We’ve got some amazing judges to help us judge who has the best bombolone!
2024 judges - 2025 Judges Announced Soon
Sasha is Editorial Director at ChefSteps, an online platform teaching others how to become amazing chefs. Prior to working at ChefSteps, Sasha was senior culinary editor at Serious Eats. Sasha spent two years at America's Test Kitchen on the Cook's Science and America's Test Kitchen Kids teams where he worked as a recipe developer and editor. Sasha cooked for years at restaurants in Boston, Maine, and Chicago. He has worked for James Beard Award-winning chefs Jody Adams at Rialto, Ken Oringer at Earth and Clio, and Beverly Kim and John Clark at Michelin-starred Parachute.
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Sasha Fanon Marx
Tara Cox
Tara Cox is the managing editor of REAL SIMPLE, one of the premier brands in the women’s lifestyle space, and is the author of Airstream: The Silver RV. Her work has also appeared in Men’s Journal, Rachael Ray Every Day and New York Magazine. You can follow her on Instagram at @misscox.
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Matt Bruck
Matt is a lawyer, restaurant founder, entrepreneur and investor with a 20-year history of building businesses and exceeding expectations, in sectors including music, education and finance.
As an Eaters Drinkers Partner, Matt guides a global group of clients to better strategic decisions, then actively supports their implementation. He frequently stands in as hands-on staff lead, running cross-functional teams across operations, business development and marketing.
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Lauren Willis
Lauren runs multiple online platforms including her blog 'Ny to Anywhere' which covers New York travel and beyond. Lauren writes practical travel guides and provides info on top tourist spots as well as her personal recommendations and hidden gems in NYC and around the world. Lauren concentrates on featuring boutique and unique properties that tell a story.
She also runs 'Consuming Couple' with her husband, Si, where they seek out food gems in NYC and around the world.
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Simon Willis
Co-Creator of Consuming Couple - one of New York City’s premier food and travel social media pages with over 350,000 followers on Tik Tok and 61,000 on Instagram.
Focusing on global cuisine, story telling and insightful recommendations from former food industry pros.
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Valentina Mussi
Valentina Mussi is an Italian-Colombian food and lifestyle content creator based out of Miami, FL.
Her diverse background and lifelong love for good food drove her to start @sweetportfolio back in 2017. In just three years, it has evolved into a social media brand with over 1 million followers across Instagram and TikTok.
Undoubtedly known for her viral recipe videos and exciting food reviews, Valentina has been featured on several national media outlets including INSIDER, Time, People Magazine, Noticias Telemundo, and Buzzfeed.
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GIUSTO PRIOLA
Giusto Priola has brought Historical Italian culinary pasta traditions to New York City. He started his career as a restaurateur with the opening of the wildly successful “Cacio e Pepe” (2004), he was the first to bring the renowned Cacio e Pepe pasta to the NYC tables. He later opened highly acclaimed restaurant “Cacio e Vino” (2006) which became the emblem of Sicilian Cuisine in NYC. Giusto boasts a 20 year experience in the food business, which has led him to stand out as both an Italian culinary pioneer.