The Jury
Jim Dodge
Jim has published several cookbooks, including the award-winning American Baker and Baking with Jim Dodge. He is a contributing editor to the revised Joy of Cooking, as well as a former contributing editor to Food & Wine, and consulting culinary editor to Cooks Illustrated. Jim has received numerous honors, including a James Beard Award for Excellence in 2005, a Gold Plate Award presented by the American Academy of Achievement in 1989, a James Beard Cookbook Award in 1987, and the Honor Roll of American Chefs for Food & Wine in 1983.
Mas Masumoto
Mas Masumoto is an organic peach, nectarine, apricot, and grape farmer and the author of thirteen books including: Epitaph for a Peach, Wisdom of the Last Farmer, and Changing Season. He and the family also published a farm cookbook, The Perfect Peach. A feature documentary, Changing Season on the Masumoto Family Farm, was nationally broadcast by PBS in May, 2016.
A third generation farmer, Masumoto grows organic peaches, nectarines, apricots, and raisins on an 80 acre family farm south of Fresno, Calif. Masumoto is currently a columnist for The Fresno Bee. His writing awards include Commonwealth Club Silver medal, Julia Child Cookbook award and the Independent Publisher Book Award. Wisdom of the Last Farmer was honored as “Best Environmental Writing in 2009” by National Resources Defense Council. The Perfect Peach was named by USA Today as one of best summer cookbooks in 2013. He currently serves on the boards of the Public Policy Institute of California and CalMatters. In 2013, President Obama appointed Masumoto the National Council on the Arts, the board for the National Endowment for the Arts.
Lolis Eric Elie
Lolis Eric Elie is a New Orleans born, Los Angeles based food writer and filmmaker. He is the author of “Smokestack Lightning: Adventures in the Heart of Barbecue Country,” and the co-author of “Rodney Scott’s World of Barbecue: Every Day’s a Good Day,” among other books. His essay, “America’s Greatest Hits,” is included in Best African American Essays: 2009. His television credits include work on “Bosch,” “The Man in the High Castle,” “Greenleaf” and the HBO series “Treme.” Working with the award-winning director Dawn Logsdon, he co- produced and wrote the PBS documentary, Faubourg Treme: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans.
Kate Krader
Kate Krader is the Food Editor at Bloomberg Pursuits, currently based in London. She writes about news and trends around the UK and the US and oversees food coverage from all over the world for the website and Businessweek magazine. She also contributes to the Bloomberg business division.
She is the former restaurant editor at Food & Wine magazine, where she oversaw its news, trend and restaurant coverage. During her long tenure at the monthly magazine, she led Food & Wine‘s annual search for Food & Wine Best New Chefs.
She also edited the Food & Wine Cocktails, an annual guide to the hottest cocktail recipes, the best spots and the biggest trends in nightlife.
A graduate of Kenyon College in Ohio, Krader received her formal culinary training at La Varenne in Paris. She resides in Manhattan.
Andrea Nguyen
A culinary bridge builder and leading authority on Asian food, Andrea Nguyen was born in Vietnam and came to the United States at the age of six as a refugee. She has authored six acclaimed cookbooks, including The Pho Cookbook, a James Beard Foundation award winner. Epicurious named her one of the 100 Greatest Home Cooks of All Time. Her vegetable-driven cookbook, Ever-Green Vietnamese, publishes in April 2023.
A former Saveur contributing editor and Cooking Light columnist, Andrea holds a master’s degree from the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. She has written articles and developed recipes for Food & Wine, EatingWell, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Los Angeles Times.
Andrea lives in Santa Cruz, California, where she does most of her writing, teaching, and podcasting. Stay in touch with her via vietworldkitchen.com, on Twitter @aqnguyen, and Instagram @andreanguyen88. Subscribe to her Substack newsletter, Pass the Fish Sauce.