John Mulcahy
Gastronomy Tourism Advisor
Formerly Failte Ireland
John has an unusual and diverse skillset from his experience in industry, public service, and academia. Originally qualified as a hotel manager, John focused on the operational facets of the international hospitality industry for twenty years. Then John utilized that experience and knowledge for two more decades as a senior public servant with Fáilte Ireland, Ireland's National Tourism Development Authority, where he founded the Irish Food Champions (https://www.irishfoodchampions.com/). Subsequently, John gained a PhD in 2020 based on his food tourism work in Ireland, received the World Food Travel Association Lifetime Achievement Award, and is now an independent post-doctoral researcher, activist and advisor advocating for a wider understanding of the role of food ‘in’ tourism. He is currently compiling
a compendium focusing on the food and beverages of the island of Ireland,
aiming to publish it eventually as a book.
About John Mulcahy
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Gastronomy Tourism Advisor
Formerly Failte Ireland
Federico Pieri
Partnership Development Manager
TasteAtlas
With extensive experience in gastronomy partnerships, Federico is now in his dream job at TasteAtlas, an online compendium of food and culinary culture insights. Federico's expertise in gastronomy was built upon years of research including a degree in Culinary Arts and Hospitality from the University of Gastronomic Sciences. He has worked on several gastronomy research projects and has published numerous articles on gastronomy and culinary culture. He has a particular interest in the cultural and historical aspects of cooking, and the ways in which certain foods intersect with the complex layers of human identity.
https://www.tasteatlas.com
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Partnership Development Manager
TasteAtlas
Yigal Schleifer
Co-Founder and Editor In Chief
Culinary Backstreets
Yigal Schleifer is a renowned food writer, journalist, and the co-founder of Culinary Backstreets, an online magazine focused on exploring global food cultures through in-depth reporting, storytelling, and travel experiences. Schleifer has extensively covered food and culture in his career in journalism, working for prestigious publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and the Atlantic. He is known for his intricate and detailed reportage of diverse communities and cultures, including stories about food and identity, the societal significance of food cultures, and the role of food in diplomacy. Schleifer's personal experiences traveling and tasting food from around the world have equipped him with deep knowledge and insight into global gastronomy cultures, making him a leading expert in the field. His passion for storytelling through food and travel has led him to speak at various food and travel conferences and keep writing about culinary traditions from around the world.
https://culinarybackstreets.com/
About Yigal Schleifer
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Co-Founder and Editor In Chief
Culinary Backstreets
Yasmine Fofana
Founder
Afrofoodie
Yasmine Fofana is a celebrated host, culinary content creator and founder of Afrofoodie: the first food blog of Côte d’Ivoire, Abidjan Restaurant Week & Co-founder of Abidjan Cocktail Week. For the past 11 years, her mission has been to shift the African narrative through its cuisines and elevate culinary tourism on the continent.
Through her unique content that celebrates culinary cultures around the world, Yasmine aims at changing the global conversation around African cuisines.
Some of her collaborations include international institutions such as UN Tourism, Air France, Africa No Filter, GTCO Food & Drink Festival in Nigeria to name a few.
https://www.afrofoodie.net
About Yasmine Fofana
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Founder
Afrofoodie
Junnie Lai
Founder
Global Cuisine Consulting
Chef Junnie’s passion for food is not limited to baking and pastry, she is a talented culinarian in many global cuisines, especially in Southeast Asian cuisines - Chinese, Indian, Malay & Thai cuisines.
With 20 years experiences of Research & Development, Junnie has led many projects and excels in innovative prototyping, recipe development, commercializing products and product launches in the market. She has an MBA and has enjoyed close collaboration with marketing teams. Junnie is very insightful in culinary trends, consumer insights as well as strategizing the product-launching process. Her creativity, detail-oriented and organization skills has been a great asset on many successful products launch.
Junnie is pursuing a PhD in Natural Medicine, helping her to increase her expertise in preparing delicious, fresh and healthy cuisine for proper nutrition. With her passion in natural foods, Junnie has been creating delicious, nutrition-focused recipes with organic ingredients that fit into today’s popular diets such as plant-based diet, gluten free diet, foods that heal and etc.
https://www.globalcuisineconsulting.com/
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Founder
Global Cuisine Consulting
Chef Pierre Thiam
Chef & Founder
Yolélé and Teranga
Pierre Thiam is a chef, author, and social activist best known for bringing West African cuisine to the global fine dining world. He is the executive chef and co-founder of Teranga, a fine-casual food chain from New York City that introduces healthy, casual fare directly sourced from farmers in West Africa. Pierre is also the Executive Chef of the award-winning restaurant Nok by Alara in Lagos, Nigeria and the Signature Chef of the five-star Pullman Hotel in Dakar, Senegal.
His company Yolélé advocates for smallholder farmers in the Sahel by opening new markets for crops grown in Africa. The company’s signature product, Yolélé Fonio, a resilient and nutritious grain, is found in Whole Foods, Target, Amazon, and other retailers across America.
Pierre has cooked for numerous government officials including the King of Morocco, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. Through his devotion to advocacy, combined with his many media appearances, he has become known as a culinary ambassador. His mission is to promote West African cooking throughout the world. His TEDTalk, given at TEDGlobal 2017 in Arusha, Tanzania, has been viewed over one million times.
He has authored three cookbooks, including: The Fonio Cookbook: An Ancient Grain Rediscovered (2019), Senegal: Modern Senegalese Recipes from the Source to the Bowl (2015), and Yolele! Recipes From the Heart of Senegal (2008). He has won numerous awards and accolades for his cooking and advocacy.
