Alicia Maher

Alicia Maher is the author of Delicious El Salvador, which won Gourmand’s Best First Cookbook award in 2014. She was born and raised in El Salvador and has made California her home since 1986. She teaches cooking classes privately, and at Whole Foods Markets in Los Angeles. Known as “El Salvador's Culinary Ambassador,” she will soon launch the Spanish edition of Delicious El Salvador, and is working on her second Salvadoran cookbook. She lives in California with her husband, Joseph Maher, and their three sons.

Ana Patuleia Ortins

Ana Patuleia Ortins is a culinary instructor and chef, and author of two cookbooks, Portuguese Homestyle Cooking and Authentic Portuguese Cooking. She is a first-generation descendant of Portuguese immigrants from the small town of Galveias in the Alto Alentejo province of Portugal. She lives in Massachusetts.

Ana Sofía Peláez

Ana Sofía Peláez is a Miami-based food writer covering the spectrum of Latin American cuisine on her blog, Hungry Sofia. The site has been featured by InStyle and Food 52, and was nominated by Saveur as one of the best regional cuisine blogs of 2012. Her work has appeared in Smithsonian Journeys magazine and NBCNews.com, among other national outlets. Her first cookbook, The Cuban Table (St. Martin’s Press) was nominated for a James Beard Award in 2015.

Ana Sortun

Ana Sortun graduated from La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine de Paris and opened her restaurant, Oleana, in 2001, immediately drawing rave reviews from the New York Times. She was named Best Chef in the Northeast by the James Beard Foundation in 2005, and went on to open Sofra Bakery and Café. She is the author of Spice: Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean and, most recently, Soframiz: Vibrant Middle Eastern Recipes from Sofra Bakery and Café (with Maura Kilpatrick).

Anita Jaisinghani

Anita Jaisinghani is of Sindhi descent, and was born and raised in Gujarat, India. She came to the US in the 1990s by way of Canada. She owned and operated Indika restaurant in Houston, Texas, for 16 years and is now the chef and owner of Pondicheri, an India-inspired café focusing on street and home cooking with two locations in New York City and Houston, Texas.

Anita Lo

Anita Lo is a first-generation Chinese-American chef and restaurateur, formerly of the highly acclaimed Annisa restaurant in New York City. She is the author of Cooking without Borders. Her second cookbook will be published in the fall of 2018.

April Bloomfield

April Bloomfield is executive chef and co-owner of The Spotted Pig, The Breslin Bar & Dining Room, The John Dory Oyster Bar, Tosca Cafe, Salvation Taco, White Gold Butchers, and most recently, The Hearth & Hound in Los Angeles, California. She won the 2014 James Beard Award for Best Chef, New York City, and was nominated for an Emmy for cohosting the second season of the PBS show Mind of a Chef. She is author of A Girl and Her Pig and A Girl and Her Greens. A native of Birmingham, England, she lives in New York City.

Ariane Daguin

Recognized as one of the mothers of modern food culture, Ariane Daguin is the founder, owner, and CEO of D’Artagnan, the leading purveyor of sustainable, humanely-raised meats, charcuterie, foie gras, and mushrooms in the United States. Since D’Artagnan’s founding in 1985, Ariane has emerged as a culinary innovator among America’s top chefs, partnering with small family farms dedicated to natural production of the finest quality and healthiest meat, game, and poultry. A pioneer in the farm-to-table movement, Ariane introduced the first organic, free-range chicken years before the USDA allowed the word “organic” on the label. Ariane continues to influence and inspire the food industry by introducing new products, creating new animal breeds, and implementing innovative and ecologically responsible methods of production.

Barbara Abdeni Massaad

Barbara Abdeni Massaad is a food writer, TV host, and cookbook author. Born in Beirut, Lebanon, she moved to Florida at a young age, gaining her first culinary experience helping her father in their family-owned Lebanese restaurant, Kebabs and Things. She went on to train with renowned chefs at Lebanese, Italian, and French restaurants. Her first cookbook, Man'oushé: Inside the Lebanese Street-Corner Bakery, won The Lebanese Academy of Gastronomy Award in 2009. Her book Soup for Syria: Recipes to Celebrate Our Shared Humanity gathered recipes from prominent chefs to help raise funds for food and medical relief efforts for Syrian refugees. Her latest book, Mouneh: Preserving Foods for the Lebanese Pantry (Interlink, 2017) continues her quest to discover and preserve Lebanese culinary heritage. She is a founding member of Slow Food Beirut and a member of Les Ambassadeurs du Pain.

Bonnie Morales

Bonnie Morales (née Frumkin) grew up in Chicago in a large Belarusian family. She trained at the Culinary Institute of America, honing her skills in Michelin-starred restaurants, including Tru, where she met her future husband and business partner, Israel Morales. In 2014, the Morales’ opened Kachka, in Portland, Oregon. Kachka has received accolades from Bon Appétit, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Elle, and Food & Wine. Eater National included Kachka in their “Best Restaurants in America” in 2015 and 2016. Bonnie was named one of Tasting Table’s “New Originals,” and a “Next Generation Chef” by Bon Appétit in 2017. The restaurant recently launched a craft spirits line, and the Morales’ first cookbook, Kachka: A Return to Russian Cooking (Flatiron Books), was published in November 2017.

