Speaker Biographies
BACK TO LIST- Antonia Allegra
Antonia Allegra is a career development and food writing coach. As editor-in-chief, Toni has also launched five magazines, most recently Vine Napa Valley and Appellation, both Maggie-award winning publications. She is also a wine/food and travel writer. She is director and founder of the annual Symposium for Professional Food Writers at The Greenbrier and founder of the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers at Meadowood Napa Valley. A distinguished lecturer, Toni has been featured internationally, as well as in her role as wine country host on CBS/KPIX-TV "Evening Magazine" and as Napa Valley "tipster" for KRON-TV "Bay Area Back Roads." She is author of Napa Valley: The Ultimate Winery Guide, now in its fourth edition and is author/narrator of the Napa Valley Expedition Guide, the first multimedia book/CD/CD-ROM covering Napa Valley, as well as the Wine Country Deck and Napa Valley: The Ultimate Winery Calendar. She is a contributor to Adventures in Wine, a Travelers' Tales collection of wine stories, as well as to many magazines.
A launch specialist, she is presently establishing La Cocina que Canta, a cooking school at Rancho La Puerta Spa in Baja California, Mexico. She also served as a member of the launch team for the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in Napa Valley and, having directed her own cooking school in San Diego for eight years (1974-82), served as culinary director of Beringer Vineyards' School for American Chefs with Madeleine Kamman. She is founder of the C4 Collaborative for professional culinary coaches. She served on the Board of Directors and as president of the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) and was president of the San Francisco Chapter of Les Dames d'Escoffier. She is also a member of the Association of Food Journalists and a certified culinary professional (CCP). Toni lives in a "treehouse" in St. Helena in California's Napa Valley.