Pierre Thiam serves on the Board of Directors for IDEO, SOS Sahel, CorpsAfrica, as well as on the African Cuisine Advisory Board from the Culinary Institute of America.
https://yolele.com/
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Chef & Founder
Yolélé and Teranga
Jermaine Jonas
Chef & Operator
Bush Bungalow Creations
Chef Jermaine Jonas (Bushbungalow) is a plant-based chef originally from the island nation of Antigua and Barbuda. Jonas honed his craft in New York working as the executive chef for The Juice Press. His private clients include David Yurman, Bryce Harper and Doug E Fresh. Jonas has also worked as a consulting chef for various regional, national and international brands specializing in health offerings such as Blue Print Cleanse, Tender Greens, Green House Juice in Canada, and Juice Press in the Bellagio Hotel. Jonas's work history includes helping many restaurant groups with their opening of large-scale food markets (Casa Tua Cucina in Brickell, Miami and Aster Hall in Chicago.) A key area of expertise for Jonas has been and continues to be working extensively as a consulting chef internationally developing foodservice concepts in Canada, Russia, India and Israel. Since residing in Los Angeles, Jonas was the opening executive chef for the Butchers Daughter in Venice, California. Jonas now mainly focuses on private clientele and private events.
https://uptownorganic.wixsite.com/plantbased/
About Jermaine Jonas
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Chef & Operator
Bush Bungalow Creations
Stephanie Winter
Afro-Caribbean Wellness Expert
Wadadlivity
"Stephanie Winter is an entrepreneur, yoga instructor and founder of Wadadlivity - an Afro-Caribbean wellness company headquartered in Antigua and Barbuda. Stephanie curates virtual and in-person experiences that seamlessly blend culinary heritage, wellness, and travel. Wadadlivity celebrates the richness of traditional, indigenous recipes, ingredients and remedies. Stephanie firmly believes that food is a gateway to culture and Wadadlivity contributes to this dialogue by infusing Afro-Caribbean flavors into wellness experiences.
https://www.wadadlivity.com/
About Stephanie Winter
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Afro-Caribbean Wellness Expert
Wadadlivity
Charity Dublin
Community Nutrition Officer
Government of Antigua and Barbuda-Ministry of Health, Wellness, Social Transformation & Environment
Charity Dublin is a vibrant Public Health Nutritionist. She holds a BS in Nutrition and Dietetics and an MSc. in Public Health Nutrition. She is employed as a Community Nutrition Officer in the Ministry of Health, Wellness, Social Transformation and the Environment. She also enjoys providing a range of nutrition consultation services to organizations and individuals. Her passion lies in empowering people to use their available knowledge and resources to make the best nutrition and lifestyle choices for themselves and their families.
https://health.gov.ag/
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Community Nutrition Officer
Government of Antigua and Barbuda-Ministry of Health, Wellness, Social Transformation & Environment
Donyelle Bird-Browne
Sr. Business Development Manager
Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority
Donyelle Bird-Browne, based in Miami, Florida USA, works as a Senior Business Development Manager, Partnerships for the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority (ABTA), with extensive experience in business development, public relations, partnerships, and special projects. She is also a successful tourism, trade, and investment sector connector of people, and a popular hospitality maven in the luxury bespoke micro-event space. Donyelle sits on several pillar marketing strategy committees within the ABTA, that are
focused on promoting heritage and culture, yachting and sailing, wellness, and romance destination products, inclusive of its Wellness Month, Art Week, and Restaurant Week initiatives. She is particularly passionate about sharing her unique Caribbean lifestyle experience of Antigua and Barbuda where “the beach is just the beginning…”
https://www.visitantiguabarbuda.com/
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Sr. Business Development Manager
Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority
Petra Barišic
Assistant Professor
Department of Tourism University of Zagreb, Croatia
Dr. Petra Barišic has been working at the Department of Tourism Faculty of Economics & Business Zagreb University of Zagreb for the last 15 years. There she educates more than 600 students each year. Her research interests include social media in tourism, gastronomy, sustainability in tourism, tourism marketing and promotion, transportation economics and behavioural economics in tourism. She has lectured in more than 20 countries, and published dozens of articles and books. She is also a mom to three, yoga teacher and in her copious free time, she runs a private consulting company.
About Petra Barišic
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Assistant Professor
Department of Tourism University of Zagreb, Croatia
Erik Wolf
Executive Director & Founder
World Food Travel Association
Erik is the founder of the culinary travel trade industry, and Executive Director of the World Food Travel Association, the world's leading authority on food and beverage tourism. He is the publisher of Have Fork Will Travel (a practical handbook for our industry - find it on Amazon), author of Culinary Tourism: The Hidden Harvest, and is also a highly sought strategist and speaker around the world on gastronomy tourism. He has been featured in The New York Times, Newsweek, and Forbes, and on CNN, Sky TV, the BBC, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, PeterGreenberg.com, and other leading media outlets.
https://www.worldfoodtravel.org
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Executive Director & Founder
World Food Travel Association
Niclas Fjellstrom
Global Coordinator
Culinary Heritage Network
Niclas lives in Sweden but considers himself a global citizen. Since early childhood brought up in the spirit of hard work, good smells and tasty food from family's restaurants. He has travelled to most the world, tasting new experiences as he went. Niclas has been the coordinator for the Culinary Heritage Network since 2012. In this capacity, he works on a daily basis with the network activities and in different projects related to food and culture with a contact surface to more than 25 countries.
He has been a speaker at various events and conferences within the fields of tourism, culinary culture, economy and local food production. He has inspired audiences in Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey & Ukraine.
https://www.culinaryheritage.net/
About Niclas Fjellstrom
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Global Coordinator
Culinary Heritage Network
