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Here are the profiles of our esteemed judges - we thank them very much for giving their time to help us (and you).....

Adjudicators:

Dr Barbara Santich

is the Program Manager of the Master of Arts Gastronomy at Adelaide University (www.adelaide.edu.au/humss/gastronomy/). After graduating with a science degree from the University of NSW (B.Sc. Hons I) she was influenced by the writing of Waverley Root (The Food of France) and Elizabeth David (French Provincial Cooking), and travels to Europe where she began a food writing career which has continued for over twenty years. Her fascination with languages and France developed into a sympathy with the ancient languages of Mediterranean France, which in turn led to a BA (University of Minnesota) and PhD (Flinders University of SA). Barbara has written for numerous Australian newspapers and magazines, from the Australian to Gourmet Traveller, as well as overseas publications including The Journal of Gastronomy, Petits Propos Culinaires, the New York Times and Slow. She contributed extensively to the Oxford Companion to Food, edited by Alan Davidson, has presented papers at many Australian and overseas conferences, and is a regular participant at the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery. Barbara is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Slow Food and of the Editorial Board of Petits Propos Culinaires.

Judges:

Jane Adams

is a marketing and communications consultant specialising in wine, hospitality and agrifoods. She is the chief judge of the NSW Restaurant & Catering Awards, a leading food writer and restaurant critic, and the Australia contributor to New Zealand’s respected food magazine, Cuisine. She is a passionate proponent of farmers’ markets and Chair of the Australian Farmers’ Markets Association (www.farmersmarkets.org.au).

Luke Beesley

is a poet, short-prose writer and feature journalist. His writing has been published widely in major Australian newspapers and literary journals, and he is currently completing post graduate study in Creative Writing at the University of Queensland. His first book of poetry and short fiction, 'Lemon Shark', is due in 2005.

Allan Campion & Michelle Curtis

have been food writers for the past decade. Their publications include the popular The Foodies' Guide to Melbourne, Secret Men's BBQ Business, Campion & Curtis in the Kitchen, The Seasonal Produce Diary, Fresh, Sizzle and many more.
Michele and Allan also operate a food-lovers website at (www.campionandcurtis.com).

Di Colman

spent her childhood in country NSW and moved to Sydney to study Fine Arts at The National Art School, Darlinghurst. When these studies were interrupted due to family circumstances she found herself immersed in the Animation Industry holding positions of Animator, Character Designer, Director and Animation Teacher with companies such as Walt Disney, Hanna Barbera, Southern Star and Burbank Studios. In 1998 Di returned to country NSW where she indulged herself in her first love, painting and in September 2003 she set up ‘the di colman gallery’ in Summer Street, Orange. At present her own ‘quirky’ style of satirical paintings are on display at The David Hart Galleries, Mooloolaba, The Clay Pan Gallery, Dubbo and at her home studio.

Jane Cornes

is WA state editor for Gourmet Traveller magazine and writes the "Madame Lush" weekly restaurant review column for Post Newspapers. She also contributes freelance food and wine features to Scoop magazine and is a restaurant consultant. She lives in the perth suburb of bayswater with her nine year old daughter, two cats and an overgrown herb garden.

Peter Crisp

is a world-renowned glass artist who works and resides at “Gap Range” Bowning near the country town of Yass in New South Wales. Since his first exhibition in 1982 Peter has achieved extraordinary success and has exhibited in Australia, the USA, Great Britain, Germany, Italy and Puerto Rico. His work is held in private collections and in the permanent collections of public galleries all over the world. Peter specialises in infusing 22 carat gold and platinum artistic designs onto hand painted, kiln-fired tableware based on techniques dating back to 5th century BC, but finished with a modern touch. In 2001 he was a finalist in the Overseas Trading sponsored Arts & Entertainment Award category of the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) Australian Export Awards (www.petercrisp.com.au).

Holly Davis’

distinctive food has been nourishing Sydney since 1985 when she co-founded the respected whole food eatery Iku. In 1998 she established Holly Davis Real Food (www.hollydavisrealfood.com) which creates a range of organic food products and provides a home delivery service, event catering, cooking classes and private consultation for those with special dietary needs. Holly is the author of the internationally acclaimed cookbook Nourish and is a regular contributor to the Sydney Morning Herald Good Weekend Magazine.

