Melody Kettle
Melody grew up in Bergen county, and spent most of her time beside her grandmother in the kitchen, where she developed a love for cooking, food, and entertaining.
After receiving a B.A. in English from Rutgers University, Melody attended Rutgers Law School where she earned a Juris Doctorate. In 2010 Melody began blogging and “vlogging” (video blogging) for hyper-local news site, Baristanet, and later for Patch. In March of 2011, she launched Hot From The Kettle®, One Steamy Wine & Food Destination.
By 2014, Hot From The Kettle established itself as a premier on-line source for restaurant news and reviews in New Jersey. Hot From The Kettle also publishes content such as culinary demonstrations, recipes, and methods that have attracted national and international interest.
Hot From The Kettle has been inducted into the Culinary Hall of Fame, and Hot From The Kettle videos are featured on iFood.tv. Melody Kettle heads up the North Jersey dining section of Off The Broiler. She is member of the prestigious Chaine des Rotisseurs, and holds the office of Charge de Presse Nationale. She has also appeared on Emeril's Table on the Hallmark Channel. Melody had judged statewide competitions, including the Iron Shaker, and has served as a panelist on food related seminars.
Melody Kettle is the founder and executive director of the non-profit Montclair Food & Wine Festival, co-owner of Hot From The Kettle Events, and a contributor to New Jersey Monthly magazine.
NEW YORK TIMES
"A First Fest for Local Tastes"
NEW JERSEY MONTHLY, Soup to Nuts
"Melody Kettle: Lawyer, Mom, Foodie, Blogger, Impresario"
MONTCLAIR TIMES
Elizabeth Hartman
Elizabeth Hartman
After earning a BS Degree with honors Liz pursued her culinary passion and attended The New School’s Culinary & Pastry Arts program where she thrived and became an Instructor’s Assistant. Always one to be the force behind gathering people together, after a brief stint as pastry chef at the highly acclaimed Zoe Restaurant in SoHo, she began her professional career in catering and events. Working first as an Account Executive at Between the Bread, one of New York City’s premiere off-premise catering companies, then moving on to become the Catering & Special Events Manager first for Matthew Kenney then for Pamela Morgan at the very notable Flavors Catering. Throughout these three positions she cut her teeth in Manhattans corporate and social party scenes ranging from Fortune 500 companies to private clients in The Dakota.
In 1999 while living in Hell’s Kitchen Liz noticed construction on a new hotel and popped in to take a quick peek. After a conversation with the restaurant’s general manager she began the interview process for a Catering Manager position at The Time Hotel & Palladin Restaurant, which she was granted and became the Director of Catering within three months. While in this position she oversaw a myriad of functions ranging from meetings & conferences, penthouse soirees, entertainment industry cocktail parties in the cocktail lounge and private corporate dinners in the restaurant. After the unfortunate passing of Chef Palladin, Liz continued with the Vikram Chatwal Hotel group for over a decade as Director of Events & Special Projects for their nightlife outlets, opening AVA Lounge, Dream Lounge, Rm. Fifty5 and Inc Lounge producing over 1 million dollars annually in food & beverage special event sales.
Liz then reconnected with her culinary roots by joining the vibrant team at The Kitchen NYC as VP of Business Development and Event Planning where she has already had the pleasure to work with notable chefs such as Alex Guarneschelli, Spike Mendelsohn, Wolfgang Puck, and Sam Talbot.
Most recently, she has jumped on board as the Montclair Food & Wine Festival Producer, a non profit organization which benefits St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital as well as their education initiative, MACHE (Montclair Academy for Culinary & Hospitality Education). The festival has grown from 2 events in their inception year (a Grand Tasting and a Gala Dinner) to at least 4 events in their sophomore year (including a Seminar Series and a Cru Meets Brew Harvest Dinner), and plans to grow annually.
Accomplishments:
Food & Wine’s 10 best New Chef Awards at Grand Central 1998
Opened Time Hotel with Chef Jean Louis Pallaldin
Opened AVA Lounge, the pioneer of hotel rooftop lounges
BizBash Event Style Awards judge
Black Bear Film Festival Gala Director
EVP, Montclair Food & Wine Festival Board of Trustees