Elisabeth Antoine Crawford began her career as a modern dancer and choreographer. After receiving a BFA in Dance and Choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1991, she moved to San Francisco and formed her own dance company, Metamorph Dance. In 1995, she earned her Pilates certification and became an instructor. It was during these early years of performing and teaching that she first began traveling abroad. Having always felt a profound connection with Italy, she signed up for a dance festival in the coastal town of Castiglioncello, where she lived for two months and fell desperately in love with Italian life.
Over the next decade, Elisabeth traveled to Italy regularly, exploring different cities and towns with each visit and becoming increasingly interested in regional cuisine. The year 2000 marked her first trip to Friuli. In preparation for publishing her first book, Balance on the Ball: Exercises Inspired by the Teachings of Joseph Pilates, Elisabeth paid a visit to the Ledragomma factory (the original manufacturer of the Gymnastik Ball), which happened to be located near Udine. A business meeting with the owner turned into a life-altering dinner of frico and cjalsòns.
Elisabeth returned to Friuli several more times before the idea for a book was formulated. She subsequently spent the next five years traveling, researching, recipe-testing, and finally, shooting the food photographs. Flavors of Friuli has thus evolved as a synthesis of her greatest passions: cooking, writing, photography—and most of all, Italy.
Elisabeth lives in San Francisco with her husband, Michael, and son, David.