Brenda Abdelall

Brenda Abdelall is an Egyptian-American, born and raised in the culturally diverse city of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Her love for Egyptian food grew each summer during her childhood visits to Egypt, which included visits to Alexandrian coastal cities, rural villages, and the growing metropolis of Al Mansoura. After watching her grandmother bake fresh bread, and her aunts roll grape leaves with perfection, Brenda has found the kitchen to be her creative outlet. She runs an award-winning Middle Eastern food blog, midEATS, and teaches Middle Eastern cooking classes in Northern Virginia.

Cara Stadler

Cara Stadler is the chef and owner of Tao Yuan Restaurant and Bao Bao Dumpling House in Brunswick and Portland, Maine. Her cooking earned her a James Beard Award nomination in the category of Rising Star Chef, and Food & Wine named her Best New Chef in 2014. She is from Harvard, Massachusetts, and has lived in Paris, Philadelphia, Berkeley, Shanghai, Singapore, and Beijing. Her food is the culmination of her heritage and travels.

Carla Capalbo

Carla Capalbo is a freelance journalist, photographer, and author of fourteen books on food and wine. Her latest book Tasting Georgia: A Food and Wine Journey in the Caucasus was published in 2017. Collio: Fine Wines and Foods from Italy’s Northeast won a prestigious André Simon Award; and her photography has won several awards, including from the IACP’s Culinary Trust. She is closely linked to Slow Food, and a member of the Guild of Food Writers and Circle of Wine Writers.

Cathal Armstrong

A native of Dublin, Ireland, Cathal Armstrong is the chef and owner of Restaurant Eve, the flagship among his chain of Alexandria, Virginia, establishments, where he balances a commitment to locally sourced, fresh ingredients with a fine-dining experience. He has been recognized by the James Beard Foundation with nominations for Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic in 2011, 2012, and 2013. Food & Wine included him among their “10 Best New Chefs” in 2006, and their “50 Hall of Fame Best New Chefs.” He has also been recognized for his contributions to the local food movement and for his work to preserve and protect the environment. Under President Obama’s Winning the Future initiative, the White House honored him as a “Champion of Change.” He is author of My Irish Table: Recipes from the Homeland and Restaurant Eve.

Charles Phan

Charles Phan is the inventor of modern Vietnamese cuisine in America and executive chef and owner of the Slanted Door family of restaurants. Born in Da Lat, Vietnam, the Phan family relocated just before the fall of Saigon in 1975, spending two years in Guam before settling in San Francisco. Charles opened his first restaurant, The Slanted Door, in 1995. In 2014, the restaurant was named Outstanding Restaurant by the James Beard Foundation. His current restaurants in San Francisco are Out the Door, OTD, and Hard Water. Upcoming projects are Rice and Bones at Wurster Hall UC Berkeley, and The Slanted Door in other urban areas. Charles has been featured on Food Network’s Iron Chef America and Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything. In 2004, he won the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef, California. He is author of two cookbooks, Vietnamese Home Cooking, and The Slanted Door, both winning IACP cookbook awards. He is a leader in the San Francisco food community and has participated in countless charitable events.

Claus Meyer

Claus Meyer is the initiator of the New Nordic Cuisine movement, co-founder of the Nordic Food Lab, and the now legendary Noma. Claus has hosted several Danish and international cooking shows and written numerous cookbooks. Believing in food as a driver for social change, he established the Melting Pot Foundation in 2010, which initiated a cooking school project in Danish state prisons; and a cooking school in La Paz, Bolivia, which provides culinary education to impoverished Bolivians and serves as a fine-dining restaurant, GUSTU. This summer, Claus’s newest social project is the Brownsville Community Culinary Center, a culinary school, cafeteria, bakery, and community center. In 2016 he opened Agern and the Great Northern Food Hall in Grand Central Terminal, bringing the culinary concepts, flavors, and ideas rooted in the history and landscapes of Nordic countries to New York City.

Cristina Martinez

Cristina Martinez crossed the desert to come and make a career in the United States. As an undocumented female chef and restaurateur, she challenges gender stereotypes and raises awareness for the plight of undocumented workers through her restaurant, El Compadre, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 2016, Bon Appétit named her first restaurant, South Philly Barbacoa (now closed), in the top 10 of their “Best New Restaurants in America.” Cristina was born into a family of barbacoieros in Capulhuac, Mexico, and was raised cooking in the family business. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband, Benjamin.

Curtis Stone

Curtis Stone is a chef, restaurateur, media personality, businessman, and New York Times best-selling author. He gained his twelve years’ culinary training in his native Australia, and in Europe, eight years of which were under renowned chef Marco Pierre White. He currently lives in Los Angeles, California, where he debuted his first solo restaurant, Maude, in Beverly Hills, and partnered with his brother Luke to open Gwen Butcher Shop & Restaurant in Hollywood.

