Mickey Bakst is co-founder and executive director of Ben’s Friends. Mickey believes there are countless members of the restaurant industry suffering from addiction that need support, and he’s dedicated himself to the cause. Mickey also directs Feed the Need, a Charleston organization that serves food to the hungry and offers job training for the homeless and disadvantaged.

Lily Ballance is SFA’s 2024 Cathead Bartender-in-Residence. Lily is owner of William & Company (Willco), La Veladora—the back bar at Willco, and part-owner of Five-Star. A mezcal aficionado, Lily has been mixing drinks for her Person Street District neighbors since 2015. Join her Thursdays and Sundays at La Velador if you want to hear a DJ spin vinyl.

Gabe Barker is chef-owner of Pizzeria Mercato in downtown Carrboro. He grew up in a restaurant family, and his parents—Ben and Karen Barker—helped him open his own place. His vegetable-driven menu showcases artisan growers and suppliers. In 2017, Gabe was a semi-finalist for the James Beard Rising Star Chef of the Year award.

Hannah Barton is the wine director for The Umstead Hotel and Spa and general manager of Herons. Hannah’s interest in the world of food and beverage started at an early age in Raleigh, NC, and was further enriched by her teaching degree from Western Carolina University in 2011. She enjoys sharing her passion for wine with the community.

Catarina Bill is Southern Smoke’s Chief Mission Officer. She oversees the Foundation’s service-related efforts and supervises its two main pillars: the Emergency Relief Fund and the mental health program. Cat travels extensively to raise awareness about the needs of food and beverage workers and Southern Smoke’s mission to support their own.

Sheri Castle is the 2024 Ruth Fertel Keeper of the Flame. She is host of The Key Ingredient, an Emmy-winning cooking show from PBS NC., and is a food writer, recipe developer, cooking teacher, and storyteller. She created SFA’s barbecue sides project, where she shared her amazing creamed corn recipe.

Camille Cogswell is the 2024 Karen Barker Baker. The North Carolina native is a 2020 Food & Wine Best New Chef and the James Beard Foundation named her a Rising Star Chef of the Year in 2018. She’s currently going through a self-declared “pie lady phase” and working to open a new bakery.

The Council family of Mama Dip’s Kitchen is SFA’s 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner. Mama Dip’s served Chapel Hill for over 48 years. The restaurant, founded by Mildred Council, is known for its Southern food: fried chicken, pork chops, catfish, collard greens, cornbread, and all manners of gravy. After Mama Dip passed away in 2018, her daughters–Spring, Annette, and Sandra Council—carried on with the successful family business. In August 2024, the family decided to retire and close the restaurant.

Oscar Diaz is chef-owner of Little Bull in Durham, a seasonal restaurant serving nostalgic comfort food inspired by the palates of first-generation immigrants. Oscar will soon open two more establishments in the Bull City: Aaktun, a coffee shop and tiki bar, and Tataco, a taqueria / tortilleria / marisqueria.

Gregory Emilio is the author of the poetry collection Kitchen Apocrypha (Able Muse, 2024). The executive director of the Georgia Writers Association, he lives in Atlanta and teaches at Kennesaw State University. 

Jen Hampton is a community organizer, restaurant worker, and co-chair and founding member of Asheville Food & Beverage United. She has worked in restaurants for 31 years and is currently the Housing & Wages Organizer for Just Economics.

Jen Hidinger-Kendrick is co-founder and CGO (Chief Gratitude Officer) of the Giving Kitchen, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide emergency assistance to food service workers through financial support and a network of community resources. She is also co-founder of Atlanta’s award-winning Staplehouse Restaurant.

Sam Jones is a third-generation pitmaster who serves up whole hog barbecue. He first worked with his family at Skylight Inn in Ayden, SC, and now operates two Sam Jones BBQ restaurants in North Carolina. Sam’s written two books, served as fire chief in his hometown, and is a talented gospel singer.

KJ Kearney is a native of North Charleston, SC. He created the Black Food Fridays Instagram account as a way for people to find and support Black-owned restaurants during the COVID-19 *pandemic, and now uses the account to curate the best in Black-owned food and beverages. He once wrote a proclamation for Red Rice adopted by the City of Charleston in 2018.

Blair LM Kelley is an award-winning author, historian, and scholar of the African American experience. She is the Joel R. Williamson Distinguished Professor of Southern Studies at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and the incoming director of the Center for the Study of the American South. Kelley is the author of Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class. 

Cheetie Kumar is an Indian American James Beard nominated self-taught chef. She and her husband, Paul Siler, co-owned Raleigh’s Garland restaurant. After closing Garland in 2022, they opened Ajja, a restaurant specializing in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine. When not in a kitchen, Cheetie may be found playing guitar with the band Birds of Avalon.

Alice Laussade is an award-winning writer with a love for barbecue and the State Fair of Texas. She is the CEO of the nonprofit organization Meat Fight, a barbecue competition and fundraiser that has raised more than $2 million for the National MS Society.

Steve Palmer is the founder, managing partner, and chief vision officer of the Charleston-based Indigo Road Hospitality Group, which includes more than twenty restaurants across the country. He also co-founded Ben’s Friends, a food and beverage industry support group for professionals struggling with substance abuse and addiction.  

Ethan Payne is a documentary filmmaker based in Atlanta, Georgia. His feature and short docs have won awards internationally. He loves Mai Tais, playing music with his band Easter Island, and telling forgotten southern stories.

Hanna Raskin is the editor and publisher of The Food Section, a newsletter covering food and drink in the American South. In 2017 the James Beard Foundation awarded her its first Local Impact Journalism prize. A past president of the Association of Food Journalists, Raskin also served as food editor of The Post and Courier in Charleston.

Marc Russell is pitmaster and co-owner of Longleaf Swine in Raleigh. Marc’s approach to being a pitmaster combines his Puerto Rican heritage, influences from training in the Texas tradition, and a childhood immersed in Carolina-style pulled pork.

Khushbu Shah is the author of the cookbook AMRIKAN: 125 Recipes from the Indian American Diaspora. She is also a freelance writer and contributing editor at Food & Wine, where she previously served as Restaurant Editor. She writes the newsletter Tap Is Fine and has contributed to the New York Times, Washington Post, GQ, and more.

Britny Stephenson is executive pastry chef for AC Restaurants in Raleigh, NC. If you crave chocolate peanut butter banana pie or butterscotch pot de creme, she’s your girl.

Preeti Waas, born and raised in South India, is chef and owner of Cheeni in Durham, NC. Waas is a James Beard Best Chef Southeast Semifinalist (2023 and 2024) and member of the Independent Restaurant Coalition.

Andrea Weigl was the food writer and editor at the News & Observer in Raleigh, NC, for a decade. She also worked as a documentary producer on the PBS shows “A Chef’s Life” and “Somewhere South,” starring North Carolina chef Vivian Howard. Currently, she does public relations for hotel and restaurant clients in the Carolinas.

Joe York is a documentary filmmaker, producer, director, and editor with a passion for helping people tell their stories. From 2005 to 2015, he worked at the University of Mississippi’s Southern Documentary Project and the SFA, producing more than 50 short films and four feature-length films on the food and culture of the American South.