Alex Lau
Staff Photographer Emeritus
Alex Lau is a freelance photographer based in New York City. Originally from Queens, New York, Alex moved to San Francisco when he was 12 before returning to the East Coast to attend a journalism program at Emerson College. A true muti-hyphenate, Alex has at times studied jazz, trained in competitive swimming and weight lifting, and worked as a celebrity dog-sitter. It was by chance, after a Hail Mary application for a summer internship to work with Bon Appétit’s visuals team, that Alex solidified food photography as his primary source of interest.
He followed that internship with one at Boston Magazine, working as a digital writer and photographer. Upon returning to New York, he was offered staff roles at both Food & Wine and BA, and we eventually welcomed him back as our new staff photographer. Alex left BA in 2020 to pursue a broader scope of projects; check out his most recent work at 2dcreative.com.
Recipes
BA's Best Fried Chicken Sandwich
This sandwich is engineered for maximum impact. Each element is awesome, but it’s the way they come together that puts it over the top. Mmmmm, yeah.
Recipes
Crunchy Winter Slaw with Asian Pear and Manchego
Daikon is the winter vegetable you should be eating—peppery, crunchy, crisp.
Recipes
Aromatic Shrimp and Noodle Medicine Soup
A highly seasoned broth and robust cashew purée add layered flavor to this warming soup.
Recipes
Gochujang-Braised Chicken and Crispy Rice
Long-grain rice is not starchy enough to hold together, so make a batch of short-grain a day ahead and you’ll be good to go.
Recipes
Chicken and Mushrooms with Giant Croutons
The key to browning chicken skin in butter is to crowd the pieces so the butter doesn’t burn in the skillet—then it makes the most beautifully browned skin!
Recipes
Twice-Roasted Sweet Potatoes With Hot Honey
This recipe embraces the incredible natural sweetness of sweet potatoes but gives it a spicy edge.
Recipes
Seared Steak with Cipolline Onions and Radicchio
The bavette cut is a well-marbled piece from the end of the sirloin, prized for its flavor. Your butcher might know it as “flap steak”; if not, go with sirloin, hanger, or flank instead.
Recipes
Sparkling Lemon Cocktail
If you pour the bubbly too quickly, the drink will foam up and over the edge of the glass.
Recipes
Roasted Carrots With Stracciatella and Buckwheat
The little sprinkle of buckwheat delivers a much-needed crunch factor. If you don’t have any, add some chopped toasted almonds or homemade breadcrumbs.
Recipes
Beets with Pecorino, Pecans, and Shishito Peppers
If using different types of beets, separate them when roasting and tossing to keep the colors from bleeding.
Recipes
Fried Potatoes with Tomato-Chipotle Sauce and Aioli
Four Horsemen’s glorious take on patatas bravas requires cooking the potatoes three times (once blanched, twice fried). We wouldn’t make you go through all that if it wasn’t worth it.
Recipes
T.H.Ghee
To bake or cook with the finished ghee, figure ½ tsp. infused butter per portion (e.g., make 24 cookies from 2 oz. butter). Wait at least one hour after eating before having more—it can easily take that long for the effects to be felt, and you don’t want to overdo it.
Recipes
Bread-and-Butter Pickles
These pickles are a must-have accompaniment for BA's Best Fried Chicken Sandwich…though they’re pretty amazing on their own as a snack as well.
Recipes
Iced Horchata Latte
If you feel like experimenting, try using cashews or pecans in place of the almonds.
Recipes
Barbecue Carrots with Yogurt and Pecans
Parboiling the carrots before you grill them ensures they’ll be tender without burning the sugars in the spice mixture, and primes them to absorb those flavors.
Recipes
Tamale Pie With Mint Yogurt
Ras-el-hanout is a Moroccan spice blend that contains several warming spices (such as cinnamon and nutmeg) with a little ginger and chile for heat. If you can’t find it, use garam masala instead.
Recipes
Spanish Breakfast Casserole With Eggs and Bacon
This is ideal for a brunch party; the entire casserole can be assembled the night before so all that’s left to do is bake it the next day. And let’s be real: We’d happily eat it for dinner, too.
Culture
How to Make a Stunning Bouquet with Supermarket Flowers
All you need is $20 and some scissors.
Recipes
BA's Best Masala Chai
This chai is definitively ginger-forward. Feel free to add a little more maple syrup if you like it on the sweeter side. This is part of BA's Best, a collection of our essential recipes.
Culture
8 Wonderfully Wacky Dessert-Flavored Chips from Around the World
Elsewhere in the world, snack manufacturers have created all kinds of delicious and sometimes bizarre chips that can double as dessert.