John Batchelor has been the restaurant reviewer for the Greensboro News and Record for almost 30 years. He also writes about travel, restaurants, food, and wine for Focus on the Coast magazine, as well as occasional pieces for other publications. He is considered the "founding judge" of the Fire on the Rock Chef's Challenge, having participated in every event since its inception.  John designed the judging form that preliminary and final rounds use, including a spreadsheet tabulation system that compensates for the slow math skills of the judges.  In "real life," he has been an educator and a leadership consultant for 40 years.  He holds a doctorate from NCSU.

As a Senoir Writer for Southern Living Magazine, Donna Florio helps plan the stories and select and taste all the recipes that run in the magazine each month. She is a native Charlestonian who received a B.A. in English from the College of Charleston in 1974. In her 14 years with the magazine, Donna estimates she has tasted some 70,000 dishes, and earned a master’s degree in Southern food. She lives in Birmingham, Alabama.

Marcia Langhenry is an editor at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution where, over the course of a dozen years, she’s been a food writer and assistant food editor, Home & Garden editor, entertainment writer and editor, features writer and news writer. She created the Food Goddess feature in the AJC a decade ago and co-created the “5:30 Challenge,” both of which are still found in the newspaper’s Food section. She has judged a best-tasting-water competition in Berkeley Spring, W.Va., and a ribs cookoff in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and wonders why they weren’t held in conjunction with one another. Marcia lives an hour north of Atlanta and is the mother of two college students.

Extensive travel to wine regions across the globe has contributed to Jane Garvey's wide-ranging knowledge of wine and food. Earning her CSW credential from the Society of Wine Educators in 2009, Jane has taught and written about wine for the past two decades. In addition to writing a regular column for the Atlanta Wine School, Jane also writes about restaurants and serves as a regional editor (Southeast) for gayot.com, a web site that reviews hotels and restaurants throughout the world. Her writing for other publications embraces a wide spectrum of topics, including not only food and wine, but also history, culture and art.

Moreton Neal explores the restaurants of the Triangle Area and beyond as the food editor of Raleigh Metro magazine.  A former restaurateur herself, she and late husband Bill Neal founded Restaurant La Résidence in Chapel Hill. After leaving the restaurant business, she co-hosted the popular talk shows, ‘Food Forum’ and ‘Better Living’ on Durham’s WDNC radio. Moreton has written articles and anonymous restaurant reviews for various publications, and is the author of the memoir/cookbook, Remembering Bill Neal: A Life in Cooking, and most recently, The Chapel Hill Food Lovers' Guide.