Kelly Donati

was awarded a Master of Arts in Gastronomy in 2004 where her research focused on eco-gastronomy, ethics and the relationship between culture and agriculture. She was also awarded an MA from Monash University in 2000 focusing on critical theory and literary criticism as well as studying French cooking and cuisine at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris in 1997. In addition to her ongoing research and writing in gastronomy, she is currently consulting in executive development, conducting research on the palm oil industry in South-east Asia and working on a strategic local government environmental project.

Karen Dubois

is Le Cordon Bleu's Marketing Manager for Australia and New Zealand. She has been part of the Le Cordon Bleu team promoting the Farm to Table competition to schools around the country. She has developed, written and implemented curriculum and teaching resources for Le Cordon Bleu's specialist English for Hospitality and Tourism program and has worked as an English language teacher for over 20 years. Karen LIVES TO EAT -She is a purveyor, collector, consumer and advocate for good food and wine...and the pleasure it brings to one and all.

Murray (Muz) Hartin

is a yarn teller of the bush style. The epic yarn Turbulence, about a Northern Territory stockman who rides his swag up to Business Class when the plane he’s on hits bad weather, made it to No.16 on the National country music charts in 2000 – a rare feat for a spoken word piece. His recent poem, Rain From Nowhere, addresses the issue of rural suicide, and has created more interest than any other spoken word piece in recent history. An animated clip of a story about him having to eat animals in alphabetical order to cure him of eating meat, A-Z, made the final 16 short films at Tropfest 2007.

Ian (Herbie) Hemphill

is the younger son of John and Rosemary Hemphill, who pioneered Australia’s love of herbs and spices in the 1950’s. Ian worked with his parents for many years, managed a spice company in Singapore and was a senior manager for a multinational food company in Australia. Ian’s first book “Spice Notes” was launched in October 2000 and won the Food Media Club Vittoria Award for best hard cover food related book in Australia and it was one of eight nominees for the Jacobs Creek World Food Media Award for best hard cover food related book in the world. In September 2002 Ian’s second book Spice Travels – A Spice Merchant’s Voyage of Discovery” was launched and was a nominee in the Best Food Book category for the Jacobs Creek World Food Media Awards 2003. In March 2003 “Herbie” was awarded the Food Media Club of Australia Peer Industry Award for Best Overall Contribution to the Communication of Food. Ian continues to conduct Spice Appreciation classes at his shop in Rozelle and is a regular presenter on Australian TV and radio.

Sam Hill-Smith

graduated in 1975 from the North Adelaide School of Art, where he specialised in Painting. In 1982, after a number of years working and travelling, Sam established the Adelaide Art Exchange in Adelaide which later became the Hill-Smith Fine Art Gallery exhibiting well-known local and interstate artists. (www.hillsmithfineart.com.au) He is also a founding director of the South Australian Living Artists (SALA) Festival, a state representative of the Australian Commercial Galleries Association, as well as being on the Christies (Australia) Advisory Board. Hill-Smith Fine Art is a partner with Malaysian Airlines in an annual travelling scholarship in association with the Helpmann Academy, a partnership of South Australian Visual and Performing Art Schools.

Sharon Lee

With a background in fine arts and a Master's Degree in Art, Sharon Lee’s personal focus includes the impact of design on the needs of internet users; user interaction, dynamic data and usability. She founded the company Richapplefool to connect clients to their audience through captivating brands, illustrations and online media. Since its inception, she has completed business-critical and high-end projects for the ABC, News Digital Media, i7, Pacific Magazines and L.J.Hooker.

Em Prof Harry Lovell C.Sci

is a packaging and food technologist. He worked in industry for many years before entering education. Prior to leaving industry full time he was Senior Product Development Manager with Cadbury Schweppes Foods in the U.K. He is a consultant and is involved in a number of food technology and packaging programs. He is a Judge for the Australian and Southern Cross Packaging Awards and is currently President of the Australian Institute of Packaging.

Jessica Loyer

has just completed the Master’s Program in Gastronomy at Adelaide University, where her research focused on Jewish Sabbath cooking in Australia. Originally from Boston, she first developed an interest in food when she moved to New York and discovered its diversity of culinary cultures. After achieving a BA in American and Jewish history, she traveled to Israel where she was exposed to the range of Jewish cuisines. Her culinary lens, which had so often focused outward during her international travels and explorations in New York City, turned inwards to examine the cooking of her own tradition. She currently leads tours at the Adelaide Central Markets, conducts culinary research at Adelaide University and independently, works in hospitality, and designs artistic jewelry.

