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Good Food Media Network Appoints Inaugural Culinary Advisory Board

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March 20, 2017
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Good Food Media Network Appoints Inaugural Culinary Advisory Board

Good Food Media Network Appoints Inaugural Culinary Advisory Board and Editorial Director

Good Food Media Network Appoints Inaugural Culinary Advisory BoardThe Good Food Media Network, publisher of the Good Food 100 Restaurants™, is proud to announce that leading food industry professionals Sheila Bowman, Adam Danforth, Jennifer Jasinski, Michel Nischan, Alex Seidel and Kelly Whitaker have joined the non-profit organization’s Culinary Advisory Board. Additionally, Amanda Faison, acclaimed food writer and editor, will serve as Editorial Director of the Good Food Media Network.

The Culinary Advisory Board will collaborate and consult on all Good Food 100 programming and events throughout the year including the Good Food 100 Chefs Camp and the Eat. Drink. Think. series. Faison, who most recently held the post of food editor at Denver’s premier 5280 Magazine, will oversee communications and highlight the stories of people and business changing the food industry for the better. She will also consult on the Good Food 100 programming and events.

“Each one of these culinary leaders embodies the spirit of good food and brings talent, knowledge and years of experience to the table. We are thrilled to have them on the Good Food 100 team,” said Sara Brito, co-founder and president, Good Food Media Network. “They will all be tremendous assets as we further our mission of educating eaters and cultivating a conversation and community around food transparency. We are looking forward to their ideas for the Good Food 100 initiatives.”

This pedigreed leadership team brings a plethora of experience from kitchens and culinary non-profit organizations to agriculture, media, publishing and more. With a well-rounded vantage point and understanding of today’s culinary landscape, the Good Food Media Network Culinary Advisory Board and Editorial Director will help to invigorate and advance restaurant industry standards to the point where food transparency is no longer optional.

The Good Food Media Network Culinary Advisory Board:

  • Sheila Bowman (Monterey Bay Aquarium)

Sheila Bowman is the Manager of Culinary and Strategic Initiatives for the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program. Trained as a marine scientist and passionate about conservation, Sheila’s current work focuses educating and activating culinary audiences – chefs and media – to help them make the best choices when purchasing seafood and build the demand for seafood from fisheries and fish farms that minimize their environmental impacts. In 2014 the National Audubon Society recognized Sheila as one of their “Woman Greening Food”.

  • Adam Danforth (Author, Butcher, Educator)

Adam Danforth is the James Beard and IACP award-winning author of two books published by Storey Publishing, about slaughtering and butchering livestock. He teaches workshops and lectures nationwide for venues such as Mother Earth News Fair, Stone Barns Center for Agriculture and the James Beard Foundation.

  • Chef Jennifer Jasinski (Rioja, Bistro Vendôme, Euclid Hall Bar & Kitchen, Stoic & Genuine and Ultreia)

A James Beard Foundation award winner for Best Chef Southwest in 2013 and nominee for Outstanding Chef in 2016, Jasinski opened her first restaurant, Rioja, in Denver’s Historic Larimer Square to critical acclaim in 2004 featuring a menu inspired by Mediterranean ingredients and influenced by local and seasonal products. She and business partner Beth Gruitch acquired Bistro Vendôme, a French bistro across the street from Rioja in 2006, opened Euclid Hall Bar & Kitchen just around the corner in 2010 and their homage to seafood, Stoic & Genuine, debuted at Denver’s historic Union Station in July, 2014. She will open Ultreia featuring the foods of the Iberian Peninsula in 2017, also in Union Station.

  • Michel Nischan (Wholesome Wave)

Michel Nischan is a three-time James Beard Award-winning chef with over 30 years of experience advocating for a more healthful, sustainable food system. He is Founder and CEO of Wholesome Wave, Co-Founder of the Chefs Action Network. Nischan is also the author of three cookbooks and a variety of articles focused on sustainable food systems and social equity through food.  In 2015, he was honored by the James Beard Foundation with the Humanitarian of The Year Award.

  • Chef Alex Seidel (Fruition / Mercantile Dining + Provision / Fruition Farms Dairy & Creamery)

Chef Alex is a champion of sustainable relationships between restaurant, farm, and market. His illustrious resumé has earned him “top chef” honors from reputable outlets, including Food & Wine, as well as multiple nominations for James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef Southwest honor. Both Fruition and Mercantile dining + provision remain two of Denver’s most coveted reservations.

  • Chef Kelly Whitaker (BASTA / Ash / Noble Grain Alliance)

Chef Kelly’s fiery artisan spirit lights up every bite of pizza or Italian fare he produces, whether it’s at his popular Boulder restaurant, BASTA; his mobile kitchen, Æ (Ash); or Noble Grain Alliance, a nonprofit organization he founded dedicated to promoting the use of domestic milled-to-order grains. His restaurants have garnered national acclaim for their cuisine, as has Kelly, for his commitment to organic and domestic ingredients, making him an accidental activist for the cause, a local leader of the national powerhouse Chefs Collaborative, and a Blue Ribbon Task Force member for Monterey Bay Seafood Watch.

Editorial Director:

  • Amanda Faison (Journalist and Author)

Amanda is a food media veteran who spent two decades at 5280 Magazine. In addition to being the publication’s food editor, she has written for national titles such as Sunset, Food & Wine, Cooking Light as well as Elle Decor, InStyle, and Travel & Leisure. Her ranch-to-plate feature “Soul Food,” was anthologized in Best Food Writing 2010. She has twice sat as judge for the James Beard Foundation’s annual cookbook awards and was named the 2005 finalist for the prestigious Livingston Awards for Young Journalists. In 2013, she partnered with the Denver Public Library to create the Food Lover’s Book Club, a bimonthly cookbook club that generates discussion around cookbooks, food, and community. In 2014, Faison edited her first cookbook, 5280: The Cookbook. In 2016, she was named the Outstanding Media Professional of the Year by the Colorado Restaurant Association.

Launched in 2017, Good Food 100 is a new, innovative program that seeks to redefine how chefs and restaurants are viewed and valued, by recognizing chefs and restaurants that are transparent with their purchasing and sustainable business practices. The initial list and corresponding economic analysis will be published in June 2017.

About Good Food 100

The Good Food 100 Restaurants™ is an annual list of restaurants that educates eaters and celebrates restaurants for being transparent with their purchasing practices. Carefully curated based on the quantitative measurement of chefs’ sourcing data, the Good Food 100 spotlights those that are building a better food system. The Good Food 100 is produced and published by the Good Food Media Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating eaters by cultivating a conversation and community around the people and businesses changing the food system for good. For more information and to complete the survey, please visit www.goodfood100restaurants.org. Follow Good Food 100 Restaurants on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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