Chef Rome – Chef Rome is a Managing Partner of Basil Magazine.  Please read his column “Ask Chef Rome” and see his interview with Amaka Nwigwe in this issue. 

Chef Ben – Chef Ben is a member of Basil’s Chef’s Council.  You can read more about Chef Ben in the “Chef’s Spotlight” or in the “Chef’s Council” section in this issue. 

Chef Yorman – Chef Yorman is a member of Basil’s Chef’s Council who resides in Venezuela.  You can read more about Chef Yorman in the “Chef’s Council” and read his article, written in Spanish titled “Molecular Gastronomy section in this issue.

Chef Mitch Weinstein – Food lover and professionally trained “chef”, hails from New York, NY.  Mitch’s popular blog “Tasty Travails” is a blog about cooking, eating, dinking, restaurants, bars, the neighborhood, and anything les that comes to mind, is a real winner!  http://tastytravails.blogspot.com/

Nicole Antoinette – The Gadget Girl is a young foodie who loves to experiment in the kitchen.  Nicole has lived in Baton Rouge, LA; Atlanta, GA, and now resides in Houston, TX where she is attending college.  She is very active and loves track and field, basketball, shopping and hanging out with family and friends.  She is excited about her new column and can’t wait to show you all of the great kitchen tools and gadgets she has planned for the months to come.  Stay tuned… 

Vee Fitzgerald - Born Rashida Veronique Serrant in the Bronx, NY, Veronique was raised in the Flatlands section of Brooklyn.  Her career has allowed her to live and work in the UK and New Zealand.  She has managed restaurant wine programs and retail wine shops all while she studied on the Wines and Spirits Education Trust program through the Diploma level course.  At present she consults for two New Zealand wine importers and creates events with her husband, Chef Shehu Fitzgerald, and their company, Illchef Productions, Inc and writes a weekly blog called wineLIFE. They are preparing to launch a wine retail shop in Staten Island, NY this year. She currently holds the title of President of Women for WineSense, NYC Chapter, and has a seven month old daughter, Ché Elizabeth.

Chef Shed Wallace - Shed Wallace's unique understanding of culinary arts, restaurant operations, and business has allowed him to bring the right solutions to extremely complex restaurant problems. Shed's practical approach to the Restaurant Business is rooted in his broad hand-on experience operating restaurants. Starting in restaurants as a teenager, Shed has literally worked every conceivable position in restaurant operations from dishwasher to multi-unit director as he rose to become an industry leader. He has also developed and run operations ranging from casual cafes to fine dining restaurants.  Shed is currently a restaurant industry adviser, speaker, and a regular contributor to the EateryTribe.com blog. He resides in Southern California with his wife and son.   

Teresa Marie Howes - Living in the Gaslamp district in downtown San Diego - Cocktails are always on the menu! With a bachelor's degree in nutrition and 10 years of experience in the weight loss industry - I've always known alcohol was high in calories. It wasn't until I turned 30 that the predicament became a real problem. But with every great dilemma comes a stellar solution...  Hence SkinnyTinis! Delicious, fun, intoxicating cocktails - all with 50% fewer calories - hooray! The SkinnyTinis mission is to teach social drinkers how to create balance between their lifestyle and their weight management goals. SkinnyTinis truly is ALL THE FUN FOR HALF THE CALORIES! Teresa Marie Howes, SkinnyTinis, LLC, http://www.skinnytinis.com/  

Nicole J. Caruth – Basil’s “Lifestyle Editor” wears many hats as a writer, editor, visual art curator, personal trainer and Spin instructor. Her blog Contemporary Confections merges two of her greatest loves: art and sweets. Her writing has been published by the Studio Museum in Harlem; Taipei Fine Arts Museum; CUE Art Foundation; Art21; Might Be Good, and Gastronomica to name just a few. Caruth is a Community Chef with the New York City organization Just Food. She is working to form a cooking program for children of low-income families in Brooklyn, where she currently resides.  www.sweetcontemporary.com 

Rebecca Brenner, Ph.D. – “I am a nutritionist and writer, interested in reviving do-it-yourself projects in my kitchen, my home, and my community. My focus over the past few years has been on DIY local food and drinks, in-home artisan food practices, and easy food preservation. In will share how I extend my experiments from my kitchen into all areas of my life. It will be full of musings, recipes, techniques, and stories on living my life a bit more expressive and self-sufficient.”   beccabrenner@msn.com  /  www.parkcityholistichealth.com  /  www.playfulnoshings.blogspot.com  

Giulia Scarpaleggia – “Since I was a very little child, I simply love cooking, very much.I knead over and over, flour everywhere, my mind completely free and driven away from worries and thoughts. I choose my ingredients on their colour, scent and consistency so to melt and blend them in an harmonious symphony.
I’m strongly proud of my roots in my lovely Tuscan countryside, deeply fond of my family, joyfully drunk with my garden lime tree scent, crazily in love with the slashing red winter sunsets I enjoy from my living-room, and then cicadas, crickets, fireflies on wheat fields, the just-mowed grass smell, my parents’ laughs, my granny’s stories and my sister’s vanilla- and soap-like hugs.  I like to find out new tastes and discover new places and countries through their recipes.  I am lost with tastes which make me dream about far lands and their magic traditions.  That’s me: in between my Tuscan crib and my strong will to find out the world.” www.julskitchen.com

Amaka Nwigwe has been working as a freelance writer and photographer since 2001. Inspired by her love for travel, fashion, and nightlife, she began an editorial career providing runway coverage of Olympus Fashion week New York and Los Angeles, star-studded red carpets, reportage of Parisian street fashion, and local galas and events. She has contributed images to CityFlight Magazine, Honey Magazine, Ozone Magazine, TDink.com, FashionLines.com, Cafedelasoul.com, and Blackstarnews.com, among others. The Academy of Art University alumnus has also worked as an assistant fashion editor and eventually the assistant to the publisher of CityFlight Magazine.  “The people, places and events that I experience inspire me. I want to capture and convey their inherent beauty and charm, off kilter uniqueness, or just their fleeting moment of excitement. Art and design, best friends in peels of laughter, ready-to wear, France, Spain, Ghana, Italy, Nigeria; I’m inspired by it all!”  Amaka currently works and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Zena Scott Williams - With a name that translates to “news” in Ethiopia, it’s no wonder than Zena, on of our contributing writers, has found her way to the pen and pad. Born in London and raised in California, she defines herself as a true, “California girl.” She’ll travel to almost anywhere, (quote: “…if the flights are on sale!”), naming Bermuda, New York, Houston, Aruba, Chicago and St. Maarten as a few of her stops within the last 12 months. Since relocating to Atlanta in 2003, she’s interviewed the likes of Nick Cassavetes (John Q & The Notebook) and John Singleton (Boyz n the Hood & 2 Fast 2 Furious) for Atlanta’s Entertainment Monthly – INsite Magazine.

  Elizabeth Boodhoo - Claiming the Canadian government gave her money to leave the country, Elizabeth took her scholarship money, spent an exchange year in Europe, and has never looked back. While travelling across the continent, she’s developed an appreciation of food and wine which she writes about in her blog The Good Sandwich. Elizabeth can be found scouring the farmer’s markets of her two hometowns, Hamilton, Canada, and Heidelberg, Germany. 

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