Tess Mallos

was born in Australia of Greek parents and has a wealth of cooking experience. She worked as a cooking consultant for over 40 years, working in food styling for photography and television, developing recipes and writing for the print media. She wrote her first cookbook in 1970 on meat cookery, and after contributing to other books, wrote The Greek Cookbook and The Complete Middle East Cookbook, which has been in print since its release in 1979, both selling in Australia and overseas. Other books include The Bean Cookbook, The Barbecue Cookbook, The Complete Mediterranean Cookbook and the historical text of the 200 Years History of Australian Cooking.

Ian Marr

is a self-taught epigraphist or as he likes to call himself, an artist and lettercutter. He has worked as an artist in many media since the 1970s. He believes in the nourishing of art by scholarship, and has learnt his crafts through independent study and through master classes. For the past six years he has been a zealous lettercutter, cutting texts from the literature and philosophy of the world. Ian is particularly interested in placing text in stone in public and private gardens and in bushland settings. More about Ian and some great pics by Andrew Lehmann here (www.ianmarr.com.au)

Roberta Muir

has managed the Sydney Seafood School (www.sydneyfishmarket.com.au) since 1997. In 2003 she was one of the first to be awarded a Master of Arts in Gastronomy from the University of Adelaide. Her passion for food, wine and foreign culture has led her on adventures in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. She writes freelance food-wine-travel articles for a number of leading publications including Wine & Dine (Singapore) and Australian Wine Selectors, has recently been accepted as a member of The Guild of Foodwriters (UK), and can be heard on the Chris Smith show on 2GB on Thursday’s discussing Sydney restaurants. (www.food-wine-travel.com)

Kenn Nesbitt

is a time-travelling robot from the 14th dimension.
He is 100 feet tall and nearly invisible most days of the week.
When he's not playing parcheesi with orangutans or dancing the left-handed mambo,
you'll find him making up goofy poems for kids at (www.poetry4kids.com).

John Newton

is a freelance writer, journalist and novelist. Some of his food books are Wogfood, An Oral History With Recipes; Fresh From Italy; with Stefano Manfredi; bel mondo beautiful world also with Stefano Manfredi; and The Food Shopper’s Guide to Sydney with Helen Greenwood. Two more food books coming up in late 2004 and early 2005 are A Little Taste of Spain and Cooking Spanish, both for Murdoch, for whom he was also consultant editor on Food: the essential A-Z guide His two novels are Whoring and The Man Who Painted Women. He writes for The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, the (sydney) magazine, Divine, Slow, Australian Way and is co-editor of the restaurant guide Sydney Eats. He has won several awards for his food writing and lives in Sydney with his wife and two daughters.

Pauline Plumb

has been practicing art for several decades now, and has moved from watercolours and ceramics into photomedia, object installation and sculpture. Pauline graduated in 2001 from Sydney College of the Arts with a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Sculpture), and Master of Studio Art (with Honours) and has been part of many group exhibitions, and had her first solo show in early 2006. Pauline has had commissions nationally and internationally. Pauline works from a shared studio space in Surry Hills as well as spending time drawing from nature at a lakeside retreat. The focus of her work comes from the everyday, both spiritual and experiencial. Having grown up in a rural mining area, this has greatly influenced her artistic practice, as has comparative religion and the phenomena of light and dark, and love of lighthouses. Passionate about food, and having worked nationally and internationally for many years in a gourmet food company, several of her artworks involve objects and food itself, conveying the fragility and limited lifespan of such pieces, and the rich colour and beauty of fruit in particular.

Lynelle Scott-Aitken

is an award-winning food journalist. She qualified as a chef with Neil Perry and Anne Taylor before specialising in pastry with Tony Bilson. She holds a Bachelor's degree in English literature and religious studies (USyd/Sorbonne) and a Master’s degree in communications (UTS). Her food writing can be seen in leading Australian food magazines and the Sydney Morning Herald. She was the food editor of Australian Country Style magazine, the editor of Gourmet Vegetarian, has written copious restaurant and food book reviews, judged at the Jacob's Creek World Food Media Awards and regularly judges Australian regional produce for the Royal Agricultural Society. She was also a convenor of the 2004 Australian Symposium of Gastronomy. Lynelle's published books include two recipe books and the World Food Portugal title in Lonely Planet's internationally acclaimed World Food Series.

