Cristina Dayton

Favorite food: Macaroni and cheese, fresh vegetables (especially tomatoes), and anything Italian.

Favorite local restaurants: Mulvaney’s B and L, The Kitchen, Tapa the World, Nationwide Meats (Best Burger), and Taco Bell…I know, I know…how can Mulvaney’s and Taco Bell be in the same sentence.

Favorite dining experience of all time: The Kitchen in Sacramento. My husband and I went there for our anniversary and literally could not get up to leave the restaurant we were so full. It was such an interactive experience with a wonderful staff. Definitely worth putting your name on the waiting list.

Earliest food-related memory from childhood: When I was two my Dad gave me a bell pepper he had grown in our garden. I promptly took a huge bite out of the side. I think that’s when he knew I would grow up to be a Foodie.

Most impressive dish you’ve whipped up using only ingredients on hand: I am preparing for my debut on Chopped so I’m exempt from this question!

Favorite family recipe: Well, this might not be my favorite but it’s what I think of when I think of family recipes. When my grandmother would come to visit she would always make Pasta Fagioli. I thought it was the absolute yummiest thing in world. When she would leave I would ask my mother to make it and she always added vegetables and made it “healthy.” It wasn’t until I was older I realized it was just canned pork and beans with elbow macaroni…