Luisa Fernandes

Luísa Fernandes was born in Monte Real, Leiria, Portugal. Luisa’s true passion has always been cooking. She always enjoys cooking for family and for friends. Professionaly, she was a orthopaedic surgery assistant nurse for 30 years. In 1998, she decided to take the risk and she opened her own restaurant “Tachos de São Bento”, in Lisbon. It was a bold at the time.
Luisa did not have any professional culinary experience besides her own recipes, but she still followed her heart. Luisa’s knowledge of food was always extensive. She visited the majority of countries in Europe as well as Malta, Canada, Morocco, México, Sudan and Ruanda (this last two working as a parachute nurse).

Martin Yan

Born in Guangzhou, China, to a restaurateur father and a mother who operated a grocery store, Martin Yan possessed a passion for cooking at an early age. His formal induction into the culinary world began at age thirteen, with an apprenticeship at a popular Hong Kong restaurant.

He refined his natural talent at the Overseas Institute of Cookery in Hong Kong, and then pursued an MS in Food Science at The University of California/Davis in the US. He discovered a flair for teaching when he became an instructor in the university’s extension program. In 1978, he pioneered a daily TV Chinese cooking show: the now classic “Yan Can Cook.” Infusing lessons with his characteristic warmth, humor and vitality, he quickly won a devoted following. He developed the show’s format into a culinary travelogue, featuring culinary hot spots throughout Asia.