Born in Pakistan, Fatima Ali was a chef in New York City. She received her education from the Culinary Institute of America and, at the age of twenty-three, competed in and won an episode of Chopped on the Food Network. Ali was a contestant on the fifteenth season of Bravo’s Top Chef, where she was voted Fan Favorite. She wrote several essays for Bon Appétit, one of which was posthumously awarded a James Beard Award after she passed away in January 2019. 

Tarajia Morrell is a native New Yorker who grew up at the table. In 2011, Morrell created the food and travel blog The Lovage. Her reporting and essays have since appeared in WSJ. magazine, T Magazine, Food & Wine, Departures, and Cherry Bombe, among others. Morrell is also the author of Soul of New York: A Guide to 30 Exceptional Experiences. She lives in Manhattan with her daughter.