Championship Judges

  1. Walter Lambert
    Noonday Chef, WVLT-TV (CBS)
    Knoxville, TN
    1. Walter Lambert is the WVLT VOLUNTEER TV chef in Knoxville, Tenn. He has been associated with the University of Tennessee for more than 35 years in a number of positions, ending as Associate Vice President for State and Federal Affairs. Chef Walter has published eight cookbooks, most recently Secrets of Chef Walter. Walter and his wife, Anne, have served as co-chairs of the Gourmet Gala for The March of Dimes, cooked in the Elegant Dining program for the Knoxville Symphony and served on numerous committees. He is a veteran judge for the Cornbread Festival.
  2. Don Welch
    Host, THIS-N-THAT, Mon.-Fri. 12:30 p.m.
    WTVC-TV Channel 9
    1. Don was born and grew up in the small town of Dayton, Tennessee. He moved to Chattanooga, in the 1960s, where he started his media career in radio. After years with radio, Don decided it was time to move to bigger and better things. Don entered the fast paced world of television and has worked for all three (3) network affiliates, eventually staying with WTVC, NewsChannel 9. He started his career as a weatherman with Channel 9, and then became host/producer for “Good Morning, Don” and “Side Roads with Don Welch.” Don is the only person in Chattanooga to win an Iris Award in Broadcasting, which is comparable to an “Oscar”. In 1988, he moved to Nashville, TN to work with WTVF-Channel 5, where he was the weekend weatherman and also worked with their midday show, “Talk of the Town.” He then moved back to Chattanooga in 1989 and continued his broadcasting career with WTVC Channel 9 where he was host/executive producer for “Good Morning Chattanooga ” and where he is now the host/producer for the #1 midday show, “This N That.” Don has been married to Sammie McCoy Welch for 18 years. He has been a previous judge for the Cornbread Festival.
  3. Linda Carman
    Martha White Baking Expert
    Nashville, Tenn.
    1. Linda Carman went to work for Martha White Foods in 1975 where her first assignment was to travel around the south presenting cooking schools, meeting consumers and expanding her knowledge of southern food traditions. Five years later she became Director of the Martha White Test Kitchen and Consumer Affairs for 15 years. She is currently the Martha White spokesperson and has compiled three cookbooks. She has been judging the Cornbread Festival every year since its inception.
  4. Jim Myers
    Food writer
    The Tennessean
    1. Though he spends most of his waking hours eating his way across Middle Tennessee's fine and not-so- fine tables, Jim Myers also finds time to wax poetic about beer and spirits (and moonshine when his editors allow). He believes that salvation can be found in country ham and biscuits, and that pawpaws are sorely misunderstood. Jim is also an avid outdoor chef, having prepared veal osso bucco and risotto a la Milanese in cast- iron Dutch ovens for 14 hungry friends while on a canoe trip on the Buffalo River. He stays somewhat fit and not quite trim by refusing to put whipped spread on hot cornbread, insisting butter's the only thing, followed closely by sorghum. Jim is also a judge for the James Beard Awards, was named one of the top newspaper restaurant critics in the country by the Association of Food Journalists, and his recent ode to moonshine will appear in Cornbread Nation IV: The Best of Southern Foodwriting.
  5. Al Hernandez
    Editor/Radio/TV Host
    The Vine Times
    1. Born in Spain and eventually moving to Providence, Rhode Island, gave Al Hernandez a unique perspective on life. Working at a small Italian restaurant in Rhode Island under the strict hand of an Italian grandmother taught Al to follow his heart and passion, food and wine. A graduate of Johnson & Whales University in Providence, Rhode Island, Al then moved to Napa Valley, California to continue his exploration of food and wine. Al has worked alongside famous chefs including Emeril Lagasse, Julia Child and various other TV personalities. He is currently the food and wine editor for The Vine Times, and also hosts nationally syndicated food & wine segments. Al has also been seen on the Food Network, Fine Living and NBC.
  6. Jesse Lewis
    Senior Vice President, COO
    Food City
    1. Lewis’ food industry career began in January 1958. Since that time, he has served in numerous positions from stock clerk to chairman of the board and chief executive officer. He has served on the board of directors of four supermarket chains, as well as Parker Cutlery and the Case Knife Company. He presently serves on the board of Noble Communications in Springfield, Missouri, as well as K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc. Today, Lewis serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer of K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc., as well as President of Misty Mountain Spring Water Company.
  7. Allison Fishman
    Producer/Writer
    The Wooden Spoon
    1. Allison is the founder of The Wooden Spoon, a NY-based private cooking school. She is also the host of TLC's Home Made Simple, where she travels the country helping families create simple, tasty homemade meals. A passionate home cook, she honed her skills while working for Martha Stewart and Food Network, working with well-known food personalities as a food stylist and recipe developer. She is judging the Cornbread Festival for the first time, and is thrilled to be here.
  8. Melissa Petersen
    Editor and Publisher
    Edible Memphis Magazine
    1. Melissa Petersen spent 12 years running marketing departments for software companies, but left the corporate world for culinary school. She has cooked at several top southern California restaurants and the award-winning Waters Catering in San Diego. She and her husband Kjeld ran a successful catering company in Portland, Oregon and were one of 10 catering companies to be invited to cook at the prestigious James Beard House in New York City. Melissa is now the editor and publisher of Edible Memphis magazine, a quarterly publication celebrating the abundance of local and seasonal foods in the Mid South. In addition to running the publication, Melissa teaches cooking classes, works behind the scenes on a Food Network TV show and continues to do design work for several other Edible Publications.
  9. Bob Carlton
    Feature Writer
    Birmingham News
    1. Alabama native Bob Carlton joined The Birmingham News in 1980, and as a feature writer for the paper's lifestyle section, he has written about and judged everything from barbecue competitions to chili cook-offs to pie contests. He is a certified judge with the Kansas City Barbecue Society and previously served as a judge at 2002 National Cornbread Festival. For the past several years, Bob also has organized The News' annual best-of-Birmingham food contest to determine the top dishes in the city -- from hamburgers and hot dogs to pizza and fried chicken. He makes an exceptional pimento cheese.
  10. Susan Puckett
    Food & Drink Editor
    Atlanta Journal-Constitution
    1. Susan Puckett, a Mississippi native, has been writing about regional food traditions for more than 25 years. At her first newspaper reporting job at the Clarion-Ledger in her hometown of Jackson, Miss., she traveled the state collecting recipes and stories of the people and places behind them for “A Cook's Tour of Mississippi." While studying food and nutrition at Iowa State, she explored Midwest kitchens, resulting in “A Cook's Tour of Iowa." Since coming to the AJC in 1990, she has earned many national writing and editing awards and written several other cookbooks including "The Ultimate Barbecue Sauce Cookbook" and "The 5:30 Challenge: 5 Ingredients, 30 minutes, Dinner On the Table." And in February, she was one of five food editors recognized as a "hometown hero" in Saveur magazine's annual Saveur 100 for her section's ongoing Southern Recipe Restoration Project.