Living the dink life!

Hi! I’m Alicia, founder of Dink Cuisine, Distilled Spices and America’s first ALA-certified cookbook library - Nice Nice Bite. Thanks for visiting! DINK is slang for Dual Income No Kids. My husband’s name is Mark. Everyone calls him Shev, except me. This is what we look like:

We were never into having kids – not that we weren’t open to the possibility. It just never felt comfortable for us. It worked out pretty well! We met in San Jose. I graduated from law school in 1997. We were married in 2000. I fell into sales shortly before then, did the whole IPO thing, and worked my way up the corporate ladder. We moved to Las Vegas, back to the Bay Area, then Arizona, then San Diego.

Dink Cuisine was born on November 27, 2017, when I pulled the trigger and reserved dinkcuisine.com as a domain. We were living in a swanky mid-rise condo in the Marina District of Downtown San Diego, overlooking the harbor. 1140 square feet; $900 HOA dues – the California dream, right? Well, it was for 9.5 years. My original Dink Cuisine concept was urban, teeny kitchen, space for barely the essentials. Then, we decided to move back to Las Vegas. We built a beautiful home with a spacious kitchen… But guess what? We’re still dinks!

As far back as I can remember, Mark was the creative one and I was the corporate one. All of the paintings in our home are his creations. He put out an album in 1987. He’s a drummer and a guitarist. He’s written dozens of songs. And he works full-time. Me? I was nick-named Mogul a few years back - solid professional credentials. But I didn’t have a “thing”. I’d sell, close, and basically bide my time until I could drink and eat again with Mark.

But one day, my perception changed. I styled our homes. I’m into fashion. And I cook - pretty well. Wait -- I’m creative!?

So on September 14, 2020, just shy of our 20th wedding anniversary, I went all in and got to work on revising my concept for Dink Cuisine. I decided to document some of my favorite recipes – and test new ones!

My recipes are generally written for two because I’ve grown tired of wasting food. And it helps me control our portions. And it allows me to cook more, which I now realize is my “thing”.

I have now authored three cookbooks, rebranded as a DINK lifestyle expert, launched my own brand of spirit-infused spice blends and rallied some of the best chefs in the country to support my latest project, Nice Nice Bite - America’s first non-profit, self-service cookbook lending library.

Enough about me - how about you?? Drop me a line and let me know how I can help you!