Dalia Mortada

Dalia Mortada is an American journalist of Syrian heritage. She has spent recent years telling stories of Syrians now in the Diaspora through the lens of food, for her special project Savoring Syria. She also hosts dining events for Syrians and their new communities in cities throughout the US and Europe, as a way to break down barriers by breaking bread. She lives in Virginia.

Daniel Boulud

A native of Lyon, France, Daniel Boulud is considered one of America’s leading culinary authorities and one of the most revered French chefs in New York, his home since 1982. Daniel is chef-owner of 14 restaurants around the world, and is best known for his eponymous, exquisitely refined DANIEL on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Daniel is also the author of nine cookbooks and the recipient of numerous awards, including the James Beard Foundation's Outstanding Chef and Outstanding Restaurateur. He has been a generous supporter and co-president of Citymeals-on-Wheels for more than two decades, and is chairman of the ment'or BKB foundation.

David SooHoo

David SooHoo was born into the restaurant life. His father, newly arrived in Sacramento from Canton, China, opened many old-style Cantonese restaurants. In 1985, Chef SooHoo and his family opened the modern and lavish 5-star restaurant Chinois East-West. He was the first Sacramento chef invited to cook and teach at the James Beard House in New York.

Didem Hosgel

Didem Hosgel was raised in a traditional Turkish family where cooking from scratch and preparing food for family members was an ongoing and cherished practice. After moving to the US in 2001, Didem set her roots in Boston and began working for Chef Ana Sortun at the famed Oleana Restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After many years at Oleana, she became chef de cuisine at Sofra Bakery, a Middle Eastern-inspired bakery and cafe. At Sofra, she creates innovative new dishes using fresh, local ingredients, while still honoring her Turkish roots.

Dominique Ansel

Dominique Ansel is a James Beard Award–winning pastry chef and owner of eponymous bakeries in New York, Tokyo, and London, with a forthcoming restaurant opening in Los Angeles in the fall of 2017. He has created some of the most fêted pastries in the world, including the Cronut®, named one of TIME magazine’s “25 Best Inventions of 2013.” For his prolific creativity, he was named the World’s Best Pastry Chef in 2017 by the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards. Food & Wine has called him a “Culinary Van Gogh” while the New York Post coined him “the Willy Wonka of New York.” He was also named Business Insider’s “Most Innovative People Under 40,” one of Crain's “40 under 40,” and was bestowed the prestigious l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole, France’s second-highest honor. Prior to opening his own shop, Dominique served as the executive pastry chef for restaurant DANIEL, when the team earned its coveted third Michelin star and a four-star review from the New York Times.

Einat Admony

Einat Admony is chef and owner of Balaboosta, Bar Bolonat, Taïm, and Kish-Kash in New York City, and author of Balaboosta: Bold Mediterranean Recipes to Feed the People You Love. Einat was born in Israel to a Yemenite father and a Persian mother.

Ejhadji Cisse and Cheikh Cisse

Ejhadji Cisse and Cheikh Cisse are the owners and executive chefs of Ponty Bistro in New York City. The cousins moved to the United States from Senegal in 1995. They entered the restaurant business fourteen years ago and, between them, have worked for internationally renowned chefs, such as Daniel Boulud at DANIEL, Jean-Georges Vongerichten at Vong and Mercer Kitchen, and others. Ponty Bistro fulfilled their dream to own a restaurant, and features a three-star menu of unique African and French cuisine.

Emma Bengtsson

Emma Bengtsson grew up in Falkenberg, Sweden, and became interested in the culinary arts at a young age, thanks to her grandmother. Emma trained at Stockholm’s Hotel and Restaurant School and went on to work at Edsbacka Krog, where she discovered her love of pastry. After working in some of Sweden’s top kitchens, including Restaurant Prinsen and Operakällaren, Emma joined Aquavit in 2010 as pastry chef. In Spring 2014, she became executive chef, garnering a second Michelin star for Aquavit, making her the second female chef in the US to run a two-star kitchen, and the first ever Swedish female chef to do so. She lives in New York.

Enrique Olvera

Enrique Olvera is a leader of Mexico’s new gastronomy, fueled by a constant exploration of Mexico’s ingredients and culinary history. In 2000, at the age of 24, he opened the globally-recognized restaurant, Pujol, in Mexico City. He now also owns four outposts of Eno in Mexico City; Manta, in Los Cabos; and Cosme and Atla in New York City. He is author of Mexico from the Inside Out. Over time, he has created a cosmopolitan cuisine that is modern in approach but anchored by Mexican tradition. He prefers not to categorize his dishes. Instead, it is flavor that drives and guides him. He divides his time between New York and Mexico City.

Hanif Sadr

Hanif Sadr was born in Paris, France, and raised in Tehran, Iran. He is chef and co-founder of Komaaj, a Northern Iranian pop-up restaurant and catering company based in Berkeley, California.

