Meet the Judges 2011

Susan Low is the deputy editor of delicious magazine. Previously, she was editor of the award-winning BBC Food website and two magazines, Wine and Business Traveller (US edition) - as well as being a prolific freelance writer, contributing to newspapers and magazines in the UK, US and Australia.

Although she spends much of her working life slaving over a hot computer, her preferred environment is the kitchen, which she likes to fill with delectable aromas and lots of friends.

Her other main habitat is the restaurant. If forced to live on a desert island, she'd insist on two things: a lemon (makes everything taste better) and her library of food books, the theory being that, if you can't eat it, you can at least dream about it.

Darryl Healy is the Executive Chef for the newly opened Riding House Café, W1, the third site for restaurant group Village London.

He has spent the last four years with the company, overseeing the kitchens of The Garrison and Village East on Bermondsey Street, SE1. Before this Darryl spent time cooking in Shanghai, Melbourne and Sydney with the Hyatt Group.

Julia Parsons is a self-taught cook, food writer and blogger. She's been writing her food blog since 2006 and founded the UK Food Bloggers Association in 2007.

Subsequently she's become one of the central figures of the UK food blogging scene. Her recipes and writing have been published in newspapers and periodicals, including The Times and The Guardian. Julia's first cook book ‘A Slice of Cherry Pie’, was published by Absolute Press in November 2010.

We're particularly delighted to have Julia on board as a judge as she and her Nom Nom Nom cooking partner Sara, were the very first winners of Nom Nom Nom's Judges Choice Award in 2008.

Tom Pemberton is Head Chef and co-founder of Hereford Road restaurant in Notting Hill Gate, which serves simple yet innovative British cooking. He was previously Head Chef at the celebrated St John Bread and Wine in Spitalfields, which is most notable for its use of offal and often neglected cuts of meat.

Tom trained under Fergus Henderson at the original St John in St John Street in Smithfields, and has also cooked at the Chelsea Arts Club and the Anglesea Arms gastro pub in Hammersmith.

Jenni Muir ‘MasterChef’ star John Torode has called Jenni Muir the ‘best editor in the world’. She has worked with all manner of cookery writers from Michelin-starred chefs (John Campbell, Shaun Hill) and society caterers to debut authors specializing in little-known foreign cuisines. Her own book, A Cook’s Guide to Grains, was shortlisted for the André Simon, Glenfiddich and Guild of Food Writers prizes, while her inspirational guide to foodie getaways, The Guest List, was a ‘Richard & Judy’ Book Club hit.

As a freelance journalist Jenni has contributed to a wide range of publications including The Sunday Times, The Independent, BBC Good Food, Easy Living and Country Living, but her work is probably most familiar to readers of Time Out London’s best-selling annual restaurant guide, of which she is editor.

Nicola Batavia Nicola's first London restaurant Casa Batavia opened in Kensington in June 2011. It's a joint-venture with veteran London restaurateur Paolo Boschi, who owned and operated Da Paolo for 20 years.

Nicola opened Ristorante Birichin in Turin around 15 years ago and holds a Michelin star there. He also runs pop-up restaurant La Kava on the Liguirian coast, which is only open during the summer months.

He organised Nike's sponsored restaurant for the VIPs during the Beijing Olympic Games, can be seen regularly on Italian TV and has written a book ‘Chef and Gourmet’.

Ros Rathouse Cookery School’s principal, Rosalind Rathouse, came over to London from South Africa in 1966 with romantic dreams of cream teas and instead found margarine and chips deep fried in lard.

She has worked as a professional cook, run her own cookery business and taught cookery to both adults and children for many years.

She feels very strongly that proper teaching can enthuse even the most unconfident cook by demystifying cookery techniques and jargon.

Claudine Watt is a teacher at Cookery School and an integral part of the team. Claudine left the world of television journalism five years ago to pursue her life-long love of food and cooking. After training at Leith's School of Food and Wine, Claudine found a kindred spirit in Rosalind and has been at Cookery School ever since. There is nothing that excites her more than coming up with new recipes, ideas for classes and ways of sharing her love for good, simple food.