Mark Bitterman

The Meadow, Bitterman Salt Co.

Mark Bitterman is a leading expert on culinary salt, chocolate, and cocktail bitters. His forthcoming book, Bitterman’s Field Guide to Bitters & Amari (Andrews McMeel; October 27, 2015), is the most comprehensive handbook available on selecting, understanding, mixing, and cooking with bitters, for everyone from professional bartenders and chefs to casual entertainers and home cooks.

Mark Bitterman’s pursuit of bitters started as a child with a surreptitious sip at a family cocktail party. The spicy-bitter-sweet-stinging taste sparked a lifelong wanderlust for flavor. Decades later Bitterman opened The Meadow and began selling the largest selection of bitters in the world at all three locations. A renowned ingredient expert, Bitterman won a James Beard Award for his first book, Salted, and his second book, Salt Block Cooking, again pioneered new concepts in cooking, leading the charge into the culinary adventure of cooking on salt blocks.

Mark has been featured in the New York Times, Splendid Table, Food & Wine, Bizarre Foods, and countless other media. It has been speculated that Bitterman’s family name, which has Ashkenazic roots in Bulgaria, proves that bitters is in his DNA. Mark is the owner of the specialty store, The Meadow, with locations in Portland, OR and New York City. The shops carry the largest selection of artisan salt and cocktail bitters in the world, and perhaps the largest curated selection of chocolate bars.