Although I'm currently a food, beverage, and travel writer, I was a picky eater, as my parents like to remind me. My love affair with food started in my teens with PBS cooking shows, a subscription to Gourmet magazine, and joining mom in the kitchen. Traveling really expanded my culinary horizons. When I was 22, I spent three months in Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific. Memorable dishes included Moreton Bay Bugs (slipper lobsters) in Sydney, kokoda and kava in Fiji, poisson cru in Tahiti, meat pies and pavlova in New Zealand, and kalua pua'a and lomi lomi in Hawaii. Since then, I've also traveled to Mexico, France, England, Ireland, and Greece, and have a (first!) trip to Italy planned next year.

My husband and I lived in downtown Boston before moving to Arizona in 2008. While I miss Boston, and especially the restaurants (our condo at Harbor Towers was next to the Aquarium on Boston Harbor and we could walk to Chinatown and the North End), I’ve fallen in love with Phoenix and our culinary scene here. From 2008 to 2015, I was the food and beverage writer for AZ Wine Lifestyle magazine. When it was sold in 2015, I became a freelance writer, but also wanted an outlet to continue supporting our amazing talent here in Arizona. Thus, WriteOnRubee.com was launched to document the places and people I love.

And a common question - why do I use Rubee? It stems from my many years as a regular in the early days of a food board called Chowhound.com, where Rubee was the name I chose for posting. I also used it for social media, and I was advised to keep it when starting the website. I am not a food critic, so this site is to document my positive experiences. My intent is to showcase Arizona's fabulous culinary, beverage, and agricultural riches and the people behind them, so I just hope I continue to do them justice!

Experience

Inducted into the Arizona Culinary Hall of Fame in 2016 as Food Writer of The Year
Winner of Favorite Local Food Website 2016 and 2017: Arizona Foothills Magazine
Winner of Best Food Feed on Instagram 2017: Arizona Foothills Magazine
Winner of Best Food Blog 2017: Phoenix Magazine Best of our Valley
One of 10 Phoenix Food Instagram Accounts Guaranteed to Make You Hungry on VisitPhoenix.com
Recommended as a 2017 travel resource in San Diego Magazine
Featured in Arizona Foothills Magazine December 2016 issue: A Day in the Life of Christina Barrueta
Guest contributor for ABC15 Arizona, travel website Mike's Road Trip, and AZLatinos.com
Recognized as a 2010 Phoenix New Times Valley Tastemaker
Profiled in 2011 for Phoenix New Times Christina Barrueta's Perfect Food Day
2008-2015: Writer for Arizona Wine Lifestyle Rubee's Restaurant Spotlight, Happy Hour Highlights and Cocktail Corner. http://azwinelifestyle.com/author/christina-barrueta/

Freelance food, beverage, and travel writer for local and national online and print publications such as Phoenix Home & Garden, Arizona Foothills Magazine, Scottsdale Convention & Visitors BureauVisitors Guide and ExperienceScottsdale.com, luxury resort publication Montage Magazine, Four Seasons Resort Magazine, the Arizona Republic's Who's Who in Business, contributor to the book Where to Eat Pizza.

Cocktail and culinary judge for events such as Taste of the Nation, Dish It Out, the Mac n' Cheese Throwdown, the Slider Throwdown, the Scottsdale Culinary Festival Burger Battle, Arizona Hemophilia Association fundraiser My Nana's Best Tasting Salsa Challenge, United States Bartending Guild (USBG) competitions, the Devour Phoenix annual Bartending Competition, Sriracha Festival cocktail competition, the Chile Pepper Festival cocktail competition, the Marriott Bourbon Battle, Bloody Mary Mix Down at the AZ Hot Sauce Expo, Arizona Cocktail Week Last Slinger Standing preliminaries, and the Hennessy Bartender Competition.

Guest on 3TV CBS 5 | Good Morning Arizona.
Guest on 12 News NBC Arizona Midday
Guest on My AZ Radio Now, Arizona Cocktail Hour, Restaurant Live AZ and Into the Soup
My winning Spanish burger was featured on the menu at Proof at the Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale Troon North
Order my namesake Write On Ruby cocktail at Craft 64.
Speaker on the 2015 panel for the Southern Arizona chapter of the Public Relations Society of America
Invited as a participant in The Society of Professional Journalists Valley of the Sun Publicity Summit 2015, 2016, 2017

A guest on Good Morning Arizona (click photo below):

Click on photos to read articles:

The Roca brothers of Celler de Can Roca (2013 & 2015 Best Restaurant in the World) - Executive Chef Joan, Pastry Chef Jordi, and Sommelier Josep - at the Phoenix dinner on the El Celler de Can Roca & BBVA Tour. (photo by Debby Wolvos)