ABOUT SALT & WIND
Hello, Ciao, Hola, Grüezi, Aloha, Salut!
Salt & Wind is a food and travel publication founded in 2014 by Aida Mollenkamp, a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, television host, and luxury travel expert.
With more than 1,000 published articles, including nearly 600 original recipes, we help curious travelers and home cooks explore the world through its food, culture, and local traditions. Our editorial team combines professional culinary expertise with firsthand destination research to create practical travel guides, tested recipes, and informed recommendations.
Our approach comes from a simple belief: the best part of going somewhere is the part you can’t get anywhere else. We believe travel should connect you with the people, places, and traditions that make a destination distinctive.
Our team has lived, worked, and traveled extensively throughout California, Hawaiʻi, Italy, France, Switzerland, Mexico, Spain, and beyond. We regularly return to these destinations to research hotels, restaurants, regional ingredients, cultural experiences, and the people behind them.
Whether you’re planning a trip, learning about a regional food tradition, or cooking something inspired by your travels, Salt & Wind helps you discover more of the world—and bring a little of it home
What Is Salt & Wind?
Salt & Wind is an independent food and travel publication that combines professionally tested recipes, firsthand destination guides, and practical advice from experienced culinary and travel professionals.
Founded in 2014, the publication has grown into a library of more than 1,000 articles covering regional cuisines, culinary traditions, destinations, hotels, restaurants, and travel planning.
Our editorial work draws on the same professional expertise and local relationships that support Salt & Wind Travel, our bespoke luxury travel planning business.
How Is Salt & Wind Different?
Our recommendations come from firsthand research, professional experience, and longstanding relationships—not just a collection of suggestions from the internet.
We know the places we cover. Our team includes people who have lived and worked in our core destinations and who return regularly to deepen their knowledge. We research the details that matter, from neighborhoods and hotels to regional food traditions and practical logistics.
We know food professionally. Founder Aida Mollenkamp trained at Le Cordon Bleu Paris, led the professional test kitchen at CHOW Magazine, and has developed more than 1,500 original recipes throughout her career. Our recipes reflect professional culinary techniques adapted for home cooks.
We believe context matters. Instead of simply listing what to see or eat, we explain why an experience matters, who it’s for, and how it connects to local culture.
We value thoughtful travel. We champion slower itineraries, independent businesses, meaningful cultural exchange, and tourism that respects the communities people visit.
What Is Salt & Wind?
Salt & Wind is an independent food and travel publication that combines professionally tested recipes, firsthand destination guides, and practical advice from experienced culinary and travel professionals.
Founded in 2014, the publication has grown into a library of more than 1,000 articles covering regional cuisines, culinary traditions, destinations, hotels, restaurants, and travel planning.
Our editorial work draws on the same professional expertise and local relationships that support Salt & Wind Travel, our bespoke luxury travel planning business.
Salt & Wind Travel: Our Bespoke Travel Planning Business
Salt & Wind Travel is a California-based luxury travel planning company that specializes in personalized, five-star journeys rooted in food, culture, and local connection.
Led by founder and CEO Aida Mollenkamp and Chief Operating Officer Chris Kalima, the company combines firsthand destination research, professional hospitality experience, and longstanding relationships with local experts.
Our travel planners design custom itineraries tailored to each client’s interests, pace, and priorities, coordinating accommodations, transportation, private guides, culinary experiences, restaurant reservations, and other travel details.
While Salt & Wind provides free editorial resources for independent travelers and home cooks, Salt & Wind Travel offers hands-on planning for travelers who want an expert to create and coordinate their journey.
Where to Start
New to Salt & Wind? Here are a few ways to explore:
- Travel Guides: Firsthand destination guides, practical travel advice, and recommendations for where to stay, what to eat, and what to experience.
- Recipes: Nearly 600 recipes inspired by our travels, developed with professional culinary knowledge and tested for home cooks.
- Travel Tips: Advice on itineraries, transportation, packing, timing, and navigating destinations.
- Luxury Travel Planning: Personalized travel planning for travelers seeking expert guidance and exceptional experiences.
Our Editorial Standards
Salt & Wind publishes food and travel content grounded in professional expertise, firsthand research, and a commitment to useful, accurate information.
Destination research: Our travel guides draw on repeat visits, time spent living and working in destinations, professional travel planning experience, and relationships with local specialists. We aim to explain not just what we recommend, but why.
