 Maxime Bilet
Co-author of Modernist Cuisine, considered by many as the new benchmark in our understanding of how we approach the kitchen. Maxime Bilet received a BA in creative writing, literature, and visual arts from Skidmore College. Bilet then graduated with highest honors from the Institute of Culinary Education in New York. He completed a stage at Jack’s Luxury Oyster Bar and was quickly hired to the head chef position there by Jack Lamb. Moving to London, he accepted a stage with Heston Blumenthal’s development team at The Fat Duck. Just prior to joining the culinary team as head chef for recipe research and development at The Cooking Lab, Bilet trained as sous chef to open the London branch of Auberge de L’Ile.
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 Pamela Sheldon Johns
Well-known cooking instructor Pamela Sheldon Johns is the host of culinary workshops throughout Italy and was recently named one of the top 10 culinary guides in Europe by The Wall Street Journal. She is the author of 14 cookbooks including Parmigiano!, 50 Great Appetizers, and 50 Great Pasta Sauces. Pamela, her farm in Tuscany, and her cooking school have been featured by CNN Travel, Cooking Light, Food & Wine, and Canadian Geographic.
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 Roberto Santibañez
Roberto Santibañez is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, the chef/owner of Fonda in Brooklyn, New York, and the culinary partner of The Taco Truck in Hoboken, New Jersey. A native of Mexico City, he is the President of Truly Mexican Consulting in New York and a member of The Culinary Institute of America’s Latin Cuisines Advisory Council. He is also the author of the newly released Truly Mexican - which emphasizes techniques that home cooks can master along with the previously released Rosa’s New Mexican Table. To be sure, Santibañez is trhe real deal when it comes to Mexican cuisine. His website is www.robertosantibanez.com
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 Martha Foose
Martha Foose was born and raised in the Mississippi Delta. She attended the famed pastry school Ecole Lenotre in France, before returning to Mississippi where she opened Bottletree Bakery—a southern institution in Oxford—and later, with her husband, Mockingbird Bakery in Greenwood, where she was also executive chef of the Viking Cooking School. Recently, Martha was a food stylist for the movie The Help, based on the bestselling novel of the same name. Martha’s first cookbook, Screen Doors and Sweet Tea, won a James Beard Award. She makes her home in Tchula, Mississippi, on her family farm with her husband and their son.
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 The Frankies
Considered Brooklyn's baddest restaurant barrons, Frank Falcinelli and Frank Castronovo have impressed critics and afficianados with their casual Italian fare. THE FRANKIES SPUNTINO KITCHEN COMPANION AND COOKING MANUAL is on everyone's 10 best cookbooks list and was shortlisted for the James Beard Cookbook of the Year Award.
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 Louis Lambert
After graduating from The Culinary Institute of America, Louis Lambert perfected his cooking techniques and nurtured his creative instincts in New York City and San Francisco before establishing his own restaurants in Austin and Fort Worth—Lambert’s Downtown Barbecue; Jo’s; Lambert’s Steaks, Seafood, and Whiskey; and Dutch’s Burgers and Beer. Lou is a founding member and director of Foodways Texas with his good friend and coauthor, June Naylor.
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 Randy Chamberlain
A recent James Beard Award Best Chef nominee, Randy's Glen Arbor restaurant, Blu, has received regional and national acclaim, and was included in Travel & Leisure's "25 American Hot Spots." Randy's daily inspired contemporary American menu is yet another example of why the Traverse City area is among the nation's top foodie destinations
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 The Casserole Queens
"I love the Casserole Queens—from their savory lasagna to their caramel bread pudding, this book is full of one-dish recipes that will rock your house!"
—Bobby Flay
Bobby should know, they rocked Bobby's house in a Throwdown on Food Network not too long ago. You'll delight in these 50's kitsch embracing Queens who have been rocking Austin via their food delivery service.
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 Eric Nittolo
Eric Nittolo, Chef at Traverse City's Boathouse Restaurant, is quickly emerging as a star among the stars in the Traverse area restaurant scene. Perhaps, it is due to his non-traditional route to becoming an noteworthy chef? Eric was originally an analytical biochemist, then owner and saucier at Carp River Trading Company for nine years. Consumer praise for Chef Nittolo is off-the-charts in Yelp and other "user review" outlets where he currently reigns supreme.
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 John Buechsenstein
John Buechsenstein has been a winemaker and wine educator in California for many years. Recently the COO of Sauvignon Republic Cellars, specializing in Sauvignon Blancs from around the world, he has also made award-winning wines at Fife Vineyards and McDowell Valley Vineyards. John is a noted educator, serving as Adjunct Wine Faculty at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone and at UC Davis Extension where he has lectured on wine sensory evaluation for more than 30 years. He is a past-president of the American Society for Enology and Viticulture, a charter member of the Society of Wine Educators, and judges wines throughout North America. Among his many publications, he co-authored the Standardized System of Wine Aroma Terminology, known as the Wine Aroma Wheel. (Napa Valley, CA)
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 Gary Cook
Gary L. Cook, Certified Sommelier and CSW, is the Michigan Mgr. for Banfi Vintners USA, leading wine importer and major producer of premium offerings in Italy. In his role, Mr. Cook implements educational programs for the staffs of Banfi Wholesalers as well as the sales personnel of key on-premise and off- premise accounts throughout the mid-west
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 Jennifer McLagan
Jennifer McLagan more than 30 years experience in the food business as a chef, caterer, food stylist, recipe writer, and cookbook author. Jennifer's previously released FAT, was the most critically acclaimed cookbook of 2008 and was the James Beard, Cookbook of the Year award recipient. ODD BITS, Jennifer's third cookbook, is full of expert advice and delicious recipes but even more, it removes the mystery of cooking with offal. Jennifer spends her time in Toronto and Paris with her husband, Haralds.
