Anthony Rudolf is the founder and CEO of Journee, a community that empowers and educates restaurant professionals, and a co-founder of The Welcome Conference, a first-of-its-kind hospitality conference that brings together leaders to inspire, share, and connect. He is currently an ambassador of The Culinary Institute of America and has spoken on the topic of hospitality at numerous professional institutions, including a speech on Chivalry at TEDxEast in 2011.

Rudolf has nearly 20 years of experience in the restaurant industry, including running operations for Chef Thomas Keller and Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten in New York. After realizing his true mission was not to serve consumers, but to nurture and guide people in the industry along their path of living their dreams, Rudolf left the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group to found Journee.

Mandy Dixon owns a seaside cafe in the artistic village of Homer, Alaska. Every day, there are lines out the door for her delicious Alaska food.

Founder & CEO of East Hampton Sandwich Company. 29 year old sandwich man in Dallas who enjoys flipping food for a living. Lover of the NBA, sauces and Seinfeld.

Lisa Q. Fetterman is the founder and CEO of Nomiku, the first home sous vide immersion circulator machine on the market. Lisa has been featured in Wired, MAKE, and Forbes, and was named on both Forbes and Zagat Survey's 30 Under 30 lists for her pioneering work in the food space. Lisa has worked at some of the top restaurants in the country including Babbo and Jean-Georges in New York and Saison in San Francisco. She lives in San Francisco where she and her husband-cofounder have brought manufacturing back to the states with their new Wifi-Nomiku device.

From teenage dishwasher to quickly developing passions for fermentation, fresh pasta, and charcuterie, Hathcock has held leadership roles in multiple acclaimed kitchens across the South including Empire State South, Two Boroughs Larder, and Gan Shan Station. He now returns to Atlanta to work with his mentor and start a new project.

Maria Littlefield is the Co-Founder and President of Owls' Brew, a tea crafted for cocktails, and of sister company, Brew Lab Tea. Maria has been chosen by Forbes as “30 Under 30” among food and beverage entrepreneurs. Maria is the co-author of “Wise Cocktails” (October 2015), a book about tea cocktails. Maria is a graduate of Skidmore College. 

Born and raised in New York City, Jonah knew from a young age that he wanted to be a chef and began his career at Chanterelle at age 14. In 2014, at age 27, Jonah opened Huertas, his Basque-inspired restaurant in Manhattan's East Village. He's since been named to Forbes 30 under 30, as well as Zagat's 30 under 30 and was a James Beard Rising-Star semi-finalist in 2015. His first book, "Downtown Spanish," is set to be released in the spring of 2017.

Alexandra Clark’s joy for confectionary started at an early age and was solidified during her studies at Michigan State University’s The School of Hospitality Business. With a series of impressive professional stints including The Detroit Athletic Club and Max Brenner in Boston under her belt, she embarked on her most incredible venture to date, opening Bon Bon Bon in 2013 in her hometown of Detroit. Known for mixing classic French technique with a bit of whimsy, Bon Bon Bon creates delightful chocolates flavors full of surprise and bursting with flavor. In early 2016, Clark was named one of Forbes magazine's "30 under 30," in the Food & Drink category, signaling her spot as a leader in the confectionary world.

Ali is a culinary scientist, author, and co-founder of Pilot R+D, a culinary development company based in Northern California. Ali is a unique hybrid of scientist and chef, having both obtained a Ph.D. in food biochemistry and collaborated with several of the top restaurants in the country including Eleven Madison Park, Benu, the Restaurant at Meadowood, and the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group. After teaching culinary science for three years to students at the Culinary Institute of America, Ali translated his knack for cutting to the core of how cooking works into a book titled "Ingredient: Unveiling the Essential Elements of Food," published by Ecco in September 2016.

Salumiere and CEO of West Loop Salumi. Trained by Massimo Spigaroli at Antica Corte Pallavicina, Gregory applies old-world traditional salumi methods to produce high quality cured meats both traditional and unique. Collaborations include salami made with champagne houses like Krug, Dom Perignon and prestigious ingredients like fresh Alba Truffles, Saffron and fennel pollen.