Recipe development: We develop and test our recipes using professional culinary methods. Founder Aida Mollenkamp has more than two decades of recipe development experience and previously oversaw the CHOW Magazine test kitchen. We prioritize clear instructions, dependable results, and practical guidance for home cooks.
Accuracy and updates: Travel details change. We review and update recommendations as new information becomes available, drawing on firsthand research and reliable local sources.
Editorial independence: We occasionally work with tourism organizations, agricultural groups, and brands on sponsored projects. We disclose these collaborations, and our recommendations are guided by editorial relevance, experience, and usefulness to readers.
Meet the Team Behind Salt & Wind
Our editorial work brings together culinary professionals, experienced travel planners, writers, filmmakers, and destination specialists. Each contributes knowledge developed through professional work and firsthand experience.
Aida Mollenkamp
Founder, Editor, and Lead Travel Advisor
California · Hawaiʻi · Italy · France · Mexico · Spain · Portugal ·
Aida Mollenkamp is a food and travel expert, cookbook author, television host, and founder and CEO of Salt & Wind Travel. With more than two decades of experience in culinary media, hospitality, and destination research, she brings professional expertise and firsthand knowledge to Salt & Wind’s original recipes, travel guides, and editorial coverage.
A graduate of Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration and Le Cordon Bleu Paris, Aida previously served as Food Editor at CHOW Magazine, where she oversaw the professional test kitchen. She has developed more than 1,500 original recipes, authored Keys to the Kitchen, and hosted television shows including Ask Aida on Food Network, FoodCrafters on Cooking Channel, In the Pantry on Yahoo!, and Off Menu on Tastemade. She continues to develop recipes and appear on television.
Her travel expertise comes from years living in California, New York, Paris, and Florence, plus extensive firsthand research throughout California, Hawaiʻi, Italy, and France. As a Mammoth Lakes resident and Chamber of Commerce member, she advocates for thoughtful travel that supports local businesses and communities.
Aida founded Salt & Wind Travel in 2015, bringing her culinary and hospitality background into bespoke luxury travel planning. Today, her work connects the editorial site’s recipes, destination guides, and practical travel advice with the company’s firsthand destination expertise.
Rachel Vermiglio Smith
Luxury Travel Advisor & Editorial Contributor
France · Italy · Switzerland
Rachel Vermiglio Smith is a luxury travel planner and destination contributor at Salt & Wind, specializing in Italy, France, and Switzerland. Having lived in Italy for more than a decade, she brings firsthand knowledge of European culture, regional cuisine, art, and everyday life to her travel guides and destination reporting.
Rachel holds a BA in Italian Renaissance Art from Scuola Lorenzo de’ Medici in Florence, a degree in Italian Language and Literature, and a Master’s in Art History from Arizona State University. Since 2014, she has written about Italian culture and lifestyle, combining academic knowledge with extensive time spent exploring the country.
Her editorial work focuses particularly on Italy and France, helping readers discover everything from neighborhood trattorias and regional food traditions to cultural landmarks and lesser-known destinations. She also draws on extensive travel throughout Switzerland, bringing a practical understanding of how to explore these regions thoughtfully.
As a travel planner with Salt & Wind Travel, Rachel designs bespoke journeys through Italy, France, and Switzerland, with particular expertise in family travel, longer stays, and culturally immersive experiences. Her firsthand research and local relationships inform both her writing and her clients’ itineraries.
Rachel splits her time between Arizona and Tuscany with her family. Follow her travels and discoveries at The Italianista.
Kristen Kellogg
Travel & Video Contributor
California · Hawaiʻi · France · Italy · Japan · Australia · Greece · Switzerland
Kristen Kellogg is a filmmaker, digital storyteller, and travel expert who has collaborated with Salt & Wind since 2018. She currently contributes video content and supports client consultations and sales for Salt & Wind Travel.
Her creative work includes projects for HotelTonight, Rosetta Stone, Visit California, the Swiss Tourism Board, and Visit Los Cabos. With a background in high-end hospitality, food and beverage operations, and adventure travel, she brings an outdoor-forward, sustainability-minded perspective to her storytelling.
