ABOUT THIS COOK:

Often referred to as the “female Jamie Oliver,” Dawn Viola is a research and development chef and food writer. She serves on the board of directors for Slow Food Orlando, and works with local and national companies as a healthy recipe consultant with a focus on special diets and food allergies as well as organic, local and sustainable ingredients. After an accomplished career as a copywriter, creative director and documentary producer in the advertising industry for over a decade, Dawn switched her writing focus to food, enrolled in culinary school when she discovered she had multiple food allergies, and started her own food revolution. She graduated with honors from the culinary management program at Valencia College, completed her externship at America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Illustrated Magazine in Boston, and began teaching others how to cook with a back-to-basics approach using local and organic ingredients. Dawn’s work has appeared in a variety of print and online publications such as Food2.com, BlogHer.com, Chef2Chef.net, Dessert Professional Magazine, The Orlando Sentinel and Edible Orlando Magazine. She has appeared on Food Network, Cooking with Emeril, and is a frequent guest on Martha Stewart Radio, Fox News and The Daily Buzz. Dawn’s recipes and cooking tips have also been published in Dinner for Busy Moms and The Flexitarian Cookbook. She is a professional member of the American Culinary Federation, Association of Food Journalists, Research Chefs Association and the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, and is in the process of obtaining a dual Masters-Doctorate degree in Holistic Nutrition. Follow Dawn on Twitter, Facebook and right here at DawnViola.com, named a top-ten food blog four years running, and recognized by Chef2Chef, Babble.com and Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution for her commitment to cooking with organic, sustainable and local ingredients.

• What is the strangest food you have ever eaten?
  Raw clams

• What do you cook when home alone?
  Pasta with oil and garlic

• Your most treasured kitchen possession:
  My grandmother's original copy of Betty Crocker's Cookbook

• The ideal number of guests for a dinner party is:
  10