The S.Pellegrino World's Best Restaurants.

Road Manager of the Cook ‘n Roll band "Gelinaz!" (composed of star-chefs Fulvio Pierangelini, Inaki Aizpitarte, Luis Andoni Aduriz, Massimo Bottura, Wylie Dufresne, Casper Kurdhal, Josean Alija Martinez, Petter Nilsson, René Redzepi and Davide Scabin), Andrea Petrini is a food and travel writer who works on a collection of magazines including Biscuit, Gambero Rosso, Omnivore, Fooding and Official Voyage among others. He is also the well-loved host of television series “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.” After writing the foreword for ‘La cuisine du XXe siecle’, a book by Marc Veyrat, Petrini’s book ‘Carnet de route omnivore’ (co written with Luc Dubanchet, Sébastien Demorand and Laurent Seminel) was published to great acclaim earlier this year.

For the past six years Andrey Zakharin has been the editor-in-chief of the Vkysnaya Zhizn (Tasty Life) publishing house whose titles include Gastronom, School of Gastronom, Hand Made, Collection of Recipes & Gardener magazines. Gastronom magazine and its sister publication School of Gastronom have become Russia’s leading culinary magazines and remain in the top ten best selling fortnightly publications across the country.

Bianca Otero has been working in cultural and political media and photography for over 9 years. She currently resides in Hungary and splits her time between Hungary and Sofia. Bianca is Publications Manager at United Publishers, specialists in custom publishing and lifestyle magazines, with a portfolio that includes soon to be launched gastronomical magazine specialising on local, regional and international cuisine.

Bianca is also the Visual Editor at Print X Budavar, Budapest, Hungary working with Where magazine, Business Hungary and in the summer of 2008 photographed and critiqued for 100 Top Best Restaurants in Hungary, Nepszabadsag.Has finished her third book on travel within Budapest with Frommer's Book Guide in which she was the Photographer. Bianca is currently working on a new project co-writing and photographing traditional foods of the Central Eastern European region.

James has been eating food all his life. It wasn’t until relatively recently, however, that he considered writing about it. An advertising copywriter and freelance writer, he jumped at the chance to edit a travel guide to his home town of Birmingham, which led to one or two hundred encounters with the local delicacy, the balti, and an appetite for food writing. He became Time Out Dubai’s food editor and restaurant critic in 2006, which took him on an epic gastronomic voyage through the city. On the way he took Gary Rhodes shopping in the fish market, and force-fed Gordon Ramsay the city’s worst mince pies. He has since become the chief food writer and restaurant critic for The National newspaper, which is based in Abu Dhabi and covers the whole of the UAE.

Acclaimed as Greece’s top gastro-journalist, Dimitris Antonopoulos is restaurant editor and wine critic of Athinorama as well as lifestyle editor of Status. He also finds the time to contribute to Ey Zin magazine and Slow, the magazine which accompanies the Slow Food movement of which Antonopoulos is a member. Antonopoulos is a member of the Greek Wine Journalists and Writers Association. He is a veteran at the Vinitaly annual wine fair and Vinexpo in Bordeaux which he attends as a Greek wine specialist.

From the late 1980’s to early 90’s de Prins worked on a series of television programmes on gastronomy called Krokant and started the radio programme Bistro & Co, a show incorporating talk and tips on cooking and gastronomy on Radio 2, the biggest national radio station in Belgium. 1995 saw the launch of de Prins’ most well-known cookery book, one of a total of six published to date, called La Cuisine des Belges. Four years later he became editor-in-chief at Ambiance Magazine, the market leader of gastronomic press in Belgium. Along with Radio 2, this remains his main pursuit.

After studying philosophy at university, Eleonora Cozzella has worked as a free lance journalist for several newspapers (Messaggero, La Repubblica) and TV networks. She is very passionate about travel, enology and gastronomy and is the editor of the food&wine web sites of L’Espresso Editorial Group where she writes reports and video reports about the most important national and international food events. She also collaborates on articles for the weekly magazine L’Espresso and is one of the restaurant critics of the Italian restaurants leading guide L’Espresso.

