R.B. Quinn is the founding legal director of The Freedom Forum First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University and previously served at Middle Tennessee State University as an associate professor. He wrote a weekly column called "The Fire Zone" for The Tennessean and is co-author of the cookbook Cheater BBQ.
Mindy Merrell previously worked for Marian Tripp Communications and served as director of culinary services at Dye, Van Mol and Lawrence. She is a former restaurant reviewer for CitySearch, has written for American Profile and wrote a weekly column for The Tennessean called "Drive Thru Review." She is co-author of the books Cheater BBQ and Cooking with Jack.
Lucinda Scala Quinn is a chef, cooking teacher, caterer and food writer. She is the executive food director at Martha Stewart Living Omnivision and appears on "Mad Hungry with Lucinda Scala Quinn." She is the author of several cookbooks, including Mad Hungry: Feeding Men & Boys.
Shirley O. Corriher is a writer, author, biochemist, teacher and lecturer. She writes a column for The Los Angeles Times' "Great Chefs" series as well as articles in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Her book Cookwise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Cooking is received a James Beard award.
Marcus Samuelsson is a chef, restaurateur and author. He received the Rising Star Chef Award from the James Beard Foundation in 1999, won "Top Chef Masters Season 2" and served as the guest chef for the first state dinner of the Obama administration. He is the author of several cookbooks and the memoir Yes, Chef, and co-founder of FoodRepublic.com.
Kimberly Paley is the general manager and owner of Portland, Ore., restaurant Paley's Place. She is the co-author of The Paley's Place Cookbook.
Vitaly Paley is the executive chef and owner of Portland, Ore., restaurant Paley's Place. He received a James Beard award for Best Chef Northwest in 2005. He is the co-author of The Paley's Place Cookbook.
Martha Holmberg is the former publisher and editor of Fine Cooking, founding editor of MIX and former food editor of the Oregonian. She is the author of Puff, a James Beard award-nominated cookbook, and Crepes.
Dale DeGroff is a mixologist and author. A winner of the 2009 James Beard Wine & Spirits Professional Award, he wrote The Essential Cocktail and The Craft of the Cocktail. He is a partner in the bar training program Beverage Alcohol Resource and founder of The Museum of the American Cocktail.
Grace Young served as the test kitchen director for more than 40 cookbooks published by Time Life Books. She is the author of the memoir cookbook The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen, which was awarded the IACP Le Cordon Bleu Best International Cookbook Award and a James Beard world International Cookbook Award. Her second book, The Breath of a Wok, won the IACP Le Cordon Bleu Best International Cookbook Award, the Jane Grigson Award for Distinguished Scholarship and the World Food Media Awards’ Best Food Book.