Alie Ward and Georgia Hardstark are two dorks and best friends who, after posting their video for a jocular cocktail called The McNuggetini, went on to create more palatable beverages for both TV and the web. Their newest webseries, Classy Ladies With Alie & Georgia, is on CookingChanneltv.com, and they can also be seen on the upcoming season of Cooking Channel’s Unique Sweets.

From the time she was a child pretending to run a restaurant, Nyesha Arrington, Wilshire’s Executive Chef, has loved to cook. Arrington was born in southern California to a multi-cultural family. When she was just four years old, her Korean grandmother influenced Nyesha’s youthful palate by introducing her to diverse foods such as bulgogi, octopus and kimchi. That culinary experience has shaped Arrington’s cooking technique ever since, inspiring her to integrate different flavors of cuisine from around the world and creating her individual and personal style. A graduate of the Culinary School at the Art Institute of Los Angeles in 2001, Nyesha worked with her mentor, Josiah Citrin at Lemon Moon in Culver City and Mélisse in Santa Monica. Her resume also includes work with legendary French chef Joël Robuchon at his Michelin and Mobil award-winning Las Vegas restaurants, L’Atelier and The Mansion. In 2011, Nyesha appeared simultaneously on two reality cooking shows as a contestant: Bravo’s Top Chef: Texas and Food Network’s new series, Chef Hunter, where she won the competition for the next executive chef at Wilshire.

Andrea Ashley is an amateur photographer who has been taking photos since her father bought her her first box camera when she was twelve years old – a Richo which she still owns. Since then she has traveled extensively and taken thousands of photos which are tucked away in more albums and computer folders than she can count. Andrea finds instant gratification with a camera, satisfying her creative impulses and brings her camera with her wherever she goes in search of the next great photo op. Andrea has no formal training but has learned by trial and error the secrets to the difference between a good shot and a great shot. Andrea has had photos selected by LA Times staff to be shown as highlights from the Times’ readers summer vacation photo contest. Andrea now looks at photography as more than just a hobby, but as a way of life.

Southern California native Mark Boster was born and raised in Whittier, California. During his 34-year career as a photojournalist Mark has worked as a staff photographer for the Whittier Daily News, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, the Orange County Register, and since 1983 has been a staff photographer Los Angeles Times. Boster has covered a diverse list of stories at the Los Angeles Times including several presidential campaigns, the war in Kosovo, the 1984 Olympics, Super bowls, the World Series, the space shuttle disaster, Northridge Earthquake, Wildfires, Hurricane Katrina and state funerals for Presidents Nixon and Ford. His recent project “Four Seasons of Yosemite” has now been turned into a book with a foreword by Robert Redford.

Chris Erskine is a writer and editor at the Los Angeles Times. His work appears in all sections of the paper, but he is best known for his columns, Man of the House and Fan of the House, which appear in the Home and Sports sections weekly. Additionally, he helps edit the Travel section of The Times, and writes the Daily Ticker column for the Times website. He is the author of “Surviving Suburbia,” a collection of his columns from The Times. It reached the LA Times bestseller list in 2003. His most recent book, “Man of the House,” a collection of essays on life in suburban America, was published in 2006. He is also a popular host and speaker at charity events around Southern California.

Arthur Frommer’s first travel guide, “Europe on $5 a Day,” was published in 1957. Today, Frommer’s travel guides consist of more than 340 titles reaching more than 6 million travelers each year, covering every major destination in the world. Frommer’s has also developed a major Web presence and more than a dozen types of guidebook for every type of traveler, from budget to deluxe.

Josh Gates is an explorer, adventurer, photographer, and host of the smash hit Syfy reality television show Destination Truth. His work and travels have taken him to nearly 100 countries around the world, from sweltering African villages to the icy shores of Antarctica. An avid SCUBA diver, he has participated in sub-sea archaeological excavations in the Mediterranean, scaled “the roof of Africa” on Mount Kilimanjaro, and climbed on Aconcagua, the tallest mountain in the Americas. Josh was recently inducted into The Explorers Club, a prestigious global organization dedicated to the advancement of exploration and field research. Born in Massachusetts and a graduate of Tufts University with degrees in archaeology and drama, he currently lives in Los Angeles.