Grant Thatcher is the founder and publishing editor of LUXE City Guides, the cult series of international style guides that now cover 33 destinations and which are considered the benchmark for astute, busy and sophisticated travellers. Grant has spent the last twelve years living in Asia, (the past eight of those in Hong Kong). He has written many food, travel and style features for amongst others Departures, Vanity Fair on Travel, The Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Times, The Times, Centurion, Gourmet Traveller, Vogue Entertaining and Travel, Luxury Briefing, Food & Wine Magazine, and the New York Times 'The Moment' blog.

Hannes Konzett is Founder of Oscar’s Guide, and Editor in Chief of Oscar’s Hotel & Restaurant Magazine, a gourmet magazine published in Liechtenstein for the german speaking market- Germany, Switzerland & Austria. His background as a chef in both gourmet kitchens and the convenience food sector stand him in good stead in his work as a journalist in the hotel and restaurant sector.

The co-founder of corporate communications group Intellecta, one of Scandinavia’s largest and most successful – listed at Nasdaq OMX Nordic Exchange – Lars Peder Hedberg is also the founder and publisher/editorial director of White Guide and Gourmet Magazine in Sweden, two institutions with massive influence on Scandinavian gastronomy. White Guide lists and reviews more than 500 Swedish restaurants annually. Lars Peder lives in Stockholm and Cape Town, but spends some 120 days of the year travelling all over the world, especially in the US and Asia. He eats out at least 300 times a year but keeps his BMI around 21, quoting great genes and short connections between flights.

Jay Rayner is an award-winning writer, journalist and broadcaster. He currently writesfor the Observer, a national British Sunday newspaper, where he is their restaurant critic as well as a feature writer. In addition to working for newspapers Jay has written for numerous magazines, including Granta, Esquire, GQ and Cosmopolitan and is currently contributing to Gourmet in the US. Since winning Young Journalist of the Year in 1992 he has also been named critic of the year in both the Glenfiddich Food and Drink Awards and the British Press Awards. Jay is also the author of four novels and two works of nonfiction. His latest is The Man Who Ate The World, a non-fiction account of his pursuit of the perfect meal in the new breed of luxury restaurants that have spread around the globe.

John Willoughby is the Executive Editor of Gourmet and the co-author, with Chris Schlesinger, of nine cookbooks, including the recently-published Grill It! and the groundbreaking Thrill of the Grill. Before he came to Gourmet in 2001, he was for seven years the Executive Editor of Cook’s Illustrated and the co-author of a monthly column in the New York Times Dining Section, as well as the instructor in a courses on food writing at the Radcliffe Institute and Boston University. He has lectured widely, both nationally and internationally, on issues of food, culture, and society. John currently appears on the PBS television show Diary of a Foodie and is a regular guest on The CBS Morning Show as well as the Nation Public Radio show The Splendid Table.

Jörge Leu is Marketing Manager of German restaurant guide Schlemmer Atlas, one ofthe most important restaurant guides in the German-speaking area. Jorge is behind the highly esteemed ‘Busche Branchentreff Schlemmer Atlas Top 50 Köche’ (a yearly panel of the best chefs in Germany), and is recognised as an expert in the German restaurant scene.

Jorge Toledo Y Leyva has previously been a columnist for the English language paper The Mexico City Times, Mexican daily La Prensa and is published weekly in El Economista, another Mexican Daily, Jorge also contributes to Actual magazine. Among his published works on this subject, is a book called “Don’t even think about it, situations to avoid in a restaurant”, a light-hearted exploration of culinary trivia. It’s a subject on which Jorge holds great authority as, to date, his restaurant reviews tally in at over 600 which undoubtedly makes him an expert. Other past activities include a weekly radio programme as well as various consulting assignments with chefs and restaurateurs. In 2008 Jorge was awarded the rank of Chevalier of the Ordre Mondial de L’Academie Culinaire de France by the French Government, and at the same time, named Honorary Journalist of the Vatel Club de Mexico. A.C. an organization of chefs that promotes French gastronomy in Mexico.

