Ariel Arce is the 32 year-old New York entrepreneur, also known as the Champagne Empress of Greenwich Village and Nightlife Hitmaker, behind Tokyo Record Bar, Air’s Champagne Parlor, Niche Niche, and Special Club, all of which opened within 2018-2020 on MacDougal Street. Ariel’s passions for wine, dinner parties and music shine throughout her spaces. Each has a distinctive identity and offers guests a singular experience yet share the common philosophy that going out in New York should be more than just picking food from a menu or getting a ticket to a show. Her restaurants inspire conviviality, human connection, discovery, and be affordable.

Arley Marks creates inventive and unique drinks that employ scents, opulent garnishes and unexpected ingredients to present an experience that is both multi­-sensory and intoxicating. Arley is a dynamic talent, a restaurateur, designer and mixologist with over a decade of high level food service experience. Arley currently is the co-owner of Honey's, the tasting room and cocktail bar for Enlightenment Wines, NYC's first meadery. Since opening, Honey's has received accolades from The New York Times, Edible Brooklyn, and The New Yorker, GQ, T Magazine, and Tasting Table to name a few. Arley has designed the beverage programs for Mission Chinese Food (Orchard St), Dimes, 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge, 99 Scott Studios, and Pioneer Works. Arley also works on a freelance basis to develop signature cocktails and drinks for special events and has worked for clients such as Bottega Veneta, Eckhaus Latta, Outdoor Voices, Bon Appétit, White Castle, Material Vodka, and Yola Mezcal. Arley's drinks have been featured in TIME Style Magazine, Vogue, Vanity Fair, The Fader, Condé Nast Traveler, and US Weekly.

Cara Nicoletti is a 4th generation butcher, recipe developer, author of the literary cookbook Voracious, and host of the VICE MUNCHIES’ series, The Hangover Show. Cara learned butchery from her great grandfather and grandfather at their family shop outside of Boston, and is the first woman in her family to take up the trade. She has been working in restaurants since she moved to New York in 2004, and has filled nearly every position—barista, waitress, line cook, baker, pastry chef, in-house butcher, and sometimes a combination of a few at once—before eventually making her way back to butchery full-time. She has been working as a whole animal butcher in Brooklyn for the last decade, and her colorful, produce-forward sausages have gained a cult following, garnering press from Bon Appetit magazine, Vogue, Food & Wine, The Food Network, Buzzfeed, Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls, and more. She is the winner of the first ever Chopped butchery competition, and has developed recipes for cookbooks such as Athena Calderone’s Cook Beautiful. Cara is currently in the process of creating a CPG sausage brand to get her sausages into stores nationwide.

Camille Becerra is a chef, food stylist and recipe developer. With close to 20 years of restaurant experience, Becerra’s menus showcase her commitment to healthful, seasonal and local ingredients and her affection for approachable yet refined New American cuisine. The result is food that is clean, creative and aesthetically pleasing. Her inspiration comes from the diversity of New York City and rich food cultures around the world such as the Mediterranean, France and Japan. Becerra played an integral role in developing the identity at De Maria, helmed the kitchen at Navy, and held a guest chef residency at Café Henrie. Becerra continues to do a number of pop-ups both near and far, most recently in Tulum, the Rockaways and in Paris, as well as acting as a food contributor at Domino Magazine.

Fabian von Hauske Valtierra is the chef-owner of Contra and Wildair in New York City’s Lower East Side with Jeremiah Stone. Across projects, the duo prides themselves on cooking ambitious yet accessible food accompanied by a comprehensive natural wine program. While Contra serves an ever-changing tasting menu made with local and seasonal ingredients, Wildair provides diners with more casual offerings inspired by European wine bars. In the spring of 2018, they joined forces with Anthony Mangieri to bring the beloved restaurant Una Pizza Napoletana back to New York, adding small plates and desserts to the menu alongside his renowned, naturally leavened pies.

Originally from Mexico City, von Hauske Valtierra studied at FCI where he met Stone. His prior experience includes pastry at Jean-Georges and stages at Noma in Copenhagen and Attica in Melbourne.

In 2016, they were both named Food & Wine’s “Best New Chef” and awarded a Michelin star for Contra. Von Hauske Valtierra was also named one of Forbes’ “30 Under 30 in Food & Drink” and Conde Nast Traveler’s “10 Young Chefs to Watch” in 2016.

Hannah found her way to dumplings by way of Wall Street. With a degree from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, Hannah worked on the trading floor at J.P. Morgan in Interest Rates Sales for almost eight years. In 2014, Hannah and her sister Marian opened the first Mimi Cheng's in New York's East Village, serving the authentic, delicious Taiwanese dumplings they grew up with. Two years later, Mimi Cheng’s expanded to their second location in Nolita with a continued commitment to using sustainable and locally sourced ingredients and their mother's recipes. In 2015, both Hannah and Marian were included in Zagat’s 30 Under 30. They’ve also been featured in notable media outlets including Bon Appetit, Vogue, New York Magazine, and Forbes.

Jeremiah Stone is the chef-owner of Contra and Wildair in New York City’s Lower East Side with Fabian von Hauske Valtierra. Across projects, the duo prides themselves on cooking ambitious yet accessible food accompanied by a comprehensive natural wine program. While Contra serves an ever-changing tasting menu made with local and seasonal ingredients, Wildair provides diners with more casual offerings inspired by European wine bars. In the spring of 2018, they joined forces with Anthony Mangieri to bring the beloved restaurant Una Pizza Napoletana back to New York, adding small plates and desserts to the menu alongside his renowned, naturally leavened pies.

