CHEF IPPY AIONA
Chef Philip "Ippy" Aiona hails from “The Big Island” with a heritage of Italian American and Native Hawaiian. His cuisine is deeply rooted in the traditions of both his Italian heritage and Hawaiian upbringing, masterfully blending this cultural richness with playful creativity and flair for an exquisite experience from start to finish. A culinary prodigy, he graduated top of his class from Le Cordon Bleu, San Francisco, and at 23 years old, he gained national acclaim as the youngest finalist on Food Network's "Food Network Star," followed by a feature in Forbes Magazine's Food & Wine "30 under 30." He triumphed in Canada's International Iron Chef and opened two successful restaurants by 24. Join Chef Aiona aboard these unique Epicurean Expeditions for culinary experiences that weave together marvelous flavors for magnificent experiences.
MARA PAPATHEODOROU
Master Foodie™ Mara Papatheodorou is a nationally established entertaining specialist. As a culinary specialist and historian, she highlights the diverse stories and connections of cuisine and culture worldwide through facts, flavors, flair and folklore. As a 12-year editor at Bon Appétit Magazine, Mara scouted and produced the “Entertaining with Style” section that highlighted how real people entertain around the world. She was the producer of their award-winning annual international Special Collector’s Editions that highlight Italy, France, Greece, Spain, Mediterranean Islands and the British Isles. She works as a Tastes & Traditions expert with food companies and Master Chefs developing recipes, menus and promotional consumer campaigns. She has produced stories about such celebrity chefs as Gordon Ramsey, Wolfgang Puck and many more. She contributes to National Geographic Traveler Magazine and is the author of the coffee table book Moments in Time, The Ojai Valley Inn & Spa.
JULIETA DAVEY
Join Julieta Davey, known as Mamá Cacao, in Europe for a mix of culinary and artistic insights. In the lush Costa Rican jungles, Julieta Davey transformed her passion for cacao into expertise, crafting exquisite chocolates from the 'food of the gods.' Her journey, starting with rustic truffles in the late 1990s, evolved into a renowned brand. As a champion of ethical practices in the cacao industry and an advocate for sustainable farming, her workshops and farm tours offer a unique blend of culinary mastery with a commitment to ethical, environmental stewardship
CHEF MASSIMO CAPRA
Canadian celebrity Chef Massimo Capra is best known for his roles as host on his own television series “Gourmet Escapes,” judge on “Chopped Canada” and chef-host of “Restaurant Makeover” – the last two both popular on the Food Network (USA). He is the owner of Massimo’s Italian at the Sheraton on the Falls Hotel and Boccone at the Toronto Pearson International Airport, as well as his namesake restaurant, Capra’s Kitchen, in his hometown of Mississauga, Ontario. Chef Capra is the author of “One Pot Italian” and “3 Chefs: The Kitchen Men,” which received the gold Canadian Culinary Book Award in 2011.
CHEF RICK MOONEN
Chef Rick Moonen is an acclaimed restaurateur and cookbook author passionate about the sustainability seafood movement. In 2008, motivated by this passion, he published “Fish Without a Doubt.” In 2005, Moonen opened Rick Moonen’s RM Seafood and RX Boiler Room restaurants at Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, showcasing his commitment to sustainability without foregoing culinary creativity and innovation. Chef Moonen has been featured in Food & Wine, Bon Appétit, Saveur, Food Arts, USA Today, and Travel + Leisure. He has also made frequent appearances on the Food Network’s “Best Thing I Ever Ate,” “Top Chef” and “Top Chef Masters” series.
TASTES & TRADITIONS EXPERT JENNIFER MERIÑO
Jennifer Meriño is a caviar master and the co-owner of Kenoz, the southernmost caviar in the world, in Chile, alongside her husband and business partner Chef Rudi Scholdis. Kenoz produces the three most valuable varieties of caviar – Beluga, Oscietra and Sevruga sturgeons – from the pure waters of Patagonia. Of all three, Oscietra is one of the most prized, characterized by light overtones of Chilean butter and European hazelnuts. At Kenoz, she works with state-of-the-art technology to produce sustainably sourced caviar, keeping natural resources in mind while meeting the demand for high-quality caviar. Jennifer Meriño often shares her favorite recipes featuring caviar on the Kenoz website.
CHEF VIET PHAM
Chef Viet Pham, best known as the 2014 winner of “Iron Chef America,” grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area with parents who loved food and cooking. He graduated from the California Culinary Academy in 2002. While attending school, he interned at the Michelin-starred Fifth Floor Restaurant in San Francisco under the award-winning chef Laurent Gras. In July 2009 with fellow Chef Bowman Brown, he opened Forage Restaurant in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 2011, Chef Pham was named “Best Chef” by Salt Lake City Magazine and “Best New Chef” by Food & Wine. He competed in Food Network’s “Next Food Network Star” in 2013 and appeared on “Kitchen Inferno” in 2014.