Journalist and culinary critic Josimar Melo is the food editor of “Folha de S.Paulo” Brazil’s leading daily newspaper. He also lectures in history of gastronomy at the Anhembi- Morumbi University in the city, is the founding director of gastronomic website “Basilico” and has the “Blog do Josimar” (josimarmelo.blog.uol.com.br). He publishes “Guide Josimar Melo” annually. A culinary guide, it gives Melo the opportunity to share more than one thousand establishments with his dedicated food-loving followers. His book “Berinjela se Escreve com J” is a grammatical guide to the correct names and terms of food. He is also the author of the book ‘A Cerveja’ (the beer).

A freelance food writer living in Helsinki, Finland, Nars has been the restaurant critic at Finnish daily Hufvudstadsbladet since 1997. He is also contributing editor at Swedish Gourmet magazine, Finnish magazine Gloria Food & Wine, Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat, and German magazine NORR. He is the editor of a radio food series at the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE. A keen and proficient cook, Nars ran his own catering firm in the 1990’s. He graduated from the University of Helsinki in 1999 with an MA thesis on the restaurant culture in Helsinki in 1880-1920.

Lannice energetically follows parallel careers in book publishing, restaurant reviewingand food writing, and heads her own culinary consultancy and publishing company. She has written 16 cookbooks, including Tortoises & Tumbleweeds (Journey Through an African Kitchen) published in 2008, collectively Lannice has sold some 500 000 copies. Founding editor of the South Africa’s restaurant guide Eat Out - a position she held for 18 years- she received their 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award for contribution to the food and hospitality industries. She sits on various judging panels in South Africa including the American Express Platinum Fine Dining Programme, Galliova Award (for food-writing) and the Diners Club Wine List of the Year Awards.

Leisa Tyler is an Australian/ British travel journalist who has eaten fried grasshoppers in Cambodia, sheep’s eyes in China, five day old fermented fish in Vietnam, planted rice in Laos and studied under some of Thailand’s most acclaimed chefs, all in the name of discovering the essence of the region’s vibrant cuisine. When not dicing with death by culinary experiment, she writes and photographs food, hotels and travel destinations for Travel + Leisure Magazine, CNN Traveller, DestinAsian and Cathay Pacific’s in-flight magazine Discovery. Based in South-east Asia for the past ten years, she is currently researching a book on food from the Mekong River, which documents the region’s rich culinary traditions and food sources - many that due to big dams and globalisation are in danger of disappearing altogether.

John Mason Florence is the Founder and Chief Executive of Talisman Media Group, who’s titles include tourism and cultural publications such as Bangkok 101 magazine and the Bangkok Art Map, he has eleven years experience traveling and writing throughout Asia, including authoring over 15 travel guide books on Japan, Kyoto, Vietnam, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and the Southeast Asian region. Mason was a regional correspondent for The Japan Times- the largest independent, English Language newspaper in Japan. He currently photographs and writes on travel and culture for leading publications including The New York Times, Travel & Leisure, Conde Nast Traveller and Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel, as well as numerous airline in-flight magazines (Thai International Airways, Quantas, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airlines).

Pam Shookman has spent many years living in Asia spread across Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and China. She has worked as the Time Out Beijing Food Editor as well as writing for Slow Food and The Insider’s Guide to Beijing. She also runs a popular programme of cooking classes, leads market tours and lectures on Chinese produce. Pam has watched and chronicled Beijing’s food scene transform from a few restaurants serving the same monotonous cuisine into a highly competitive market where China’s numerous and varied regional cuisines are the latest trend. Pam attended cooking school in London where she worked in various restaurants and ran the test kitchen at the well-known Books for Cooks in Notting Hill.

