Diane Kochilas

Diane Kochilas is one of the foremost authorities on Greek cuisine in the world. She is the host of Greece's most popular cooking show, "What's Cooking Today, Mom?" and the author of 18 books on Greek cuisine. Her newest book is Ikaria: Lessons on Food, Life, and Longevity from the Island Where People Forget to Die (Rodale, October 2014). Diane's last book, Country Cooking of Greece, (Chronicle, 2012), was hailed by the NYTimes as one of the 100 best books of 2012 and by the virtual gourmet, John Mariani, as Diane's "masterpiece." Another tome, the Glorious Foods of Greece, won the prestigious IACP Jane Grigson Award for Excellence in Research. Diane is on the forefront of bringing healthy, delicious Greek cuisine to as wide and mainstream and American audience as possible. In that capacity, among other things, she works regularly with Harvard University, developing healthy Greek menu options for student and retail dining services, and has consulted in the same capacity for Yale and UMass Amherst. Diane is the collaborating chef at Molyvos Restaurant in New York City. She has developed menus for popular Greek restaurants all over the United States. Diane appears regularly on American television. She has been a guest on the "Today Show," "Fox News at 5," "Martha Stewart," "Throwdown with Bobby Flay," "Bizarre Foods," "Foodography," the "PBS News Hour," and "360° w/Anderson Cooper." Her writings appear in major international media outlets, such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Dow Jones wire, Food & Wine, Gourmet Live, zesterdaily.com and more. She runs the Glorious Greek Kitchen cooking school on her native Greek island, Ikaria, which is one of the world's Blue Zones, places where longevity rates are unusually high.