from left to right: Gordon Edgar, Heidi Gibson, and Tamara Palmer
Return of the Mac’s expert judges have cheese on the brain 24/7. They will scrutinize each entry’s use of the dairy delight along with the competency of noodle and add-in ingredient choices. Read on to learn more about our expert panel’s super legit street cred.
Gordon Edgar loves cheese and worker-owned co-ops, and has been combining both of these infatuations as the main cheese buyer for Rainbow Grocery Cooperative since 1994. Edgar has been a judge at numerous national cheese competitions, a board member for the California Artisan Cheese Guild, and has had a blog since 2002, which can be found at www.gordonzola.net. His cheese memoir, “Cheesemonger: A Life on the Wedge” was published by Chelsea Green in 2010.
Heidi Gibson is a seven-time National Grilled Cheese Invitational award winner and dreamt up the concept of a gourmet grilled cheese restaurant after numerous fans, rival grilled cheese chefs, sandwich judges, family, and friends encouraged her to do so. Her culinary creativity also stems from a scientific approach to sandwich-making as she holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in engineering from MIT. As Commander-in-Cheese at THE AMERICAN Grilled Cheese Kitchen, Heidi creates creative grilled cheese sandwiches, housemade sodas, soups, and other delicious comfort treats for her menu.
Tamara Palmer has the honor of being the resident judge at SF Food Wars. A writer and editor specializing in the edible and musical arts, she is the editor of NBC’s The Feast San Francisco, and the author of Country Fried Soul: Adventures in Dirty South Hip-Hop. You’ve also seen her words at SF Weekly and KQED’s Bay Area Bites. She’s looking forward to testing her tolerance for lactose.