Catharine Hamm has been part of the Los Angeles Times Travel section since 1999, serving as travel editor since 2003. She launched the “On the Spot” travel consumer column early in 2007, and it now appears in newspapers and on websites across the country. Since Hamm has been editor, The Times Travel section has won the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation top honor for newspapers, circulation more than 350,000, three times.

John E. DiScala (a.k.a. Johnny Jet) travels around 150,000 miles and visits 20 countries each year. He and his website JohnnyJet.com have been featured in USA Today, Time, Fortune and the New York Times. JohnnyJet.com has been named “one of the top best money-saving websites for travel” by Budget Travel Magazine, while the L.A. Times calls it “one of the top 10 essential travel resources on the Internet.”

Amanda Jones is a writer and photographer living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Islands, Travel & Leisure, Town & Country, Condé Nast Traveller, the London Sunday Times, the Sunday Observer, the San Francisco Chronicle, Islands, and Vogue, among others. Before becoming a freelance travel writer she worked for Vogue Australia, Vogue Living, and Vogue Entertaining & Travel where she learned about stylishly decorating the body and the home. When not writing on location she is shopping on location, with an eye for handmade interior design and jewelry. Amanda has also done story development for National Geographic television. She is frequently invited to speak at literary conferences, workshops and festivals.

Jen Leo writes the nationally syndicated Web Buzz column for the Los Angeles Times, blogs for CNTraveler.com, and writes kid-friendly hotel reviews for PoshBrood.com. You can hear her weekly co-hosting the podcast “This Week in Travel,” available on iTunes. Outside of Jen’s travel life she co-founded BestKidsApps.com, a website that reviews children’s iPhone and iPad apps.

Lisa Ling is currently executive producer and host of Our America on OWN: the Oprah Winfrey Network where she has covered everything a Midwest town ravaged by an onslaught of heroin to investigating the under-age sex trafficking of minors in the nation’s capitol. As the former field correspondent for The Oprah Winfrey Show, contributor to ABC News’ Nightline and National Geographic’s Explorer, Lisa Ling has reported from dozens of countries, covering stories about issues that are too often ignored. Lisa got her start in journalism as a correspondent for Channel One News and later went on to become a co-host of ABC Daytime’s hit show The View, which won its first daytime Emmy during her time at the show. She was a special correspondent for CNN’s Planet in Peril series and is a contributing editor for USA Today’s USA Weekend magazine. She is the co-author of Mother, Daughter, Sister, Bride: Rituals of Womanhood and Somewhere Inside: One Sister’s Captivity in North Korea and the Other’s Fight to Bring Her Home, which she penned with her sister, Laura. She is a co-founder of www.SecretSocietyofWomen.com, a contributor to www.iVolunteer.org and serves on the Board of Directors for the California Museum.

National Geographic Channel star Leon Logothetis has entertained viewers in more than 100 countries with his daring and insightful journeys across England, the United States, and Europe. He writes for the Los Angeles Times, Psychology Today, the San Francisco Chronicle, and National Geographic Traveler and writes a weekly column the Huffington Post.

Brady MacDonald has covered Disneyland and other Southern California theme parks as a newspaper reporter for the past 15 years. Since 2007, MacDonald has been blogging about local, national and international theme parks for the Travel section of the Los Angeles Times web site. Covering news, trends, issues and changes in the amusement park industry, his Funland blog takes a sometimes critical but mostly fun-filled look at roller coasters, thrill rides and themed attractions at famous vacation fantasylands around the globe.

Rudy Maxa, also known as “the Savvy Traveler,” is one of America’s foremost consumer travel experts. He’s host and executive producer of 85 episodes on the world’s great destinations currently airing on public television nationwide under the titles “Smart Travels” and, most recently, “Rudy Maxa’s World.” His newest 20 episodes are broadcast in 121 countries and are dubbed or captioned in 22 languages by Travel Channel International.

