SONIA LUNDY

by barb | Aug 30, 2021

I was born and raised in Liverpool, England, and grew up around food with my father who owned Chinese food restaurants and was also a food manufacturer. I came to California in 1986 and have two beautiful daughters. I love to hike, travel, and enjoy live...

TONY ALBANESE

by danikka | Apr 29, 2024

As native of the Chicago area, I was raised on a melange of culinary influences including southern Italian from my paternal influence, central European on his mom’s side, and Ukrainian cuisine courtesy of my stepfather. Over the course of my career, I have honed my...

UMAIMA MERCHANT

by danikka | Jun 9, 2025

That photo captures just about all the great loves of my life—food, travel, language, history, context… and of course, the husband. 😊 It was taken at Çiya Sofrası in Istanbul, a magical little restaurant run by the legendary Musa Dağdeviren. He’s one of Turkey’s most...

WENNIE MO

by barb | Aug 30, 2021

My first lesson about food was that it can be a very important part of a person’s life. I was not more than 10 years old when my father took us all the way to Ipoh, Malaysia, because he wanted to have the best fresh rice noodles in the world. Showing us the city where...

WILLEM DUCKWORTH

by danikka | Jun 29, 2022

Raised in the woods of Connecticut, my relationship with food started with my father’s cooking. The meals he created every night for me and my family were inspired by his proud motto: “there is no food that I do not like to eat.” Needless to say, we experienced quite...