Cookbook Awards Chair

Born and raised in New York and New Jersey, Ken Concepcion first stepped into the food world in Saint Louis, working his way up in restaurants as a cook after studying writing and art at Washington University. He worked as a chef before moving to Los Angeles in 2006, where he spent 12 years with Wolfgang Puck, eventually becoming chef de cuisine at CUT Beverly Hills. In the fall of 2017, Concepcion along with his partner, Michelle Mungcal, opened Now Serving, the only dedicated cookbook and culinary shop in Los Angeles.

Cookbook Awards Executive Committee

Dr. Paul Arguin is a retired physician and award winning baker.  Together with his husband, Christopher Taylor, they have authored two cookbooks, The New Pie and Fabulous Modern Cookies. They currently teach baking classes on Cape Cod and can be found on social media @floursugarbutter.

Cookbook Awards Executive Committee

Candolin Cook is the senior editor of New Mexico Magazine, a former editor for Edible New Mexico, and a former associate editor for the New Mexico Historical Review. She has a PhD in U.S. History from the University of New Mexico, and lives on an organic vegetable farm in Albuquerque. Follow Candolin on Instagram @candolin

Cookbook Awards Executive Committee

Celeste Noche (she/her) is a Filipino American editorial and documentary photographer based between Portland, Oregon and San Francisco, California specializing in food, travel, and portraiture. Her work has been published in National Geographic Traveller UK, Travel + Leisure, and The New York Times. She is the founder of Portland in Color, a collective highlighting BIPOC creatives in Portland. Follow her on Instagram @extracelestial

Cookbook Awards Executive Committee

With early training alongside her father, Charlotte Rutledge learned to love baking from a young age. She spent the first part of her career practicing her skills in restaurants in the U.S. and England. Then in 2011, she joined the King Arthur Baking Company test kitchen where she led a team of bakers in developing, writing, and curating high-quality recipes for home bakers across the country. In 2022 Charlotte embarked on a new career journey, sharing her joy and knowledge of cooking and baking via her newsletter, Balanced Diet.

Cookbook Awards Executive Committee

Tina Ujlaki is obsessed with recipes—everything about them! She was the Executive Food Editor at Food & Wine magazine for eons, where she oversaw the Test Kitchen, top edited all the recipes, scouted chef talent and new products and had the great fortune to edit longtime columnists Julia Child, Jacques Pépin, Marcella Hazan and Paula Wolfert. She has translated and adapted French chef cookbooks for American home kitchens and worked on books for Lidia Bastianich and Jose Andrès, among others.

IACP Director of Awards

Paola Briseño-González is a cooking writer, recipe developer, and avid cook. She is a proud pata salada, which is surf speak for a native of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Her recipes regularly appear in New York Times Cooking, Los Angeles Times and more. She publishes coastal cosmic recipes on “Fresca,” a newsletter on Substack. Paola splits her time between Vallarta and Long Beach. She lives with her husband, a Taco Editor, and their two Old English Sheepdogs, Fig and Crema.

IACP Communications Coordinator

Lisa Hecht was born and raised in Montreal and will happily describe what she thinks makes a good bagel or poutine. She is a multidisciplinary creative with a background in art and food. With an MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a degree in Culinary Arts from Walnut Hill College, she spent 10 years as a visual artist and educator before transitioning to food-focused content. In addition to her role at IACP she works as a food stylist for QVC. Follow Lisa on Instagram @lisahechtphoto