Hari Nayak

Hari Nayak is a chef, cookbook author, restaurateur, and consultant born in Udupi, a small town in South India famous for vegetarian cooking. He has authored six cookbooks and is recognized as a pioneer of modern Indian cuisine and for his vision is to bring Indian culture and cuisine to the forefront of the global culinary map. He lives in New Jersey.

Ignacio Mattos

Ignacio Mattos is co-owner and chef of Estela, Café Altro Paradiso, and Flora Bar at the Met Breuer in New York. He was born in Uruguay and learned to cook in the kitchens of grilling master Francis Mallman and Slow Food legend Alice Waters. Per New York Times critic Pete Wells: “[Ignacio’s] dishes are original and, in their way, simple, and it’s that combination that makes you want to give in to them.” In 2017, Ignacio received his third nomination for the James Beard Award for Best Chef, New York. Ignacio cooks food that is comforting and memorable, reflecting his varied experiences and the cultures of New York City, the city he now calls home.

Ingrid Hoffmann

Colombian-born Ingrid Hoffmann developed a love for cooking as a child, learning from her mother, a Cordon Bleu–trained chef. As a teenager, she worked in her mom’s catering business. Upon moving to Miami, they opened a restaurant together. As host of Top Chef Estrellas on Telemundo, Delicioso on Univision, and Simply Delicioso on the Cooking Channel, Ingrid has become a leading Latin authority on cooking and lifestyle, and her Delicioso brand has become one of the most recognizable, trusted, and entertaining food brands for Hispanic America. Find her at www.ingridhoffmann.com.

Ivan Garcia

Ivan Garcia is chef and owner of Mesa Coyoacan, Zona Rosa, and Guadalupe Inn in Brooklyn. He was born and raised in the Coyoacan neighborhood of Mexico City and moved to New York in 2000, honing his personal style in some of the city’s top restaurants. Ivan holds great reverence for authentic Mexican dishes. His style celebrates his heritage and highlights the diverse flavors and ingredients ubiquitous in Mexican cuisine.

Jesus Delgado

Jesus Delgado is executive chef of Tanta in Chicago, a collaboration with well-known South American Chef Gastón Acurio. Jesus was born and raised in Peru, one of the world’s most diverse and eclectic food cultures. He worked at number of Chinese- and Japanese-influenced restaurants in Lima, before landing at Acurio’s La Mar Cebicheria in 2007 as a line cook. By 2011, Jesus had worked his way up and excelled in the role of ceviche chef, creating a diverse menu of traditional and unexpected fresh fish dishes and other cold plates, cementing his reputation for showcasing Peruvian seafood in distinctive and unexpected ways. He moved to Chicago, Illinois in 2013 to lead Tanta’s kitchen.

Joan Nathan

Joan Nathan is author of eleven cookbooks, including her latest work, King Solomon’s Table: A Culinary Exploration of Jewish Cooking from around the World, released in April 2017 by Alfred P. Knopf. Joan has received numerous awards for her cookbooks, including multiple James Beard Awards and accolades from the International Association of Culinary Professionals. She is a regular contributor to the New York Times and Tablet magazine.

Joanne Chang

Joanne Chang was an honors graduate of Harvard College with a degree in Applied Mathematics and Economics, when she left a career as a management consultant to enter the world of professional cooking. She is the chef and co-owner of Flour Bakery + Café, with seven locations in the Boston area, and Myers + Chang. She is the winner of the James Beard Award for Outstanding Baker, as well as the author of Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe; Flour, too: Indispensable Recipes for the Café’s Most Loved Sweets & Savories; Baking with Less Sugar; and Myers + Chang at Home: Recipes from the Beloved Boston Eatery. She is currently working on her fifth book, Pastry Love.

John Sugimura

John Sugimura is executive chef, concept-brand director, and partner at PinKU Japanese Street Food in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is a second-generation Japanese-American professionally trained sushi chef, whose life-long love of sushi blossomed during time spent in Osaka and Kyoto, Japan. Eating John’s cuisine is like eating in his grandmother’s restaurant in the 1930s. It is the ultimate expression of flavors, colors, and cooking methods, coming together in an authentic experience that is one of a kind.

José Andrés

José Andrés, named one of Time’s “100 Most Influential People” and Outstanding Chef by the James Beard Foundation, is an internationally recognized culinary innovator, author, educator, television personality, humanitarian, and chef/owner of ThinkFoodGroup. A pioneer of Spanish tapas in the United States, he is known for his avant-garde cuisine and his award-winning group of 27 restaurants throughout the country and beyond. His innovative minibar by José Andrés earned two Michelin stars in 2016 and with that, José is the only chef globally that has both a Michelin two-star restaurant and four Bib Gourmands. José's work has earned numerous awards, including the 2015 National Humanities Medal, and he is one of the 12 distinguished recipients of the award from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Josh Ku and Trigg Brown

Josh Ku and Trigg Brown met at a cookout and bonded over Taiwanese food. Eating and cooking Taiwanese food became a regular activity that elucidated the lack of Taiwanese representation in the NYC culinary landscape. Their restaurant, Win Son, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, communicates their version of Taiwanese food, and raises awareness for the nuanced and complex nature of Taiwanese food, culture, politics, and history. 

