From everyday foodie to epicurean, Food I Am cooking classes, Wagga Wagga, will delight the senses and feed the mind.

Through Food I Am, Tania has achieved her dream of providing regional people with access to great food experiences while highlighting fantastic regional produce, opening her amazing purpose-built facility overlooking Wagga Wagga in April 2014.

Located on the highest elevated building site on the southern edge of Wagga Wagga, amid 100 acres of rolling hills, Food I Am is part cooking school and part private dining venue, allowing visitors to either roll up their sleeves and learn from the best chefs in the country, or to sit back and relax while the expert team prepares a culinary delight.

Bringing many top chefs to the Riverina to share their knowledge and techniques, Tania has also established Food I Am as the perfect setting for corporate team building exercises and is helping people combine their passion for food and travel with gourmet food tours to countries like Italy and Vietnam. She also hosts Food Treks for small groups visiting some of the Riverina’s best producers, winemakers, food stores, restaurants and cafes.

The big guns behind Food I Am - Tania Sibrey, Nerida Babic & Hannah Holt

Meet our team

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Tania Sibrey

Creator & Food Explorer, Food I Am

Throughout my whole life, I have always had great experiences centred around food shared with family and friends.

My craving for foods of the world and good quality produce came from my food obsessed mother. An amazing cook and teacher, my mother cooked meats and traditional fare beautifully but really came into her own when cooking Chinese banquets in the 1970s better than most local Chinese restaurants.

What followed next was an obsession with Lebanese, Indian, Thai, French cuisine and the list goes on. We travelled the globe in Mum’s kitchen!

Food I Am was born in 2011 out of simple frustration that we were not able to access great food experiences created by accomplished chefs in the Riverina.

Nerida Babic

SENIOR EVENTS DIRECTOR, FOOD I AM

Nerida is our resident events guru.

With an intimate understanding of what it takes to plan and stage a great event, Nerida has her eye on every last detail of your special occasion to ensure it runs smoothly.

Nerida's career began in magazine publishing. It was while working at House & Garden that her eyes were opened to the world of gourmet food, wine and travel.

Hannah Holt

MARKETING, ADMIN & COOKING SCHOOL HOST, FOOD I AM

A self-proclaimed foodie, Hannah comes from a background in graphic design and marketing and has always had a passion for food and cooking.

Hannah heads up all things marketing at Food I Am (she’s also a bit of an admin guru so don’t be surprised if she lands in your inbox!). You’ll also find her hosting cooking classes and occasionally lending a hand at events.

Hannah Blackman

Consulting Chef, Food I Am

Our gold medal winning consulting chef, Hannah has a background in Primary Producing and is passionate about utilising and promoting excellent local produce.

If she’s not in the kitchen you’ll find her traipsing over the country side chatting to farmers and producers or foraging for local native ingredients.

Her wealth of experience and practical knowledge shines through in her fun and interactive classes and delicious creations in the kitchen.

Jamie Shepley

Guest Chef

Jamie Shepley (“Shep”) began his career locally as an apprentice at age 20. After travelling internationally and working as a chef in multiple countries (and with some big name chefs!) he returned home to pursue his passion for fine dining

Sarn Rudd

Guest Chef

Sarn has always had a passion for cooking, and food has always been a part of her life with her Mum and Nan teaching her how to cook at a young age. Originally from Adelaide where she began her cooking career in a café, she is now a Wagga local having been here for over 20 years.

Sarn is no secret to the Wagga food scene, having worked at the Roundabout Restaurant, Meccanico, Pastorale as well as Hide Steak & Bar.

Her greatest love is the joy of cooking for her family and friends.

Sarn loves to travel and has journeyed the world, enjoying local delicacies and finding authentic and unique eateries and bars – the best way to learn about local cuisine! Having travelled to Spain, Italy, France, Dubai, Thailand, Bali, Singapore, Laos, China and Vietnam, her highlight was eating at the 3 Michelin Star Restaurant “Azurmendi” in Bilbao, Spain.

With a talent for a variety of cuisines (and even having a side business in celebration and wedding cakes at one point) Sarn loves to cook Thai, Spanish and Italian food at home.

Luke Piccolo

Guest Chef

Restauranteur and chef of renowned regional restaurant Limone Dining, Luke is a Griffith local with Italian heritage and grew up surrounded by food and culture.

Christine Manfield

Guest Chef

Christine Manfield is one of Australia’s most celebrated chefs who is also an author, food and travel writer, food manufacturer, presenter, teacher and gastronomic traveller whose culinary work draws on the exciting tastes and flavours of many cultures, whose passion and commitment to culinary excellence are world renowned.

The Martini Whisperer - Phillip Jones

Phillip Jones, aka The Martini Whisperer, is one of Australia's leading craft spirit educators and advocates. Since 2012, he has been writing about, reviewing and judging craft spirits. He is a guest contributor for Gourmet Traveller Wine magazine and has judged the New Zealand Craft Spirits Awards and the Perth Royal Show Distilled Spirits among others.

Frank Camorra

Guest Chef

Multi award winning Movida, Next Door, Aqui, Paco's Tacos & recently opened Movida Sydney are all synonymous amongst any food lover! Frank Camorra trained under the Grossi family at their original Café Grossi in Toorak.

Lyndey Milan

Guest Cook

LYNDEY MILAN OAM, Australian home cook hero, combines a thirst for life and a sense of fun with a love of good food and sparkling shiraz.

A familiar face on television and in print, she been instrumental in changing the way Australians think and feel about food and wine for thirty years.

Giovanni Pilu

Guest Chef

Giovanni is the Executive Chef and owner of Pilu at Freshwater which was recognised in the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide as ‘Best New Restaurant’ in its first year of opening and has received two chef’s hats every year since then.

