chefs

Ted Allen, Food and Wine Ambassador for Discover Wine with Robert Mondavi
Rodelio Aglibot, Sunda
Jerome Bacle, Courtright's Restaurant
Jimmy Bannos, Heaven On Seven and The Purple Pig
Jimmy Bannos Jr., The Purple Pig
Rick Bayless, Frontera Grill/Topolobampo/XOCO
Carlyn Berghoff, Berghoff Catering & Restaurant Group
Graham Elliot Bowles, graham elliot
Frank Brunacci, Sixteen
George Bumbaris, Prairie Grass Café/ Prairie Fire
Niall Campbell, Firefly Grill
Gregory Carso, Metropolitan Club
Michael Cisternino, Tavern at the Park
John Coletta, Quartino
Federico Comacchio, Phil Stefani’s 437 Rush
Judy Contino, Bittersweet Pastry Shop and Cafe
Cat Cora, Bon Appétit
Chris Curren, Blue 13 Restaurant & Bar
Christophe David, NoMI
Radhika Desai, English
Stephen Dunne, Paramount
Dirk Flanigan, The Gage/ Henri
Phillip Foss, Lockwood
Jo-Marie Frigo, Nonna Santi's Biscotti
Klaus Fritsch, Morton’s The Steakhouse
Dirk and Terry Fucik, Dirk's Fish and Gourmet Shop
Gale Gand, Tru
Jose Garces, Mercat a la Planxa
Luigi Garcia, RIVA Restaurant
John Gatsos, Tavern on Rush
Carlos Gaytan, Mexique
James Gottwald, Rockit Bar & Grill
Laurent Gras, L20
Koren Grieveson, Avec
Mark Grosz, Oceanique
Kevin Hickey, Four Seasons Hotel
John Hogan, Keefer’s
Sandra Holl, Floriole Bakery
Tony Hu, Lao Szechuan
Brian Huston, The Publican
Stephanie Izard, The Girl & The Goat
Randal Jacobs, Elate 
Paul Kahan, Blackbird
Gene Kato, Japonais
Paul Katz, Harry Caray's Restaurant Group
Bill Kim, Belly Shack
Dian Kochilas, Avli and Pylos
Eddie Lakin, Edzo's Burger Shop
Mariano Lanfranconi, 5411 Empanadas
Bernie Laskowski, Park Grill
Chan Le, Le Colonial
Dale Levitski, Sprout
Joshua Linton, Aja
John Manion, Branch 27
Tony Mantuano, Spiaggia
Shawn McClain, Spring Restaurant Group 
Michael McDonald, One Sixtyblue
Jason McLeod, Balsan at the Elysian Hotel
Nathaniel Meads, Fritz Pastry
Mario Navarro, Gene & Georgetti
Martial Noguier, Café des Architectes
Chris Nugent, Les Nomades
Terry Opalek and Michael Frontier, Terry's Toffee
Chris Pandel, The Bristol
Nicole Pederson, C-House
Ryan Poli, Perennial Restaurant
Tony Priolo, Piccolo Sogno
Toni Roberts, C-House
Thierry Rautureau, Rover's Restaurant
Alain Roby, Hyatt Regency Chicago
Arun Sampanthavivat, Arun’s
Marcus Samuelsson, C-House
Patricio Sandoval, Mercadito
Mario Santiago, May St. Cafe & Catering
Mindy Segal, Hot Chocolate
Alex Shalev, Sola
Jackie Shen, Red Light
Mike Sheerin, Blackbird
Patrick Sheerin, The Signature Room at the 95th
Bruce Sherman, North Pond
Michael Shrader, N9NE Steakhouse
Art Smith, Table fifty-two
Mark Sparacino, Prosecco
Chad Starling, aria
Sarah Stegner, Prairie Grass Café
Todd Stein, Cibo Matto
Giuseppe Tentori, Boka Restaurant
Jacques Torres, Jacques Torres Chocolate
Rick Tramonto, Tramonto's Steak and Seafood/ RT Sushi Bar & Lounge
Jared Van Camp, Old Town Social
Paul Virant, Vie
Randy Waidner, Gibsons Restaurant Group
Carol Wallack, Sola
Stephen Wambach, Epic
Michael Wisner, Zapatista
Takashi Yagihashi, Takashi
Shelley Young, The Chopping Block
Andrew Zimmerman, Sepia
Randy Zweiban, Province

master
sommeliers

Serafin Alvarado, Southern Wine & Spirits of Illinois
Frederick Dame, Icon Estates
Doug Krenik, Dr. Loosen Wines
Geoff Kruth, Farmhouse Inn and Restaurant
Alpana Singh, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises

speakers

Bridget Albert, Southern Wine & Spirits of Illinois
Barbara Fairchild, Bon Appétit
Andrew Knowlton, Bon Appétit
Lori Tieszen, Wines of Chile
 

Ted Allen

Food and Wine Ambassador for Discover Wine with Robert Mondavi

Emmy Award-winner Ted Allen is one of America’s favorite food and wine experts. Host of "Food Detectives" and "Chopped," two new primetime series on the Food Network, he has also been a judge on Bravo’s "Top Chef" and Food Network’s "Iron Chef America" and is host of the PBS series "Uncorked: Wine Made Simple." Ted was the food and wine specialist on the groundbreaking, Emmy-winning Bravo series "Queer Eye," which had a 100-episode run. He is author of "The Food You Want to Eat: 100 Smart, Simple Recipes"(Clarkson-Potter), a cookbook that features easy, seasonal recipes.

Ted serves as the Food and Wine Ambassador for Robert Mondavi Private Selection wines, offering advice related to these popular wines, including how best to pair them with food.

Ted has been a contributing editor at Esquire magazine since 1997, writing about food, wine, style and everything else the American male needs to know. He is a regular contributor to Bon Appétit and Epicurious.com. Before joining Esquire, Ted was a senior editor and restaurant critic at Chicago magazine. He has also authored several books, including The New York Times best-seller, "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" and the series "Things a Man Should Know."

Ted is originally from Columbus, Ohio. He holds an M.A. in Journalism from New York University, a certificate from the university’s Science and Environmental Reporting Program and a B.A. in psychology from Purdue University, which bestowed upon him a Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2004. Ted lives in New York City.