Katrina Jazayeri

Katrina Jazayeri is co-owner, with partner chef Joshua Lewin, of Juliet, named one of Bon Appetit’s “50 Best New Restaurants in America.” Born in Queens, New York, to an Iranian father and an American mother who were brought together by food, she saw firsthand its power to create relationships, memories, and lasting connections. At 26 years old, Katrina was awarded one of 19 Eater Young Guns Awards in 2016, and was named one of Zagat’s “30 under 30” in 2014. Juliet is Boston's first tip-free restaurant. Katrina and Josh apply their commitment to social justice to their business to create a supportive work environment, featuring a profit-sharing model in favor of the traditional restaurant wage structure.

Laila El-Haddad

Laila El-Haddad is a Maryland-based freelance journalist, documentarian, and cookbook author. She is the author of The Gaza Kitchen: A Palestinian Culinary Journey. She frequently writes on the intersection of food and politics and she is currently working on a book about the history of Islam in America, as told through food.

Lauryn Chun

Lauryn Chun is the author of The Kimchi Cookbook: 60 Traditional and Modern Ways to Make and Eat Kimchi (2012) and the founder of Mother-in-Law's Kimchi, the first line of artisanal kimchi and gochujang sauces sold in natural and specialty retailers nationally. She was inspired by the beauty of Korea's handcrafted tradition of kimchi as a fine food that belongs in the ranks of fine wine, cheese, and beer traditions. Mother-in-Law’s Kimchi is based on an original recipe from her mother’s 29-year-old restaurant, Jang Mo Jip (Mother-in-Law's House) in California. Mother-in-Law’s Kimchi has received unprecedented press accolades in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Ad Week, O the Oprah Magazine, WNYC, USA Today, Rachael Ray Every Day, Men’s Health, Tasting Table, and more, and has been featured on MSNBC and the Cooking Channel's FoodCrafters. Lauryn lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Leela Punyaratabandhu

Born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand, Leela Punyaratabandhu came to the United States for school. She writes about Thai food on her award-winning website, She Simmers, and has authored two books: Bangkok: Recipes and Stories from the Heart of Thailand and Simple Thai Food: Classic Recipes from the Thai Home Kitchen. Leela has been named one of the 100 Greatest Home Cooks of All Time by Epicurious. She splits her time between Chicago and Bangkok.

Lina Fat

Born in Hong Kong, Lina Fat was a pharmacist in Sacramento, California, for many years, before joining her husband’s family’s restaurant business in 1974. Her passion for cooking and menu creation landed her the role of head chef when the Fat Family Restaurant Group expanded, with the opening of their second restaurant, China Camp, in 1974, followed by Fat City Bar & Café in 1976. Today, Lina wears several hats in the Fat Family Restaurant Group. She is vice president of culinary research and development, and oversees four restaurants and a catering division. She continues to play an active role in the community, promoting cultural diversity throughout the Sacramento area.

Marco Canora

Marco Canora is an Italian-American chef, restaurateur, and author of three cookbooks. His restaurant, Hearth, in New York’s East Village, quickly became a culinary destination, even before its reinvention in 2016. Brodo kicked off America’s bone broth craze and continues to be an industry leader. His recent venture, Zadie’s Oyster Room, opened in 2016, is an ode to turn-of-the-century oyster houses. In 2017, Marco won the James Beard Award for Best Chef, New York. His appreciation for delicious food has been a part of him since his childhood in upstate New York, where he enjoyed the freshest herbs and vegetables from the garden and cooked with his mother for hours on end. When he’s not in the kitchen, Marco enjoys time with his family in Martha’s Vineyard.

Maria Loi

Maria Loi is a Greek chef, restaurateur, cookbook author, TV personality, and philanthropist based in New York City, where she runs her acclaimed restaurant, Loi Estiatorio. She was elected global ambassador of Greek gastronomy by the Chef's Club of Greece, and has founded a range of food products, including Loi Pasta, Loi Dips, and soon, Loi Yogurt, sold by Whole Foods Markets in Manhattan. Maria's mission in life is to change the world, one healthy Greek bite at a time!

Markus Glocker

Born in Austria, Markus Glocker grew up working in the family hotels, where his appreciation for the culinary arts became a passion. In 2014, Markus opened Bâtard, New York, with restaurateur Drew Nieporent and managing partner John Winterman. His modern European cuisine earned three stars from New York Magazine, three stars from the New York Times, and a Michelin star, among other stellar reviews. In May 2015, Bâtard was awarded Best New Restaurant in America by the James Beard Foundation.

Martin Yan

Beloved television host, cookbook author, restaurateur, and certified master chef Martin Yan has dedicated his life to promoting Chinese cuisine. Born in Guangzhou in Southern China, Martin was first inspired by his mother in the tiny kitchen of their family restaurant. Since 1982, he has hosted the hugely popular PBS cooking show, Yan Can Cook, which has been broadcast in 50 countries and has won numerous awards. He is also host of Martin Yan, Quick & Easy; Martin Yan's Chinatowns; and Martin Yan's Hidden China. He has written more than two dozen cookbooks, owns three restaurants, and has appeared as a guest judge on Iron Chef America, Top Chef, and Hell’s Kitchen. He lives in California.

