Chef Dominique Ansel is the Chef/Owner of the celebrated Dominique Ansel Bakery, which opened in New York City’s Soho neighborhood in November of 2011, and Dominique Ansel Kitchen, his new made-to-order bakery that launched in the West Village in April 2015. Chef Dominique opened his first shop outside of the U.S. in June 2015 with Dominique Ansel Bakery Japan in Tokyo’s Omotesando neighborhood, and then in July 2015, he launched U.P. (short for “Unlimited Possibilities”), his after-hours tasting table hidden within the 2nd floor of Dominique Ansel Kitchen. Perhaps what has most widely been reported is the Chef’s creation of the Cronut®, a croissant and doughnut hybrid that TIME magazine named one of the “Best Inventions of 2013.” In 2014, Chef Dominique was awarded the James Beard Award for “Outstanding Pastry Chef” in the nation, and in June 2015, he was bestowed the prestigious Ordre du Mérite Agricole award, one of the highest honors in France, for his dedicated to promotion French cuisine and culture. 

J. Kenji López-Alt is the Managing Culinary Director of Serious Eats, a columnist forCooking Light, and author of the James Beard Award-winning, New York Times Best-Seller, The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science—which was named the International Association of Culinary Professional's Book of the Year for 2015. A Northeast native, Kenji cut his cooking chops the old-fashioned way by working his way up through the ranks of some of Boston's finest restaurants. With an education in science and engineering and as a former Senior Editor at Cook's Illustrated and America's Test Kitchen, Kenji is fascinated by the ways in which understanding the science of every day cooking can help improve even simple foods.

Mario Batali, one of the most recognized and respected chefs in America today, is a co-host of ABC Daytime’s lifestyle series The Chew. Batali counts 26 restaurants, nine cookbooks, numerous television shows and the 50,000-square foot Eataly marketplace in NYC among his ever-expanding empire of deliciousness.

Drummer, DJ, producer, culinary entrepreneur, New York Times best-selling author, and member of The Roots - Questlove, is the unmistakable heartbeat of Philadelphia’s most influential hip-hop group. He is the Musical Director for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where his beloved Roots crew serves as house band.

Chef / Owner of 610 Magnolia, MilkWood in Louisville and Culinary Director of Succotash in National Harbor. Author of Smoke & Pickles, Host of Mind of a Chef Season 3. Collaborator of Jefferson's Reserve Chef's Collaboration Blend Whiskey.

With partners Mario Batali & Joe Bastianich, Nancy Silverton is the co-owner of Pizzeria and Osteria Mozza in LA, Newport Beach and Singapore, as well as Mozza2Go and Chi Spacca in LA. Silverton also founded the world-renowned La Brea Bakery. In 2014, she received the highest honor given by the James Beard Foundation for “Outstanding Chef” as well as a listing as one of the Most Innovative Women in Food and Drink by Fortune and Food and Wine Magazine. Additionally, she is the author of 8 cookbooks including “The Mozza Cookbook," and will release “Mozza at Home” in fall of this year. 

Christina Tosi is an award-winning chef, founder and owner of Milk Bar, called “one of the most exciting bakeries in the country” by Bon Appétit magazine, with multiple locations in New York, one in Toronto and most recently one in Washington, D.C. near Christina’s hometown. Christina founded the dessert programs at Momofuku and went on to build a culinary empire of her own from the ground up. She opened Milk Bar’s doors in 2008 and since then, hundreds of people flock to her stores daily to try one of her genius creations, including cereal milk™ ice cream, compost cookies® and crack pie®. Christina is the recipient of two James Beard awards, including Outstanding Pastry Chef, author of two acclaimed cookbooks, Momofuku Milk Bar and Milk Bar Life, and a judge on the hit cooking competition series MasterChef and MasterChef Junior on FOX. Learn more at www.milkbarstore.com.

As one of Boston's most notable chefs and restaurateurs, Chef Ken Oringer's interest in restaurants began as a child in New Jersey. In 1997, Ken opened Clio, the early success of Clio earned Ken a James Beard Award nomination for Best Chef Northeast four years in a row, ultimately being honored with Best Chef Northeast in 2001. From that point forward, Ken has opened Uni, Toro, Coppa, Toro NYC, with Toro Bangkok, and Little Donkey Cambridge coming soon.

Chef Michael White is the Chef/Owner of the Altamarea Group. Chef White is a multiple Michelin & New York Times starred chef, as well as the James Beard Award Winner - Best New Restaurant 2010 for Marea. His newest French restaurant Vaucluse is now open on the Upper East Side. 