Justin North

Guest Chef

Justin North is no stranger to awards. Becasse, Surry Hills, his first restaurant with wife Georgia was opened in 2001; it met with instant critical and public acclaim.

Becasse held on to two coveted Chef’s Hats from 2003 – 2011 and won Best European Restaurant in Australia many times. Justin was also named as Chef of the Year 2009 by the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide and GQ Chef of the Year 2010.

Annette Fear

Guest Chef

One of Australia’s Greatest Culinary Chef's - Annette Fear, Exclusively at Food I Am

Originally from Sydney, Annette moved to the Sunshine Coast in the 1980’s where she was chef at various Noosa restaurants such as Bistro C and Lindoni's.

Melina Puntoriero

Guest Chef

Melina consults with some of Italy’s top culinary Institutes and now through the Manuelina Culinary Institute, she and her team of chefs are bringing Authentic Italian Regional Cuisine to the world… From Nonna to Master Chefs.

David Bitton

Guest Chef

Australian Celebrity Chef's David Bitton exclusively at Food I Am

Celebrity French chef David Bitton is a name you no doubt know well. From Bitton Gourmet, his best selling line of gourmet products, to his status as Executive Chef at many of the world's best five star restaurants. The day David arrived in Sydney he commenced work at The Intercontinental Hotel.

Dominique Rizzo

Guest Chef

One of Australia’s Greatest Culinary Chef's - Dominique Rizzo exclusively at Food I Am

Dominique Rizzo, author and regular guest on many of Australia’s top TV cooking programs brings her brand of healthy but irresistible cooking to Wagga. Dominique has left the kitchen for the classroom and now presents workshops on cooking with seasonal, local produce for better health, vitality and flavour.

Amy Dewhirst

Guest Chef

Amy's credentials from hatted establishments are many, afterspending three years with Frank Comorra “Movida” as Senior Chef de Partie she then moved onto her current position with Matt McConnell as Sous Chef at award winning “Bar Lourinha”.

Bernard Hoff

Artisan Baker - So French So Fresh!

Bernard learnt all the tricks of his trade in the east of France before heading to Londons Harrods Patisserie then bringing his artisan skills to Wagga and opening Boulangerie Patisserie.

Soon Lee Low

Guest Chef

After completing his apprenticeship at Madam Fang & Shakahari (modern Asian), Melbourne, Soon then went on to work at Ishmus Of Kra (Thai), Chef de Partie at the NOBU Crown (Japanese & Peruvian) before travelling globally and working as Chef De Partie - Beach House Maldives, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel (French Cuisine and Maldivian Cuisine), London

Martin Dulke

Team Building Chef

Martin’s world of gastronomy has seen him doing stints in the kitchen with Paul Bocuse and Rick Stein, working in radio as an on air presenter with Larry Emdur, Food editor for 9-5 magazine, chef on Channel 10’s Cheez TV, involvement with Channel 9’s Burkes Backyard and Today Show.

Sophie Hansen

Sophie was born and raised in Sydney, and lives with her family on their farm just outside of Orange in country New South Wales. Sophie trained in journalism and has over 20 years experience as a features writer. She has contributed to a number of online and digital publications and has been blogging at www.local-lovely.com since 2013. She also teaches social media and content marketing to producers and small businesses via My Open Kitchen (podcast, e-course and workshops). And was awarded Australian Rural Woman of the Year (2016) in recognition of her commitment to rural communities. She believes in simple, tasty and seasonal food made with love and shared generously.

Alex Elliott-Howery

Alex Elliott-Howery is the co-founder of what has become a thriving and boundary - breaking food community in inner Sydney.

She runs the Cornersmith cafes, renowned for their big hearts and strong conscience when it comes to sustainably sourced food. Alex teaches pickling and preserving workshops at the Cornersmith cooking school, the Picklery.

Mark Olive - Chef, Television Host and Creative

Mark Olive, aka ‘The Black Olive’, is Australian’s most renowned indigenous chef. Starring in his own television series ‘The Outback Cafe’ and a host of cooking, lifestyle and travel shows nationally and globally. Mark’s passion for fusing native food and culture with contemporary lifestyle cooking has led to a huge international profile specialising in gourmet Australian Indigenous cuisine.

Ramael Scully

Barbara Sweeney

If you enjoy reading the food stories in Country Style, you’ll know Barbara Sweeney’s work. As a food writer in pursuit of tasty stories about farmers, food producers and chefs, she’s tasted oysters moments after harvest, fended off curious piglets, and, as regional editor of the SMH Good Food Guide, sat down to dinner in many of the country’s best restaurants

The Italianos - Luciano & Martino

“The Italianos of My Kitchen Rules are known for dishing up some mean meals and with larger than life personalities Luciano and Martino are a must see.

After meeting each other more than a decade ago in Sydney, Luciano and Martino both realised they share an exuberant passion for food. It was inevitable that the pair would eventually fuse their skills to become kitchen partners and have been cooking up a storm ever since mixing their traditions from Tuscany (Martino comes from Siena) and Abruzzo (Luciano’s family origin).

A love affair with food, The Italianos have "una passione" (a passion) for the dishes that their ancestors passed down to them and cook with pride and joy, making their relatives proud. But that's not all the boys can cook! The talented pair can dish out a fair few surprises... catch them at FoodIam to see what they have in store!”.

D.J Pieroway

D.J. Pieroway, a.k.a. The Drinks Professor, has been involved in hospitality for over 30 years. Her passion for the industry has led to her working in locations such as her native Newfoundland in Canada, Toronto, Hong Kong, Tokyo and London. She is a Certified Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers, and is in the final stages of completing her Wine, Spirits and Education Trust Diploma.