Mr. Maxa, a former Washington Post investigative reporter and columnist, is an award-winning contributing editor with National Geographic Traveler and also hosts a two-hour weekend travel show, “Rudy Maxa’s World,” America’s most widely syndicated radio travel show. It’s broadcast on 120+ news/talk stations and XM Radio Channel 165, and his one–hour, local version of the show is broadcast Saturdays at 7 p.m. on KFWB, News/Talk 980 in southern California.

His reporting at the Post was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and his television shows have won numerous awards, including three regional Emmy awards. He’s written travel articles for the Los Angeles Times, GQ, Forbes, Travel & Leisure, USA Today, and dozens of other newspapers and magazines. A frequent guest on CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, he’s also appeared on “The View” and other national television shows. Mr. Maxa is a graduate of Ohio University and lives in St. Paul, MN.

Doug oversees all aspects of new business development at LivingSocial, including overall strategy, new market segments, and managing the existing client base. Prior to LivingSocial, Doug served as Global Vice President of media solutions Expedia Inc., where he led advertising sales and operations across the Expedia.com, Hotels.com and Hotwire platforms. He has also held various leadership positions at operating businesses of InterActiveCorp (IAC) including Ticketmaster and Citysearch.

The world has been Booth Moore’s runway since she was a schoolgirl in New York City — she was the one soaking in the street fashion, accessorizing her school uniform within an inch of expulsion, flaunting trademark pieces like patent leather Mary Janes and knockoff Chanel earrings.

She was still in high school when she nabbed a summer job as a fashion assistant at YM magazine (yes, “The Devil Wears Prada” is accurate). Graduating from Duke, she began her career in that city of the sensible suit, Washington, D.C., at The Washington Post.

Moore joined The Times in 1996, where she has logged tens of thousands of miles covering the runways in New York, London, Milan and Paris (and stopping to shop along the way). She has interviewed style-world leaders from Victoria Beckham to Rachel Zoe, Tory Burch to Tom Ford. She has been The Times’ Fashion Critic since 2004, and helped launch the weekly Image section in 2008 as one of its founding editors. She writes regularly for Image and its All the Rage blog, as well as for LA magazine and the Envelope.

A native of Southern California, Kris Morningstar’s love affair with food began as a child watching his father cook meals for the family every day. By the time he was in high school in New Jersey, where his family relocated, Morningstar was already wowing his family and friends with meals he created for holidays and large dinner parties. While he entertained the idea of attending culinary school, he instead studied marketing at the University of Maryland. Ultimately, Morningstar’s first love lured him back into the kitchen and back to his hometown to attend the Cordon Bleu-affiliated California School of Culinary Arts in Pasadena, from which he graduated with honors in 2002. Morningstar worked at the acclaimed One Pico restaurant at Shutters on the Beach as well as under Chef Suzanne Goin at A.O.C., and Jason Travi at Opaline and with Chef Neal Fraser at Grace. But working at Joachim Splichal’s Michelin-starred Patina restaurant and at Meson G alongside Chef Eric Greenspan made the biggest impact on Morningstar’s evolving culinary style. “I focus on big flavors and looking at things from a different perspective,” Morningstar notes. “I like to challenge myself to do my best and to make food that nobody else is doing.” Morningstar is now executive chef at Ray’s & Stark Bar, the newest venture from the Patina Restaurant Group. The experience reunited him with Splichal, who collaborated with Morningstar in creating the Mediterranean-inspired, farm-to-table menu for Ray’s. The acclaimed chef will rely on the restaurant’s on-site garden for many of his ingredients, which is in keeping with his philosophy of using what’s fresh and in season. When he is not in the kitchen or garden at work, Morningstar spends his free time tending his own garden, traveling, and, naturally, going out to eat with his wife.

Kathy M.Y.Pyon is the visual editor and producer at the award winning Los Angeles Times visual journalism department. She manages and works closely with photographers, editors, videographers to conceptualize and execute visual stories for both print and web. Kathy is also a contributor and editor for the Los Angeles Times visual journalism blog, Framework. Kathy advises and works on multiple levels in the features sections including the Travel section.

