Susi Gott Segurét honed her culinary expertise during a 20-year trek around Europe, obtaining a diploma in gastronomy from the Cordon Bleu and the Université de Reims. Founder and director of the Seasonal School of Culinary Arts, she is passionate about taste and how it extends from our palate into our daily lives. In the twelve years since its inception, she has employed over 60 chefs, beverage experts and growers to share their intimate knowledge of the ingredients they use to tickle the palate. Editor of 7 cookbooks, and contributor to several others, Susi has written extensively on a variety of culinary ventures for diverse publications. She is the author of Appalachian Appetite and Child of the Woods.

Tom Michaels, a plant pathologist with a doctorate in mycology, has brought the elusive Tuber melanosporum, grown in the unlikely hills of East Tennessee, to chefs such as Daniel Boulud and other high profile players in New York, Atlanta, Boston, and even Paris. He has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Gentleman's Quarterly, among other notable publications. While his personal production is-at time of writing-wound down to a whisper, he continues to make discoveries and experiment with growing techniques that will transform our world of truffles as we know it.