Gwen Pratesi is a James Beard Foundation Award Finalist in Journalism and an award-winning travel writer. She is the author and owner of PratesiLiving.com with her husband, coauthor of Southern Heat, and co-owner of On the Road Culinary Adventures, a culinary travel business. She is a bimonthly travel contributor to U.S. News & World Report, a travel expert for SheKnows.com, and freelances for other publications. Her work has been featured on MSN, Yahoo!, Business Insider, and in Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles. She has also been a speaker at several food and writing conferences in the Southeast. Gwen chronicles her love of international travel and experience as a professional home cook on PratesiLiving.com, where she shares the stories of some of the world's most sought after destinations, highly regarded chefs, restaurateurs, farmers, wine and spirits producers, and culinary artisans.