Mei Chau

Mei Chau was born into a large Chinese family in Malaysia, which is known for its colorful, mixed culture, dating back to the time when the first West-East trade began. She is the tenth child in her family and grew up in a small fishing village famous for its stretch of white sandy beaches, and for being the home of the giant turtle. She opened her first restaurant, Franklin Station Café, a French/Malaysian bistro in New York City’s Tribeca neighborhood, in 1993. Her second restaurant, Aux Epices, was opened in 2013 in Chinatown.

Monica Meehan

Monica Meehan has spent her life exploring her diverse roots and passion for food, travel, and culture. Raised in Canada by her Austrian mother and British father, she resided in London for over a decade, before relocating to New York City, where she continues a successful career in publishing. Her internationally celebrated cookbook, The Viennese Kitchen, is rich with her family's affluent history and sumptuous recipes, against the breathtaking backdrop of turn-of-the-century Vienna.

Mourad Lahlou

Arriving in California from Marrakesh in 1985 to study, a homesick Mourad Lahlou began to channel his mother and aunts as they prepared traditional Moroccan dishes at home. He started to cook for himself, then for friends. He completed a master’s degree in macroeconomics, but the lure of the kitchen pulled him from his doctorate, and he opened his first restaurant, in San Rafael, California, in 1997. He then opened the modern Aziza, named after his mother, in San Francisco in 2001. In 2009, he won Iron Chef America by the largest margin in the history of the show. And in 2010, Aziza became the first Moroccan restaurant to receive a Michelin star. He is the author of Mourad: New Moroccan.

Moussa Doualeh

Moussa Doulaeh is executive chef and co-owner of Afro Deli, a fusion restaurant with locations in St. Paul, and Minneapolis, Minnesota. At Afro Deli, he combines the cuisine of his native East Africa, with the many flavors learned from his formal culinary training in top Canadian and American kitchens, or gathered from cooking with friends from around the world. In April 2017, Afro Deli initiated the Dine Out for Somalia campaign, a fundraiser with 50 participating restaurants, to support famine relief efforts.

Nadia Hassani

Nadia Hassani is the author of the book and blog, Spoonfuls of Germany: German Regional Cuisine, and the blog, Green Card Gardener. She is a copywriter, editor, and translator. She was born in Germany to a German mother and a Tunisian father, and immigrated to the United States as an adult in the late 1990s. In her garden in rural Pennsylvania, she grows many fruits and vegetables for the dishes of her mixed heritage.

Nadia Hubbi and Deana Kabakibi

Nadia Hubbi is a food stylist, photographer, blogger, and founder of Sweet Pillar, a Modern Middle Eastern Food company specializing in dips, cookies, and confectionary. She writes about modern and traditional dishes handed down from her Syrian family on her blog Sweet Pillar FOOD. She was raised in New Jersey and currently resides in Southern California with her family.

Deana Kabakibi is co–content creator of Sweet Pillar FOOD. She gave up a career as a lawyer to follow her passion for cooking and baking, and hasn’t looked back. She is Syrian, by way of New York, and currently lives in Los Angeles.

Naji Boustany

Naji Boustany is executive chef and operations director at Manousheh, a Lebanese eatery in New York City. He was a contestant on the Food Network’s Chopped in 2017. He was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and his family is from Deir al Qamar, in the al Chouf Mountains. He first learned to cook in his mother’s kitchen, growing up to manage a local farmers’ market, before overseeing the kitchen of Tawlet Souk el Tayeb, a farm-to-table restaurant in Beirut. He is co-founder of FERN, a Lebanese NGO that works to transform Beirut’s restaurants into waste-free establishments.

Najmieh Batmanglij

Hailed as “the guru of Persian cuisine” by the Washington Post, Najmieh Batmanglij has spent the past 37 years cooking, traveling, teaching, and adapting authentic Persian recipes to tastes and techniques in the US. She is author of four award-winning cookbooks, most recently Joon: Persian Cooking Made Simple. Her seminal cookbook, Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies, was called “the definitive book on Iranian cooking” by the Los Angeles Times. Najmieh is a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier and lives in Washington, DC.

Nick Balla

Nick Balla was born in Michigan, but it was his time living in Budapest as an adolescent that left a lasting culinary mark. After graduating from the CIA Hyde Park, Nick spent extensive time in Japan, where he further learned precision and craftsmanship, before moving to San Francisco, California. In the Bay Area, he ran the kitchen at O Izakaya and Nombe, before returning to the flavors of Central Europe at Bar Tartine. There, Nick and co-chef Cortney Burns created a new type of dining in the city, one that transcended geography and celebrated the larder. Together, they published a James Beard Award–winning book, Bar Tartine: Techniques & Recipes (Chronicle Books, November 2014). In June 2017, Nick opened Duna, a Central European-inspired fast-casual eatery in the heart of San Francisco's Mission district.

