About Us

OK, so, the name thing – Friends have long converted Eben, my given name, to many a variant, among the stickiest is Urban, or Urb for short. My partner in crime, Monica got saddled with Monique by me. Said friends converted our unit to Urb and Monique, and There ya go, UrbanMonique. Goofy? Yup, and perfectly in keeping with our vibe.

Our aim here is to fix some of the most heinous stuff one finds looking for good recipes out there in the ether – first and foremost, recipes that turn out nothing like they should, either because the recipe itself is flawed, or the called out techniques and processes are, or both – Any iteration of that really sucks if you’re a home cook. What you want is to cook what you see and read, and have it work, first time and every time.

Our promise to you is that what you’ll find here does work. Our recipes are tried and true, and I pride myself on writing clear, concise directions that make sense.

I’ve spent roughly 15 years cooking for a living, and manage operations for a food biz to this day. I’m solid on quite a few cuisines and infinitely curious – what that means to you is that I do my homework so that you don’t have to – I’ll give you the inspiration and the starting point, from there, you just need to enjoy and make it yours.

Monica isn’t formally trained, but cooks with a fine instinctive touch, great imagination, and passion – she’s my muse and my touchstone, and she’s always the heart and soul behind our garden.

The culinary influences you’ll find here are predominantly French, Mexican, Italian and American Traditional, but you’ll find smatterings of Spanish, Asian, Middle Eastern and North African as well.

We’re here to help you expand the realm of what you can do with great food. We love meeting new folks, and through this blog, we’ve made friends around the world. If you’re new here, chime in – we’d love to get to know you.