Leslie Pariseau is a writer and editor in New Orleans. She's written for The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, GQ, The Intercept, The Ringer, Oxford American, Jacobin, and Condé Nast Traveler among others. A co-founder of and executive producer for creative production studio, Animals & Co., she develops concepts for brands, television, and documentaries, including the Webby nominated “Hella Black” for Facebook and the Clio winning “Tumbleweeds with Killer Mike” for Vice. She has created content and directed editorial for clients such as Estée Lauder Companies, the NBA, HBO, PDQ, Zitti, Bacardi Limited, Pernod-Ricard, Diageo, Constellation Brands, and more.
In 2013, in collaboration with Penguin-Random House, Leslie co-founded PUNCH, an award-winning web magazine about the culture of drinking. PUNCH was acquired by Vox in 2021. She is a former editor for both TASTE and Saveur, and co-author of SPRITZ. A ghostwriter, her most recent book You Owe You by Eric Thomas, is a New York Times, LA Times, and Amazon bestseller. She is a three-time James Beard Award nominee, holds an MFA in fiction from Hunter College, and teaches creative writing workshops on occasion.
Leslie owns Patron Saint, a wine shop + bar, and St. Pizza, a pizzeria + tavern in the Lower Garden District with her husband Tony Biancosino.