Stacey Meyer, a native of New Orleans, comes from a French-Italian family that loves to cook, entertain and talk about food. After attending The Culinary Institute of America, Stacey spent six years working in restaurants honing her cooking skills. She then decided to move in a different direction and began a job with The Food Network as a buyer. She then decided to go back to New Orleans, and currently works with Emeril Lagasse, developing and testing recipes for his shows on The Food Network. Also a native of New Orleans, Troy Gilbert is a freelance journalist and fiction writer. His work has been published in many national and regional publications and ranges from investigative journalism to restaurant reviews. He was also one of only two individuals who chose to ride out Hurricane Katrina and blog about the ensuing chaos on a personal level, and was heavily referenced by the Main Stream Media. Today, Troy continues to write articles on the city's recovery and is actively finishing up his novel on Hurricane Katrina from his FEMA trailer outside of his home in the heavily damaged, although recovering, neighborhood of Lakeview.