“I’ve always been interested in food, but I didn’t initially see it as a formal career path. I majored in musical theater after all,” chef and author Colu Henry muses. Henry’s winding career history has led to the publication of her third cookbook, Better at Home: Recipes for Big Nights In, which releases on March 10, 2026.
Before and after college, she worked in hospitality to make ends meet. When she moved to New York City, her path shifted into communications, where she worked in fashion PR. Over time, she found herself increasingly drawn back to food and restaurants. Eventually, Henry transitioned to working as a restaurant publicist, where she spent a great deal of time in professional kitchens alongside some of the world’s greatest chefs.
“I edited their recipes, produced photo and television shoots, and absorbed an enormous amount simply by being so close to the work,” she shares. “When I moved into publishing, it finally clicked that I could take everything I had been doing for other people and do it for myself. That light bulb moment was what pushed me to pursue food as my own creative and professional path.”
Better at home
Like Henry’s past cookbooks, Better at Home reflects where she is in her life at the moment. Her previous years of living in the city and going out constantly no longer mirror how she cooks or how she and her friends gather. “I think of my books as snapshots in time – who I’m cooking for, what’s happening around the table, and the stories that naturally unfold there.”
Henry’s life is currently split between Hudson, NY, and Nova Scotia, Canada, where she and her husband are spending their summers restoring a farmhouse. Regardless of where she is and what she’s doing, however, Henry’s life always revolves around gathering family and friends at the table.
“The recipes in Better at Home grew directly out of a philosophy that food should feel generous, unfussy, and meaningful wherever you are.”
At this point in Henry’s career, she says that writing recipes is actually the easiest part of the process. “There’s a rhythm to it. It’s almost formulaic in the best way, like a painter mixing colors they know well,” she shares. The real challenge, Henry says, is development. Throughout the process, she has to ask herself the tough questions, such as, “Why does this recipe matter?,” “Is it special enough to live in a printed book?,” and “What separates it from other versions that already exist?”
“Everything has been done before, so the work is in finding a point of view – something that makes the recipe feel intentional, personal, and truly my own. That’s where most of the effort falls,” she says. “The recipes themselves are all elegant, relatively easy, and more often than not, skew Italian-American. I can’t help it – it’s in my DNA! Oh, and I worked with my husband on this book – a first!”
How environment inspires cooking
“My life is beautiful and full and busy, but it doesn’t look the same way it once did,” she says. “The truth is, I don’t want to be out every night of the week anymore. I much prefer the comfort of my own home (or someone else’s) to cook or be cooked for. I want to be in charge of the guest list, the menu, the music, and the overall vibe. This also changes based on where we are.”
When Henry and her husband are in Hudson, for example, they frequently wander back and forth between friends’ homes. In Nova Scotia, however, Henry cooks more simply. She packs up much of her pantry before they make the 11-hour drive east to the Maritimes for the summer. What does she bring with her? Ingredients that are hard to come by, such as Diamond Crystal kosher salt and grated Locatelli pecorino cheese.
Their home in Nova Scotia is in a very rural area, and while she can drive up the road to get meat from a local farm or to the lobster pound, the closest grocery store is a 30-minute drive away. She sources much of her produce from nearby farms, but instead of having the option of eight or ten varieties of tomatoes and peppers, she typically only has the choice between two.
“My cooking is more straightforward but no less delicious. I find it inspiring to cook within constraints.”
Cooking is caring
For Henry, cooking is the purest act of nurturing and the “most instinctive way” she knows how to show care for others. “If I love you, I will cook for you. I want people to feel tucked in and truly seen. Taking the time to prepare someone something to eat is an elemental way of saying, ‘I care about you,’” she says.
Likewise, working and educating within the culinary industry allows Henry to share her philosophy that cooking doesn’t have to be complicated or intimidating to be meaningful. “When someone feels more confident in the kitchen or uses food to connect more deeply with the people around them – that’s the win,” she says.
This philosophy is one of the things that Henry is most excited for readers to take away from Better at Home. “I’m genuinely excited to share stories, recipes, and imagery from our time in Nova Scotia,” she shares. “People still don’t really know where it is on a map, so there is a bit of mystery there. My husband and our friend Martin took the photographs for the book as well, and to be able to share some of their magic with the world feels really good. We all need more beauty in our lives.” •
Learn more about Colu Henry on her website coluhenry.com, sign up for her bi-weekly Substack newsletter coluhenry.substack.com, and visit the Abrams Books website to pre-order a copy of Better at Home: Recipes for Big Nights In.