Kathy was the main visual producer for a one day pop-up event downtown for Framework, the visual journalism blog of the Los Angeles Times. She also was the lead producer and visual editor for a book by photographer Mark Boster, Four Seasons of Yosemite. Kathy’s role has morphed to coordinating efforts to reach out to the community in regards to the LATimes visual journalism team.

Born and raised in California, Christopher Reynolds has spent two decades writing about travel, the outdoors, arts and culture for the Los Angeles Times. In the last two years, he has climbed Machu Picchu (for the third time), cycled through London and down a Hawaiian volcano, been shushed at the New York Public Library, traced the path of the old Pony Express, and jumped (with rope attached) from the tallest building in Soweto, South Africa. He’s also been investigating Los Angeles and Orange counties for a series of detailed and opinionated guides, Southern California Close-ups.

Adam Richman is the host of Man V Food Nation on the Travel Channel and the author of “America the Edible: A Hungry History, From Sea to Dining Sea.” He earned his master’s degree from Yale University School of Drama. While traveling the country for regional theater roles, he worked many eclectic and far-flung restaurant jobs. Richman won the CableFAX award for Best Host: Food in 2009 and 2010 and was named one of Yahoo’s Most Fascinating People, 2009. He is a frequent contributor to the Today Show, The Chew, and Maxim. Richman is also on the board of the Armed Forces Foundation. A New Yorker by birth, he lives in Brooklyn.

Travelzoo’s Senior Editor Gabe Saglie is a leading expert on travel deals, travel tips and trends. He has appeared on dozens of highly-rated national and local news programs including CNN, NBC’s Today Show, CNBC’s On the Money, ABCNewsNow and Meredith Corporation’s Better TV.

Sarah Schlichter is the editor of IndependentTraveler.com, a comprehensive site for travelers who enjoy the fun of planning their own trips and the adventure of independent travel. Sarah’s practical travel advice has been featured in dozens of news outlets including the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, USA Today, Budget Travel and Peter Greenberg Worldwide Radio. Sarah is a regular contributor to MSNBC.com and tweets as @TravelEditor.

Alice Short is assistant managing editor/features at the Los Angeles Times, overseeing the Health, Food, Home, Travel, Books and Image sections and the Los Angeles Times Magazine. She has worked at the paper for more than 20 years in a variety of jobs: magazine editor, assistant Metro editor and daily Calendar editor, among them. She began her newspaper career on her high school newspaper, and continued writing and editing at UCLA, where she was editor of the Daily Bruin during her senior year. She honed her editing skills with a stint at the L.A. Herald Examiner in the 1980s. (Her secret goal is to become a full-time shopping columnist, but she’s not holding her breath.) She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Steve Vielhaber, and her dog, Biscuit. She has occasional glimpses of her son, Greg, who lives in Portland, and her daughter, Madeline, who attends college in Massachusetts.

Host and writer of the popular public television series Rick Steves’ Europe, and best-selling author of over 50 European travel books, Rick Steves encourages Americans to travel as “temporary locals.” He helps American travelers connect much more intimately and authentically with Europe — and Europeans — for a fraction of what mainstream tourists pay.

Carol Cotner Thompson has over 27 years professional cooking experience and over 20 years experience in culinary education. A graduate of both the professional cooking and pastry programs at the California Culinary Academy, Carol has since taken on a wide array of professional endeavors that includes extensive restaurant consulting and cooking experience, television and print food styling and on-camera chef work, recipe and curriculum development, catering, and stints as a personal chef. She currently teaches professional cooking and baking programs at the New School of Cooking in Culver City (www.newschoolofcooking.com).

Equal parts historian, explorer, and detective, Don Wildman hosts Travel Channel’s OFF LIMITS and MYSTERIES AT THE MUSEUM, venturing into both danger zones and diabolical intrigues to satisfy his hyper-driven curiosity about American society, telling the stories of our heritage and examining our collective systems of operation—how it is we’re even here in the first place. Whether he’s shining a flashlight down the shadowy tunnels of a forgotten factory or examining a cryptic artifact from a famed museum’s collection, Don’s mission is to puzzle out life’s most intriguing secrets and stories, exposing the reality beneath the surface–and beyond the chain-link.