Karen Sharman

graduated from architecture in 1996 then in 2000 set off on a two year journey around Australia with her husband. On their return they settled in Glenbrook and Karen began to work on what has now become an obsession – making, baking, decorating and selling gingerbread. After years of hard work, the business is starting to make inroads in the competitive niche of specialty food. She (and now with baby Phoebe) still sells her gingerbread families, cats and dogs from a stall at Sydney’s Fox Markets as well as through her website (www.gingerbreadfolk.com)

Alicia Sometimes

is a poet who has been published in both Australia and the US as well as performing the spoken word over 350 times at events like Melbourne Writers’ Festival (1999-2001), Adelaide Fringe, Melbourne Fringe (Best Spoken Word Show 2001), Tasmanian Poetry Festival (2000) and the Newcastle Writers’ Festival (1998-2001). Her work has appeared on 14 spoken word CDs, most recently You Talkin To Me?, Short Fuse (NY) and You Have Been Chosen. Her first collection of poetry was released in 2003 by Five Islands Press. Her work has been on radio many times: JJJ, 3RRR, 4ZZZ, 774, 3PBS, 3CR, 2SER, 5UV, Radio National, ABC Hobart, Kimberley and Darwin and she currently presents her own weekly show ‘Aural Text’ on 3RRR. Alicia is co-editor of the literary journal Going Down Swinging www.goingdownswinging.org.au and teaches poetry at Chisholm TAFE .

Anita Stewart

is a culinary adventurer in her quest to discover all there is to know about the cuisine of Canada (www.anitastewart.ca). Over two decades she has defined the term "Canadian culinary tourism" and continues to push to make it an important scholarly discipline. In 1994 she helped establish Cuisine Canada, the first and still only, Pan-Canadian culinary alliance of food professionals. Anita consults for The Canadian Institute for the Advanced Culinary Arts; Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Department of Canadian Heritage and the University of Guelph. She is also a Jury Member for the Slow Food Award; writes for that organization's web-site and magazines and is on the faculty of Slow Food’s University of Gastronomy in Italy. She is a Juror for the Jacob’s Creek World Food Media Awards; is an Active Member of The Society of American Travel Writers, was one of the first to be awarded a Master of Arts in Gastronomy from The University of Adelaide and was recently awarded a lifetime membership in the Ontario Institute of Agrologists so now she is also an Honorary Professional Agrologist (P.Ag.Hon).

Sherry Strong

is an internationally recognised food expert and leading authority on health and wellbeing. As a chef, nutritionist and food coach she is regularly invited to present on both Australian and Canadian television, radio programmes and for top corporations. Sherry is an award-winning presenter who runs one day Energy Mastery seminars that feature her revolutionary Nature Principle and Performance Enhancing Eating, in order to inspire and enlighten you to achieve unlimited energy (www.foodloversworkshop.com).

Simon Thomsen

is the restaurant critic for the Daily Telegraphy in Sydney and the former co-editor of Good Food Guide and critic for The Sydney Morning Herald - that is when he's not out to lunch or dinner (and sometimes breakfast). He worked as a waiter and chef around the world for many years before returning to Australia, where he cooked at the Balmoral Bather's Pavilion before deciding to swap his knife for a pen. (Note, YG has had to slightly adjust Simon's image in order to ensure his continued anonymity.)

Alla Wolf-Tasker

is Executive Chef and co-proprietor of Lake House, Restaurant and Small Luxury Hotel located in Daylesford Victoria (www.lakehouse.com.au). The property continues to be the recipient of numerous national and international awards including: an impressive total of 43 hats from The Age Good Food Guide; membership of the American Express Hall of Fame; RCA Restaurant of the Year; Best of Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator New York and Best Dining Room in a Luxury Retreat from Gourmet Traveller Magazine. Alla’s was named a ‘living legend’ by the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in recognition of her contribution to the hospitality industry and the Age Good Food Guide’s Award for Professional Excellence. Two particular passions of Alla’s are the training of young people and the fostering of small scale regional producers. Alla has also been instrumental in developing a strong network of regional suppliers and is a founding convenor of DMP (Daylesford Macedon Produce) her region’s food and wine group. She serves as a director on the Board of Tourism Victoria and is a member of The Victorian Wineries Tourism Council.