Anjali has always taken the road-less traveled, from couch-surfing through Europe & covering IMG Fashion Weeks in Manhattan & Mumbai, to building Facebook apps for higher ed & jumping into the world of medical billing. While her experiences may seem random, her adventures have one commonality: a humbling entrepreneurial spirit. Growing up obsessed

Nik was an Emory neuroscience nerd en route to med school in Miami, when his older sister & cofounder Anjali convinced him to take a year off and come to the University of Florida to pursue his passion of technology. In a crazy series of events, after failing to meet up with a girl who was stuck doing inventory until 7 in the morning, he started Partender.com, which reduces the time it takes owners and managers to do bar inventory from a frustrating 6-24 hours on paper/pen... to just 15 minutes on iOS, Android, Mac & PC. He and his sister work in San Francisco, New York, Tampa, and Miami, and are proud and humbled to be named two of this year's Forbes 30-Under-30 in Food & Drink.

Elise Kornack is the Chef and Co-owner of Brooklyn’s Take Root, the 12-seat tasting-menu restaurant she runs along with her wife, and other owner, Anna Hieronimus. The restaurant has been met with much success, earning one Michelin star in both 2015 and 2016. Prior to opening Take Root, Kornack held positions in NYC at both The Spotted Pig and Aquavit.

Anna Hieronimus is Co-owner of Brooklyn’s Take Root, the 12-seat tasting-menu restaurant she runs solely along with her wife, co-owner and chef, Elise Kornack. With a mere two employees, the restaurant has been met with much success, earning itself a Michelin star in both 2015 and 2015.

Krishnendu Ray is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at NYU. He is the author of The Ethnic Restaurateur (2016, Bloomsbury) and The Migrant's Table: Meals and Memories in Bengali-America Households (2004, Temple University Press). He co-edited Curried Cultures: Globalization, Food and South Asia (2012, University of California Press). He is currently the President of the Association for the Study of Food and Society which is an international consortium of academic Food Studies programs.

Edouardo Jordan was born and raised in St. Petersburg and attended college at the University of Florida. After graduating with dual degrees in business administration and sports management, Jordan decided to enroll in culinary school at the Le Cordon Bleu in Orlando. Following graduation from culinary school, Jordan’s ambition brought him to renown restaurants such as The French Laundry, where he apprenticed, Per Se, and Lincoln Ristorante in New York. With thought of raising a family and opening a restaurant in mind, Jordan and his wife moved back to her hometown of Seattle where he began working at Sitka and Spruce as sous chef. In 2013, Jordan was asked to open Bar Sajor as chef de cuisine and used this as an opportunity to learn as much as he could about opening a restaurant. Taking this knowledge and experience he had gained from Bar Sajor, Jordan officially opened the doors to his restaurant, Salare, in June of 2015. Salare takes influences from France, Italy, the American south, and the Caribbean and has become one of Seattle’s hottest restaurants. Currently, Chef Jordan was nominated for a James Beard Award and has been named one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chef of 2016.

CEO of Rip van Wafels

Justin, along with his wife Stormee, own and operate two restaurants on the Oregon Coast. One a progressive New American Restaurant called Restaurant Beck, and the other Italian, called Sorella. Justin is originally from Des Moines, IA and went to culinary school at the CIA.

Danielle is the two-time New York Times best-selling cookbook author of Against all Grain and Meals Made Simple, and is releasing her third cookbook, Celebrations: A Year of Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, and Paleo Recipes for Every Occasion (Ten Speed Press) on September 27th, 2016.

COO of Rip van Wafels

Zaitz’s Pieper Farm produces some of America’s finest seed potatoes and has focused on selling them at affordable prices to farmers in developing countries. The unique climate of his northern Minnesota farm (more temperate than the surrounding area with a nearby lake’s warm waters protecting against frost) keep his 8,750 acres of land especially fertile.

Karen Palmer is a seasoned food and lifestyle editor with more than ten years of experience covering the culinary world. At Tasting Table, she oversees the digital publication's coverage of dining, wine, cocktails, cooking, entertaining, travel and more. Previously, Karen was the site's executive editor and prior, she was a senior editor and San Francisco editor at DailyCandy. Karen is a graduate of the California Culinary Academy and Boston College, and her work has appeared in numerous publications.

Jason is the chef and partner at Comfort and Pasture, two southern restaurants in lovely Richmond, VA. He believes in southern hospitality and celebrating the breadth of southern foodways. When he is not in the restaurants, he enjoys spending time with his family, traveling for work, or playing drums in his Spanglish Ramones tribute band, Los Ramones. 

A native of New Hampshire and Chef/Owner of Stages in Dover, Evan continues to evolve his cooking and creativity, and is constantly re-establishing a high level of standards by using foods that are farmed, foraged and fished from what he calls "within an arms reach." His menus change according to what comes from the farms, as Evan considers himself the only middleman between farmer and guest.

Owner - Lost Lake
Beverage Director - Land and Sea Dept.