CHEF PETER CAMPBELL
Chef Peter Campbell, a passionate master in pizza, has made several television appearances, including on the Food Network, Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives (2016), Guy’s Grocery Games (2017 & 2018), Andrew Zimmern Cooks (2018), DDD Takeout (2020) and GGG: Delivery (2021). In 2021, he launched an interactive cooking class called Pizza with Pete as he continues to create deeper connections through an enthusiasm for pizza and hospitality. Chef Campbell began operating Red Wagon Pizza Company, a local pizzeria in Minneapolis, MN, as a mobile, wood-fired oven pizzeria in 2012 with his wife, Jacquie, at The Linden Hills Farmer’s Market. In 2014, he opened his first stand-alone restaurant. Most recently, Red Wagon Pizza Company began shipping bake-at-home pizzas nationwide, sharing Chef Campbell’s family tradition with the entire US.
CHEF BOBBY MARCOTTE
Chef Bobby Marcotte is the creator of the award-winning Hop + Grind restaurant, as well as the Rise + Grind and Barn at Merry Hill. His restaurants have been featured multiple times on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and he was personally invited by Guy Fieri himself to compete five times on Guy’s Grocery Games: Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives Tournament. Chef Marcotte has also competed on Tournament of Champions and Fire Masters Canada. He became Executive Chef of The Tuckaway Tavern & Butchery in 2013 and under his leadership, the restaurant has earned several accolades from “New Hampshire Magazine,” “Spoon University” and “Yankee Magazine.” It has also been named one of the Food Network's “Best Steakhouses in America.” He started in restaurants at 14 years old as a dishwasher and in just three years moved up to sous chef, eventually becoming head chef by 21 years old.
CHEF SYLWIA STACHYRA
Winner of Top Chef Poland 7th Edition, and the only one from the Poland competition to go on to Top Chef World All-Stars 2023, Chef Sylwia Stachyra is considered the most influential woman in the Polish Hospitality Industry. She runs CookShe, a cooking school and consultancy that offers workshops, training, recipes and food design, and more. She trained at Gordon Ramsay's Savoy Grill and studied at Bournemouth College. Chef Stachyra has achieved the highest chef’s degree – NVQ3 – run two restaurants and created several successful concepts for gastronomic businesses. She spent years traveling, including England, Turkey, Italy, Monaco, Spain, Japan and Cyprus, and cooking on yachts, which made a significant impact on her cooking style.
CHEF DAVID SHALLECK
Chef, author, and culinary producer David Shalleck is no stranger to the Mediterranean. As a member of the chef-instructor team at the Oceania Cruises Culinary Center he has taught hands-on classes and led Culinary Discovery Tours™ throughout the region. Earlier in his career, while doing internships in some of Italy’s most famous restaurants he was the summer season chef for a prominent Italian family on board their private yacht. This rare opportunity became the setting for his acclaimed culinary travel memoir, Mediterranean Summer. David has been the chef-de-cuisine in numerous respectable, Michelin-starred fine dining establishments and has logged over 250 cooking shows as the culinary producer for well-known chefs such as Jacques Pépin and José Andrés. Adding recipe and food product development to his vast portfolio of experience, David’s career in the culinary industry has spanned decades.
You can learn more about David at his websites www.volochef.com and www.mediterraneansummer.com.
DIGBY FINE ENGLISH CEO TREVOR CLOUGH
Trevor Clough was born in the United States and raised in Germany. He is the co-founder, CEO and head blender at Digby Fine English, a boutique producer of sparkling wine based in West Sussex. Digby Fine English is the first of its kind blending house in England, sourcing their grapes from local growers in Dorset, Kent and Sussex. Prior to establishing the winery, he was a management consultant in London in the travel/transport, retail and financial services industries. He holds a master’s in business administration from the London Business School and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Economics from Brown University.
SOMMELIER CAROLYN CORYELLE
A California-based sommelier, Carolyn Coryelle studied wine marketing in Santa Rosa and is the former owner of a 40-acre winery in Sonoma County. In the late 1990s, she cleared a site in the coastal hills of Sonoma and planted six acres of Syrah 1,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean. She had such great success that Tin Barn Vineyards soon began sourcing her Syrah for their wines in 2000. After that, she expanded to growing Pinot Noir. She spent the bulk of her wine career with Jackson Family Wines, which produces 14 different brands, including labels from France, Italy, Chile and Australia. She also worked as the Direct Sales Manager at Kendall-Jackson.
ATTIMO WINERY CEO JON SCHLEGEL
Jon Schlegel completed his first dream of opening a restaurant by age 30 when he founded Snooze, an A.M Eatery where the motto was, “It only takes a moment to make a difference.” He then moved onto his second dream – living abroad before he turned 40. He and his family moved to Monforte d’Alba in Piemonte, Italy, in 2013 and settled on the Ginestra Hill with their own small Barolo vineyard. There, Jon worked and learned from wine producing families with generations of experience. Returning to his native home of Denver, he wanted to bring back a piece of Italy. This is when Attimo Winery was born, the name meaning “moment” in Italian.