Paolo Stucchi trained at the Stradivari school of Cremona as a violin maker and graduated in 1982. He worked as a violin maker until 1993, at which point he took over management of the family restaurant in Tuscany, Badia a Coltibuono. Paolo still works as a violin maker in the winter when the restaurant is closed.
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Leah Mayor is Director of Education and Research at the Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education. She works on issues of sustainability and found that food is a really great starting point to talk about sustainability issues. More than that, food is a great way to bring people together, to build a community. Cooking is Leah’s favorite act of creation.
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Since opening his first restaurant, Amada, in 2005, Chef Jose Garces has emerged as an enormous talent and one of the nation’s most gifted young chefs. He has opened four additional restaurants, in both Philadelphia and Chicago; authored a stunning cookbook, Latin Evolution, and appeared on Food Network’s Iron Chef America, defeating Iron Chef Bobby Flay.
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Elizabeth Barbone is the founder of GlutenFreeBaking.com and an alumna of the Culinary Institute of America. With her solid professional baking background, Barbone is known for creating gluten-free recipes that taste “just like” their wheat counterparts. In addition to creating recipes for GlutenFreeBaking.com, Barbone travels the country speaking to celiac groups and teaching gluten-free baking classes. She lives in Troy, NY.
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Chef Thiam was born in Dakar, Senegal. He came to New York in 1987 and worked his way up from prep cook to chef at some of the city’s most glamorous restaurants. He currently resides in Brooklyn, where he has launched a catering company and two restaurants specializing in African cuisine: Yolele and Le Grand Dakar. He also teaches African cooking classes at New York’s Institute of Culinary Education. His new cookbook, Yolele! Recipes From the Heart of Senegal, is available here.
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