Chef Carrie Nahabedian – Co-Owner & Executive Chef, Brindille (Chicago)

Chef Carrie is a James Beard Award recipient and has received seven consecutive Michelin stars. Carrie opened Brindille in the spring of 2013 along with partner and cousin Michael. Mayor of Chicago Richard M. Daley named September 22, 2009 in honor of Nahabedian, the same day that she was inducted into the Chicago Culinary Museum’s Chefs Hall of Fame.  As of the 2012 edition of the Michelin Guide, Nahabedian is one of only ten female chefs in the United States to hold a Michelin star.

Chef Jennifer Hill Booker – chef Instructor, Author, Food Advocate (Atlanta)

Chef Jennifer Hill Booker has taken her Southern culinary heritage, her belief in healthy, seasonal foods and her classic French training to create a unique cuisine — Modern Southern Healthy Cuisine with a French Accent. Chef’s cooking style is a modern reinvention of Southern cuisine that incorporates the traditional use of seasonal ingredients, important to maintain a healthy lifestyle, with French culinary techniques she learned from her training at the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Paris, France. She is a Georgia Grown Executive Chef for the GA Department of Agriculture, the Culinary Explorer for the Georgia Department of Tourism and Travel, is the founder of Southern Divas of the New South TM Dinner Series. Chef Jennifer is the current President of the prestigious Atlanta chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier International, a member of SlowFood-Atlanta and of Atlanta’s No Kid Hungry Atlanta Society. Chef Jennifer currently sits on the James Beard Foundation Food Waste Advisory Council.

Chef Joy Crump – owner and chef, FOODE + Mercantile (Fredericksburg, Virgina)

Chef Joy Crump, a Pennsylvania native, is known for crafting the seasons’ best locally-sourced ingredients into comfortably refined dishes. In 2011, Crump opened her first restaurant, FOODE in Historic Downtown Fredericksburg, Virginia with business partner Beth Black. In 2014, the duo opened their second restaurant, the breakfast-centric Mercantile, also in Fredericksburg. In 2021, Joy and Beth purchased 718 Venue, a meticulously-renovated 100-guest special events and lodging facility in the heart of downtown Fredericksburg Crump appeared on Season 12 of the Emmy Award-winning competition series, Top Chef. Crump has had the honor of cooking as a featured chef at the James Beard House in both 2016 and 2017, and is actively involved in the James Beard Foundation’s Impact Programs for Food Policy, Chef Advocacy and Change.

Dana Cowin – Event Emcee

Dana Cowin is a tastemaker and innovator in media, food and branding. Her work spans advising creatives, founders and non-profits and creating editorial through podcasts, social, video, zines and books. Drawing on more than twenty years of tastings as the Editor in Chief of Food & Wine magazine, Cowin curates collections of extraordinary comestibles, bringing attention to the remarkable women behind the products. An award-winning influencer in the food world, she is a sought-after speaker on topics from trendspotting to lifestyle and motivation, and entrepreneurship. And of course good food!

For 21 years, from 1995 to 2016, Cowin was the Editor in Chief of Food & Wine magazine. She transformed Food & Wine into a must-read lifestyle publication and digital outlet for anyone who wanted to track culinary trends, up-and-coming chefs, news about travel destinations, entertaining, wine and spirits.

Cowin has a longstanding commitment to supporting opportunities for economic growth through culinary training. She’s on the board of  Food Education Fund and Hot Bread Kitchen, as well as the Food Council of City Harvest.

Elizabeth Schweitzer – Master Sommelier, Grand Hotel

Not only is she the eighth woman sommelier in the world, but Elizabeth also enjoys sharing her vast knowledge every season with our guests.