Nina Compton

A native of St. Lucia, Nina Compton is chef and owner of Compère Lapin in New Orleans, which received a rave review in the New York Times, and was listed in the top 10 of Playboy's “Best New Bars in America, 2016,” and named Best New Restaurant by New Orleans Magazine and Times-Picayune. In 2017, she was a finalist for a James Beard Award for Best Chef, South, and Food & Wine named her as one of their “Best New Chefs in America.” In addition to the success of her first restaurant, Nina is also currently the culinary ambassador of St. Lucia.

Pat Tanumihardja

Born in Indonesia to Indonesian-Chinese parents and raised in Singapore, Pat Tanumihardja credits her eclectic culinary aptitude and global outlook to her multicultural background. Pat has been a food and lifestyle writer for over a decade. Her cookbooks include Farm to Table Asian Secrets: Vegan and Vegetarian Full-Flavored Recipes for Every Season and The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook. She lives in Springfield, Virginia, with her husband and son. Find Pat on Twitter: @PicklesandTea, Instagram: @Pickles.and.Tea, and on the web: SmithsonianAPA.org/PicklesandTea.

Paulina Farro

Paulina Farro is a food writer, blogger, and illustrator eating her way around the world. She infuses her recipes with the foods she discovers on her travels, writing about them for her blog Potato Chips are Not Dinner, which is a finalist in the 2017 Saveur blog awards. As a second-generation immigrant, it is her passion to bring Filipino food to the forefront of the culinary world. When her mother came to the United States from the Philippines, she was told to only speak English and do whatever she could to fit into American culture, erasing many of her recipes and traditions. Paulina strives to bring those back through her writing, illustrations, and recipes.

Rawia Bishara

Rawia Bishara is chef and co-owner of Tanoreen restaurant in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. She emigrated from her hometown of Nazareth to New York 40 years ago. She is the author of Olives, Lemons & Za’atar, published in 2014. Her second cookbook will be released in 2018.

Reem Assil

Reem Assil is the chef and founder of Reem’s in Oakland, California. Reem’s was founded with a passion for the flavors of Arab street-corner bakeries and the vibrant communities where they’re located. Growing up in a Palestinian-Syrian household, Reem was surrounded by the aromas and tastes of food from her homeland and the connections they evoked of her heritage, family, and community. Before dedicating herself to a culinary career, Reem worked for a decade as a community and labor organizer, and brings the warmth of community to all her events. In 2017, she graduated from La Cocina, a competitive food business incubator program focusing on immigrant women.

Ron Duprat

Ron Duprat is best known from Bravo TV’s Top Chef, Iron Chef America, and Bar Rescue. His cuisine combines the rich flavors of his Caribbean heritage with French accents. Duprat has been featured on The View, BET, Gourmet, Elle, Bon Appetit, Essence, the Root, O the Oprah Magazine, and was one of Ebony’s “Top Chefs, 2015.” The Huffington Post recognized him as one of “10 Black Chefs that are Changing the Food World.” Ron is a member of the U.S. State Department’s Chef Corps for Diplomatic Culinary Partnership, and has prepared meals for President and First Lady Obama, Jay Z and Beyoncé, Usher, and many more. He’s affiliated with several major causes, including fighting childhood obesity, Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign, No Hungry Kids, The Black Culinarian Alliance (BCA), The Word and Actions, World Central Kitchen, and Clean Cook Stove.

Roni Mazumdar

Roni Mazumdar is a New York–based restaurateur. Growing up in Kolkata, India, food played a central role in his household. In 2011, he opened the Masalawala, which he runs with his father. Its success led Roni to open a second location in 2016, followed shortly by Rahi, a modern Indian restaurant named Zagat’s hottest new restaurant in 2017; and recently, Unico, a globally-influenced fast-casual restaurant in Long Island City, named in New York Magazine’s “Best New Cheap Eats, 2017,” and Eater’s “Hottest Restaurants in Queens.” He has used his success to benefit his community, establishing a scholarship program in West Bengal, India; as well as working to empower victims of domestic abuse and sex trafficking in New York City; and staffing and training students from LaGuardia Community College’s Food Service Management Program.

Ryan Lachaine

Ryan Lachaine is executive chef and co-owner of Riel, in Houston, Texas. His first culinary education began at the apron strings of his Ukrainian mother and grandmother in his family home in Manitoba, Canada. He trained under Chef Bryan Caswell at Stella Sola, before staging at some of the country’s top restaurants, earning him an induction into Eater’s 2013 Class of Young Guns. He named Riel after Louis Riel, the founder of Manitoba and leader of the Métis community and the movement to preserve the group’s native lands, culture, and languages. Ryan chose Riel to represent his own Canadian heritage and the many cultures that Riel sought to bring together, something Ryan does on the plates of his restaurant.