Born in Washington D.C., Stone previously held positions at the French Culinary Institute (FCI), Rino in Paris and Isa formerly in Brooklyn.

In 2016, they were both named Food & Wine’s “Best New Chef” and awarded a Michelin star for Contra.

Jordan Salcito has been curious about wine since learning her grandfather made it in his basement and fell head over heels for it since her first harvest in Burgundy in 2006. She began her career in New York as hostess at wd~50 before becoming a prep cook at DANIEL, sommelier and manager at Eleven Madison Park, then eventually Wine & Beverage Director for David Chang's Momofuku restaurants.  After investing over a decade working her way through several facets of the wine and restaurant industries, Jordan founded RAMONA, an organic Italian grapefruit wine spritz.

Jordan has received widespread recognition for both her wine programs and entrepreneurial pursuits. Her wine program at Momofuku has been named a James Beard Foundation semifinalist multiple times and in 2017, was awarded “Most Original Wine List in the World” from World Of Fine Wine.  Jordan is a Master Sommelier Candidate, a Wine Enthusiast “40 Under 40,” and was recognized as a 2018 James Beard Foundation semi-finalist for "Outstanding Wine, Spirits or Beer Professional," tied to her brand RAMONA.

She continues to work harvests each year at wineries across the globe, from Burgundy and Tuscany to Patagonia and California. She lives in New York with her husband and son.

Julia Sherman is the creator of Salad for President, an evolving publishing project that draws a meaningful connection between food, art and everyday obsessions. Each of Sherman’s blog entries contains a salad recipe made in collaboration with an artist, musician, chef, writer, or creative professional. This online platform serves as a springboard for events, collaborations and public programming. In the summer of 2014, Salad For President created the first ever MoMA PS1 Salad Garden, reimagining the previously unused rooftop of the museum as a public space for heirloom vegetables, performances and dinners. The second iteration of the Salad Garden was installed at the Los Angeles Getty Museum in the Fall of 2015. Sherman’s cookbook, Salad For President: A Cookbook Inspired by Artists, was published by Abrams Books in Spring 2017; it is a compendium of inventive vegetable recipes, and Sherman’s intimate meals with exceptional people. Sherman, and her writing, have been featured in Vogue, The New York Times, T Mag, Domino, Garance Doré, Martha Stewart, Food & Wine, and Bon Appétit, amongst others.

Kwame Onwuachi is the James Beard Award-winning executive chef at Kith/Kin, Esquire Magazine’s Chef of the Year, and author of Notes from a Young Black Chef, published by Alfred A. Knopf. He was born on Long Island and raised in New York City, Nigeria, and Louisiana. Onwuachi was first exposed to cooking by his mother, in the family’s modest Bronx apartment, and he took that spark of passion and turned it into a career. From toiling in the bowels of oil cleanup ships to working at some of the best restaurants in the world, he has seen and lived his fair share of diversity. Onwuachi trained at the Culinary Institute of America and has opened five restaurants before turning thirty. A former Top Chef contestant, he has been named one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs, Esquire Magazine’s Chef of the Year, and a 30 Under 30 honoree by both Zagat and Forbes.

Laila Gohar designs unique eating experiences that take place in non-traditional settings all over the world. The installations and pop-ups are in conjunction with art, design and fashion events. Through her work, Laila transforms spaces while using food as an artistic medium and a tool for communication. She explores the nature of human interaction by creating convivial, multi-sensory edible events. Her work draws upon historic methods of food preparation, and as a whole, food’s role in society.

Laila is based in New York City and works internationally.

Marian took a fashionable route to Mimi Cheng’s. After graduating with an honors business degree from the University of Maryland, she held positions at Dolce & Gabbana, Burberry and Escada. Soon realizing that her true passion lied in food and hospitality, she transitioned into roles at chef Alex Stupak’s Empellon group and fast-casual salad empire Sweetgreen. In 2014, Hannah and her sister Marian opened the first Mimi Cheng's in New York's East Village, serving the authentic, delicious Taiwanese dumplings they grew up with. Two years later, Mimi Cheng’s expanded to their second location in Nolita with a continued commitment to using sustainable and locally sourced ingredients and their mother's recipes. In 2015, both Hannah and Marian were included in Zagat’s 30 Under 30. They’ve also been featured in notable media outlets including Bon Appetit, Vogue, New York Magazine, and Forbes.

For the past 12 years Sean Brock was the chef/partner of McCrady’s in Charleston, South Carolina. Sean is also the Founding Chef of Husk Restaurants throughout the South. This fall, Chef Brock will open his flagship restaurant project in East Nashville. Raised in rural Virginia, he has been involved in the repatriation of the Southern pantry and cuisine for the past 20 years. In 2010, Brock won the James Beard Award for Best Chef, Southeast, and is a four-time finalist for Outstanding Chef, as well as a three-time finalist for Rising Star Chef. His cookbook, Heritage, is a New York Times Bestseller and winner of the 2015 American Cooking James Beard Award. Brock hosted season 2 of the Emmy Award-winning television show Mind of a Chef. Sean is currently featured on the popular Netflix show, Chef’s Table and will release the highly anticipated follow up to his first cookbook. Chef Brock recently started a lifelong project entitled “Before it’s Too Late” dedicated to recording and sharing the cultural and culinary wisdom of the American South. The project includes a podcast, his personal photography and eventually a large format book to showcase his discoveries.