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 Myles Anton
The two-time James Beard semifinalist for Best Chef Great Lakes can be counted among the reasons why Traverse City is considered one of the top "Foodie Cities" in the U.S. His locally based menu and philosphy passionately connects him with the regional flavor landscape and the many farmers who show up at Trattoria Stella daily.
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 Guillaume Hazael-Massieux
This James Beard Award nominee is the Executive chef and co-owner of La Becasse, located in Burdickville, 20 miles West of Traverse City in Leelanau County. Guillaume is passionate about his connection to region's farmers on which he relies to create his authentic French country fare in an intimate setting which truly evokes the French countryside of his native land.
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 Ted Reader
Ted Reader is an award-winning chef and food entertainer who's parlayed his passion for food into a culinary tour de force that includes more than a dozen cook books, shelves of food products, live culinary performances, TV and radio cooking shows and appearances as well as culinary demonstrations, a catering company and teaching.
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 Eric Patterson and Jennifer Blakeslee
chefs Eric Patterson and Jennifer Blakeslee, are among the innovators who have been co-mingling the finest ingredients from local farms and forests into the inventive menus that have put the pair at the center of Traverse City’s food scene. Eric and Jen cooked together in Las Vegas at Andre Rochat’s two-star Michelin restaurant, André’s, before deciding to return to Jen’s native Traverse City and open an eatery which continues to garner consistent 5-star ratings on Yelp.
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 Gretchen Holt-Witt
Gretchen Holt-Witt, founder of Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, has worked with clients from a variety of industries, but found her “home” working with a wide-range of housewares brands, including Hamilton Beech/Proctor-Silex, Chicago Cutlery, Circulon, Anolon, and KitchenAid Cookware, and is now the director of public relations strategies for OXO in New York City. In 2007, Witt’s career achievements took a back seat when her son Liam was diagnosed with pediatric cancer. Committed to doing all she could to bring attention to a need many people aren’t aware of, she and her husband founded Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, raising millions of dollars to date. Witt was named one of Women’s Day magazine’s 50 “Women Who Are Changing the World”
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 Lisa Fain
In 2005, Lisa Fain began the Homesick Texan website (http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/) which has won many awards and has grown to 175,000 unique visitors per month. Lisa is a member of the Southern Foodways Alliance and a board member of the Texas Foodways Alliance, she currently hangs her hat in New York City. THE HOMESICK TEXAN COOKBOOK, is Lisa's first.
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 Amanda Danielson
In 2007, Amanda succeeded in passing the Advanced Sommelier exam. While operating Trattoria Stella with Paul, Chef Myles, and a long-standing, dedicated crew of managers and employees; Amanda continues to study wine, beer, spirits, tea, water—basically anything wet—though the Master Sommelier exam will have to wait another year, as Paul and Amanda are expecting their second daughter this September.
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 Barry O'Brien
Barry O'Brien has been in the fine wine trade for 29 years in various roles - as Sommelier, wine marketer, sales agent, wine merchandiser, vineyard owner and currently as an importer. He has toured extensively in the world's most important and emerging wine regions. In addition to his start as Sommelier at The Flagstaff House, and commercial work with Schieffelin & Somerset, Guenoc/Langtry Estate, Wineshopper.com and Wine.com, Barry designed and taught continuing education wine curriculum at New York University's School of Education. A lifelong wine lover, he shares his knowledge and passion for wine at tastings, seminars and conferences throughout the U.S.
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 Robb White
Chef Robb White, CEC, CCA, AAC is the Dean of Culinary at Baker College's Culinary Institute of Michigan. White joined Baker College of Muskegon in November 2001 as an adjunct instructor. He became the Department Chair in 2002 and Interim Dean of Baker College’s Culinary Institute of Michigan in 2009. He has more than 25 years of culinary experience with an extensive background in some of the country’s finest private clubs.
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 Paul Carlson
Paul Carlson has been working with food since he was a young boy, cooking with his mom and helping his grandparents preserve garden fruits and vegetables. With 20 years under his belt as a chef in Detroit and around Michigan, he believes in the power of fresh, simple food—in fact, he grows some of the produce he uses at his café. Paul was one of 18 chefs featured in the cookbook, Wild Caught and Close to Home: Selecting and Preparing Great Lakes Whitefish, and owns a small café called the Hearth and Vine (http://saveurthyme.blogspot.com). His gourmet wood-fired pizzas and seasonal fare have been attracting national attention.
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 Angela Macke
Angela Macke, a Registered Nurse from Leelanau County, founded Light ofDay Organics Tea Company in 2004. She and her family (husband Vince and their two sons) own and operate 25 acres- Michigan’s only Demeter certified biodynamic tea farm. Angela is a Specialty Tea Institute graduate, a Co-opAmerica Green Partner, an Advanced Master Gardener, a member of the U.S. Tea Association, an instructor with the Great Lakes Culinary Institute, a Healing Touch Practitioner, and a licensed importer of Fair trade certified agricultural commodities.
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