen successes, and inspire each other daily.
Facebook: Follow @CookScriptWithOlivia for daily recipe inspiration, cooking tips, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of my kitchen adventures. It’s also where our community comes together to share photos of their creations and ask questions—I love seeing how you make each recipe your own!
Pinterest: Find me at @CookScript for beautifully organized recipe boards, meal planning ideas, and seasonal cooking inspiration. I’m constantly pinning new ideas for everything from weeknight dinners to special occasion desserts. Perfect for when you need that spark of culinary creativity!
YouTube: Subscribe to CookScript with Olivia for step-by-step video tutorials, technique demonstrations, and virtual cooking sessions. There’s something magical about cooking together, even through a screen, and I love being able to show you exactly how to achieve that perfect sear or master a tricky folding technique.
Each platform offers something unique, but they’re all united by the same goal: building a community of food lovers who believe that cooking should be joyful, accessible, and shared with others.