Pat Nourse is the features editor and Sydney restaurant critic for Australia’s leading food magazine, Australian Gourmet Traveller. He spends much of his time traveling the country as one of the editors of the magazine’s annual restaurant guide, the only national guide of its kind in Australia. An award-winning journalist, Nourse has written about food, drink and travel for numerous Australian publications, as well as for the likes of Lonely Planet and Time Out, and is the Australian correspondent for Gourmet magazine in the US.

Anson was the founder of the Cofradía de la Buena Mesa (the equivalent of Le Club des 100 in France), the Spanish Academy of Gastronomy of which he is currently president and, together with France and the UK, the International Academy of Gastronomy (President 1991 to 1995), of which he is now honorary president. He is a member of the Academie des Gastronomes de Francia and of the Academie des Gourmets, Switzerland as well as founder and member of similar National Academies in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, México, Poland and Romania. A regular collaborator on gastronomic articles for amongst others CEIM (corporate magazine for the Confederación de Empresarios Independiente de Madrid), BINTER (In-flight magazine) and Emociones del Vino y la Restauración(Wine and food business), Anson writes a monthly column in Ronda Iberia and Iberia Excelente (In-flight magazine for IBERIA) and the magazine “Fuera de Serie” of the finantial newspaper “Expansión”, which is published in collaboration with the finantial times. He has written several books on gastronomy and is director of gastronomy for publishing companies such as Espasa Calpe, Plaza & Janés, Ediciones B, Lunwerg, Everest and Nobel. Anson is the founder and general secretary of the Spanish Nutrition Foundation (FEN), was awarded the “Encomienda de Número al Mérito Alimentario y del Mérito Agrícola” by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and is president of the Academic Commission for the Promotion of the Mediterranean Gastronomic Culture. He is director of the Cátedra Ferrán Adriá de Cultura Gastronómica y Ciencias de la Alimentación at the University Camilo José Cela, Madrid. And finally, Rafael Anson is Honorary President of the Foundation Art and Gastronomy.

Synonymous with Good Food for the past two decades, author of sixteen books, Rashmi Uday Singh’s “Around the World in 80 Plates” won the prestigious “World Gourmand Cookbook Award”, but it is for her extraordinarily popular Good Food Guide that she is most celebrated. The first-of-its-kind handy insiders’ guide to good food established Singh, (who trained with the BBC,) as the nation’s most clued-in commentator on all things edible. Having written India’s first ever City Restaurant guide, tracked the food scene through her sixteen books, and national weekly columns in newspapers for over two decades, she now runs the highly esteemed “Good Food Academy”. Millions of readers loyally follow her weekly food columns for The Times of India; she is also consulting editor of food for Femina. Brought to you by Press Release In addition to serving as Chairperson, Central Asia Region for London’s “The World’s Best 50 Restaurants Academy”, Singh has represented India in international seminars and discussions. Having completed a yearlong successful T.V series “Health Today”, her Food and travel show “Foodie Fundas with Rashmi” has just finished telecast on the premier channel “Headlines Today”.

S. Irene Virbila has been restaurant critic for the Los Angeles Times since 1994 where her reviews have won the James Beard Foundation Award in 1997 and the American Food Journalists Award in 2005. Previously, as a freelancer, she traveled extensively through Europe and Asia researching stories on food, wine and travel for Wine Spectator, Food & Wine, Metropolitan Home, the New York Times and San Francisco Chronicle, among others. She trained as a sommelier in Paris and also writes a weekly Wine of the Week column for the Times.

Steve Dolinsky is a James Beard Award winner twelve times over for his TV and Radio work in the USA and is currently the Food Reporter for ABC 7 in Chicago. Steve has also been heard on Public Radio International's "The World," a co-production of WGBH-Boston and the BBC World News Service. In addition to his busy schedule of writing, broadcasting, and consulting, Dolinsky is also very involved in several not-for-profit agencies in the Chicago area, including the annual Meals on Wheels Celebrity Chef's Brunch and Share Our Strength's "Taste of the Nation."