Monti Carlo the AJC’s Senior Editor for Food & Dining. She is also a two-time Telly Award winner and a judge for the James Beard Foundation. Her first time working in a restaurant kitchen was here in metro Atlanta at Stoney River in Roswell. Since then, she has built a career focused on culinary storytelling — writing for leading food publications and working with Netflix, Food Network, Cooking Channel, PBS and Tastemade. It was a 2001 review from the AJC that helped keep her family's restaurant from closing its doors. She considers her move back to Atlanta to work for the AJC the most full-circle moment of her 26-year media career.

LP O’Brien an AJC contributor as well as a beverage entrepreneur and cultural storyteller. As the first winner of Netflix’s “Drink Masters,” she is recognized for creating innovative cocktails that fuse Afro-Carribbean traditions with modern techniques.