Kristen has lived in California and Mexico and traveled extensively through Hawaiʻi, Italy, France, and Switzerland. Among her favorite discoveries are the small towns of Italy’s Ligurian Riviera, the lesser-known wine regions around California’s Santa Ynez Valley, and Switzerland’s mountain town of Andermatt.
She is also a certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach and has pursued advanced studies in functional medicine. Kristen splits her time between the United States and Todos Santos, Mexico.
Ligaya Malones
Hawai‘i, Mexico & California Travel Expert
Ligaya Malones is a food and travel writer raised on Kaua‘i and now based in San Diego. Her work has appeared in Condé Nast Traveler, Food52, Lonely Planet, and other leading publications.
At Salt & Wind, Ligaya covers Hawai‘i, Mexico, and California, bringing cultural nuance, local insight, and a strong understanding of evolving food and travel trends—particularly in places she knows firsthand.
Nora Poulard
France Wine & Travel Expert
Nora Poulard founded Odyssée, an initiative that translates her extensive international background into bespoke culinary journeys.
Nora Poulard brings deep international experience in wine, food, and hospitality to her editorial work at Salt & Wind. She has lived throughout France and worked across major wine regions in France, Spain, Mexico, and the United States, including Paso Robles.
With formal training in wine and spirits, wine marketing, and communication, Nora contributes stories rooted in terroir, producers, and regional traditions. Now based in Hyères, she offers readers a nuanced perspective on French wine and food culture, particularly along the Mediterranean coast.
Christopher Kalima
Chief Operating Officer
Chris Kalima is the Chief Operating Officer of Salt & Wind Travel. A Harvey Mudd College graduate with professional experience in Silicon Valley, he oversees the company’s technology and operations and built its custom destination knowledge base and sales channels.
A Native Hawaiian raised on Oʻahu, Chris experienced tourism’s benefits and challenges firsthand. That perspective informs his commitment to cultural preservation, environmental responsibility, and travel that benefits local communities.
An avid skier, backcountry skier, surfer, bodysurfer, and runner, Chris is also a Six Star Finisher of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, having completed all six original major marathons. His passion for the outdoors shapes his appreciation for active travel and exploring destinations beyond the usual tourist circuit. His curiosity about other cultures also fuels his interest in learning languages, including German, French, and Italian.
Chris works alongside his wife, Salt & Wind founder and CEO Aida Mollenkamp, supporting the company’s operations and its commitment to thoughtful, culturally connected travel.
Who Is Salt & Wind For?
Salt & Wind is for curious travelers and home cooks who believe food is one of the best ways to understand a place.
Our travel guides are for people who value local culture, thoughtful pacing, and recommendations grounded in real experience. Our recipes are for home cooks who want dependable results, seasonal ingredients, and the opportunity to explore regional flavors in their own kitchens.
Whether you’re an independent traveler researching your next destination, a food lover discovering a new cuisine, or someone seeking expert help planning a special journey, we want to help you make more informed, meaningful choices.
Write for Salt & Wind
We’re interested in thoughtful, well-researched stories about food, travel, regional culture, agriculture, hospitality, and the people who make destinations distinctive.
Writers, photographers, and recipe developers can review our editorial guidelines and send relevant pitches to edit@saltandwind.com.
Press & Media
The Salt & Wind Travel team has been featured in various media outlets, including television, magazines, and websites such as Brides, Condé Nast Traveler, National Geographic, Shape, Sunset Magazine, Travel + Leisure, TripSavvy, Well + Good, and Yahoo.
For expert commentary, interviews, media inquiries, and partnerships, visit our contact page.
Advertising, Affiliate Links & Editorial Disclosure
Salt & Wind is an independent food and travel publication supported by display advertising, affiliate partnerships, and select sponsored collaborations with food, travel, hospitality, and lifestyle brands.
Some pages contain advertisements or affiliate links, which may earn us a commission when readers make a purchase or booking. We also occasionally create sponsored content, which we identify with appropriate disclosures.
Our editorial recommendations are guided by professional expertise, firsthand experience, and relevance to our readers. Advertising and commercial relationships do not automatically determine which destinations, products, or experiences we recommend.
Your Privacy Matters
Like many digital publications, Salt & Wind uses cookies and other technologies to operate the website, understand readership, and support advertising. Some advertising and analytics partners may collect information as described in our Privacy Policy.
For details about data collection, cookies, advertising partners, and your privacy choices, please review our Privacy Policy.