Chef / owner of Compère Lapin in New Orleans, Runner up on Top chef season 11

President, Roblé & Co.
Co-Founder Everyday People Worldwide
Chef/Owner STREETS RESTAURANT

Amanda Hesser is a co-founder and the CEO of Food52. She is the author of several books, including the New York Times bestseller, The Essential New York Times Cookbook.

Since Flynn was thirteen, he has been the chef of his own fine dining supper club. At fourteen, Flynn had outgrown his kitchen/bedroom and EUREKA became a monthly pop up restaurant in Los Angeles. As well as being self-taught from a young age, Flynn received his culinary training by staging and working at fine dining restaurants in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, among them Eleven Madison Park and Alma, and recently has returned from stages in Oslo at Maaemo and Geranium in Copenhagen. Flynn moved to New York and just completed a four month pop up residency of Eureka NYC at Creative Edge Studio in the West Village.

Kat Kinsman is Senior Food & Drink Editor of Extra Crispy. Her debut book "Hi, Anxiety" will be published by Harper Collins in November 2016. Kinsman is former Editor at Large and former Editor in Chief of Tasting Table.

A veteran dj and seasoned world traveler. Known for his various chef collaborations, encyclopedic knowledge of restaurants and legendary drum and bass sets.

Dana Cowin, Creative Director at Chefs Club International, oversees curation, PR and marketing for this innovative restaurant group with locations in Aspen and Manhattan. In this role, Cowin advances Chefs Clubs’ mission of showcasing the most memorable and relevant dishes from the best chefs around the country and the world. Prior to Chefs Club, Cowin was Editor-in-Chief of Food & Wine for over twenty years, where she was responsible for all aspects of the the award-winning brand, including the print magazine, website, social media and books. Cowin is the author of Mastering My Mistakes in the Kitchen: Learning to Cook with 65 Great Chefs and Over 100 Delicious Recipes (Ecco Press, 2014), which has been recognized by many publications as one of the best cookbooks of the year.

Amanda Cohen is the chef and owner of Dirt Candy, the award-winning vegetable restaurant on New York City's Lower East Side. The restaurant's original location only had 18 seats and was open for six years, during which time it became the first vegetarian restaurant in 17 years to receive two stars from the New York Times, was recognized by the Michelin Guide five years in a row, and won awards from Gourmet Magazine, the Village Voice, and many others. Amanda was the first vegetarian chef to compete on Iron Chef America and her comic book cookbook, Dirt Candy: A Cookbook, is the first graphic novel cookbook to be published in North America. It's currently in its fifth printing.

Chris Ying is the editor-in-chief and cofounder of Lucky Peach, the author of The Wurst of Lucky Peach: A Treasury of Encased Meat, and the coauthor of Ivan Ramen and The Mission Chinese Food Cookbook. He lives in San Francisco with his wife.

Helen Hollyman is editor-in-chief of MUNCHIES, VICE's food website. Helen Hollyman got her start at Food & Wine Magazine and has worked under award-winning pastry chef Christina Tosi at Momofuku Milk Bar and food writers Mark Bittman and Amanda Hesser. She has written for a variety of publications which includes GQ, Saveur, Lucky Peach, and Time Out New York. She's a former cook, truffle dealer, and radio host. 

Daniel Krieger is a Brooklyn based food and drink photographer who works regularly for The New York Times, Eater, and Punch. 

In 2005, Erin left the Midwest and her post at Zingerman’s Deli to try her hand at being a line-cook in New York City. She walked into the kitchen of Savoy offering to peel carrots and didn’t leave for two years. Next, she spent time at Gramercy Tavern, initiating their in-house charcuterie program. Then following her passion for pigs she moved north where she spent a year at Flying Pigs Farm, where she directed “Farm Camp at Flying Pigs Farm”. In 2011, she launched “No Goat Left Behind,” a national project of Heritage Foods USA. After completing her graduate degree in Urban Policy Analysis at The New School for Public Engagement she joined the HeritageRadioNetwork.Org team as Executive Director in the Spring of 2012.

Peter is the executive director of the Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD), a nonprofit that is creating the world's first large-scale museum with exhibits you can eat.

Host of The Sporkful podcast at WNYC Studios and the Cooking Channel show You're Eating It Wrong. Author of Eat More Better, contributor to NPR and Slate.