Salma Hage

Salma Hage is a James Beard Award winner and best-selling author of two Middle Eastern cookbooks. Her cookbook The Lebanese Kitchen is considered the definitive book on Lebanese home cooking. Growing up in Mazarat Tiffah (Apple Hamlet), in the mountains of the Kadisha Valley in North Lebanon, she learned to cook from her mother, mother-in-law, and sisters-in-law. Having helped bring up her nine brothers and two sisters, she grew up cooking for the whole family. She has pursued this love for cooking throughout her life, working for many years as a professional cook.

Samantha Seneviratne

Samantha Seneviratne is an author and food stylist. Her first cookbook, The New Sugar and Spice, was nominated for a 2016 James Beard Award. She's also the author of Gluten Free For Good and a contributor to various food media outlets including the New York Times and Martha Stewart. She is currently focusing on a new book and a new baby in Brooklyn.

Serge Madikians

Serge Madikians is chef/owner of Serevan in the Hudson Valley, New York. After a childhood in pre-revolutionary Tehran, he came to the US for his undergraduate studies in California and graduate school at the New School in New York, where he studied public policy and economics. While working for the City of New York, he took night classes at the International Culinary Center, going on to work with renowned chefs Jean-George Vongerichten and David Bouley. After opening his own restaurant in 2005, he was named Best Chef in the Hudson Valley by Hudson Valley Magazine and was a semifinalist for the James Beard Awards’ Best Chef in the Northeast, both for two years running. The cuisine at Serevan celebrates the abundance of the Hudson Valley and Serevan's own gardens, through the prism of Iranian and Iranian-Armenian flavor spectrums and cultural heritage.

Sheldon Simeon

Born in Hilo, Hawaii, Sheldon Simeon acquired his love for cooking from his Filipino parents. Trained at the Culinary Institute of the Pacific and Maui Culinary Academy, he competed in the 10th and 14th seasons of Bravo Network’s Top Chef: Seattle and Charleston as a finalist, winning “Fan Favorite” both times. After serving as the executive chef at Maui’s Mala Wailea, MiGRANT, and Star Noodle, he was nominated for two James Beard Awards: Rising Star Chef of the Year, and Best New Restaurant, and was named Food & Wine’s People’s Best New Chef for the Pacific & Northwest in 2014. He is chef and owner of Tin Roof in Kahului, Maui, serving up his playful take on classic local dishes.

Thomas Kim

Thomas Kim is chef and owner of Rabbit Hole Restaurant in Minneapolis. He is Korean-American, born and raised in Los Angeles. He grew up eating Korean food, but his culinary background is in fine-dining Japanese cuisine. After work, he frequently ate at local taquerias and burger stands, so he and his wife set out to create a restaurant that honors all of those influences and reflects the current American culinary landscape.

Tsiona Bellete

Tsiona Bellete left Ethiopia in 1982 to pursue higher education in the US. After 30 years, living, studying to earn a Master's Degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences, and working, she discovered her passion for cooking. Five years ago, she opened Sheba Restaurant in Rockville, Maryland, followed by Tsiona Foods, a small-batch gourmet Ethiopian food company that brings Ethiopian flair to the American market.

Tunde Wey

Tunde Wey is a Nigerian cook and writer. He moved to the United States at 16. Since 2016, he has been traveling across the country with his pop-up dinner series, Blackness in America, which explores race in America from the Black perspective, through food and discussion. You can read more about his projects at FromLagos.com. He currently resides in New Orleans.

Zareen Khan

Zareen Khan is a chef, cooking instructor, and restaurateur of Pakistani heritage. She learned the art of cooking from her mother, aunts, and sister. After teaching cooking classes and launching a successful catering business in the Bay Area, she opened Zareen’s Restaurant in Mountain View, California, in 2010, to showcase the foods of Karachi, Bombay, and Punjab. She opened a second location in Palo Alto in 2016. In 2017, Zareen’s Mountain View was included in the Michelin Guide. Zareen is a member of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, Weston A. Price Foundation, and Farm Sanctuary.

Zarela Martinez

Born in the Sonoran border town of Agua Prieta, Zarela Martinez is a renowned cultural interpreter between Mexico and the United States through the medium of food. For 23 years her eponymous restaurant, Zarela, set standards of authenticity among New York Mexican restaurants. A sought-after speaker and consultant, she also wrote the pioneering cookbooks Food from My Heart, The Food and Life of Oaxaca, and Zarela's Veracruz, the last published in conjunction with her public television series ¡Zarela! La Cocina Veracruzana. Her website www.zarela.com is an invaluable resource for lovers of Mexican food and culture, and her how-to videos on basic Mexican cooking techniques and flavor principles featured on YouTube are fun and informative.

Ziggy Marley

A seven-time Grammy winner, Emmy winner, humanitarian, singer, songwriter, and producer, Ziggy Marley has released twelve albums to much critical acclaim. His early immersion in music came at age ten when he sat in on recording sessions with his father, Bob Marley. Ziggy also recently released his debut children’s book I Love You Too, a multicultural picture book based on one of Ziggy’s most beloved songs of the same title from his Grammy Award–winning album Family Time. His latest book is the Ziggy Marley and Family Cookbook. He is originally from Jamaica and lives in California.