After beginning his career working for a well-known publishing company in New York, Scottish-born Lewis Esson is now based in London, where he specialises in writing and editing cookery books, and is a member of the Guild of Food Writers. In his capacity as a writer, he has been very successful with the books: Mouthwatering Mediterranean, Quick Cuisine (which was re-released in paperback as The Quick Cook) and Fast Food for Friends, co-written with Henrietta Green and Marie-Pierre Moine. Lewis acts as a regular contributor to the BBC Good Food Magazine and has contributed to several of their spin-off books, including Food That's Good For You, Good Food for Friends and Good Fresh Food Fast. He was also a contributing editor on The Good Cook's Encyclopaedia and the British edition of Larousse Pratique.

Lewis has worked as project-manager, editor and ghostwriter on many high profile and award-winning cookery projects, including titles by Henrietta Green, Anne Willan, Antonio Carluccio, Marilyn Grenville, Raymond Blanc and Gary Rhodes. Projects that he has managed have won the Glenfiddich award, the James Beard award and the Andre Simon award, and many others have received nominations.