Meet Our Guests

Elaine Trigiani

Elaine is from Mississippi in the USA, worked as an art historian at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and has been living in Italy for 20 years learning about Italian foods and culinary traditions from her relatives, artisan producers, farmers and chefs. She has an MA in art history, is certified as a taster of olive oil by the Regione Toscana and of wine by ONAV, the Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori di Vino. She has written two guidebooks to Sicily, teaches cooking lessons, leads guided tastings, designs and leads culinary travel programs and she produces Olio della Donna super high quality extra virgin olive oil.

Ashley Nathe

Executive Director

Executive director of the Minneapolis Farmers Market Mother of 2 Farming is in my blood

Mary Lower

Digital Marketer/Publicist

Mary honed her PR skills in Chicago and New York before landing in the Twin Cities area. Always with a camera in her hands (or in recent years a Samsung phone) she enjoys storytelling in her own unique way - sometimes through interviews and sometimes through photos that illustrate blog posts or other digital marketing platforms. She joined with her husband in 2015 to produce a blog called "Hacking Salt" that modified dishes and restaurant menus to remove the high level of sodium many are accustomed to in their daily diet. Her husband Chris was awaiting a heart transplant and found he had a knack for hacking the salt out of meals. Chris passed in 2017 and Mary keeps him his legacy alive via the recipe photos and by moderating the Facebook private group. Her goal is to spend more time on blog content in the coming year.