TANIA SIBREY

Creator & Global Food Explorer – Food I Am

Tania is the founding foodie behind Food I Am Cooking School. Having taken part in many food-based experiences with family and friends in her travels and witnessing the success of early days ‘paddock to plate’ and agritourism concepts in Australia and overseas, Tania could see a Food I Am sized gap in the food tourism and education space.

In September 2011, she established Food I Am Cooking School, and in 2013 Food I Am International culinary tours commenced, the rest is delectable history.

Tania is obsessed with travel, food and wine experiences and all things culinary! She has travelled extensively and, growing up, her travels always centred on food. She would obsessively research travel destinations and loved nothing more than wrapping up unique food and wine experiences in exotic destinations with a fabulous place to stay.

As Tania accrued travel miles, she also amassed an impressive network of likeminded foodies and culinary contacts. It is with those contacts that Tania began Food I Am’s international food tours, curating travel to destinations where she knew her network would be able to provide exceptional experiences.

Tania personally curates each Food I Am tour itinerary, spending countless hours pulling together plans and obsessing over every last detail and finalising details with her Destination Management Company in each country of origin. Her goal is to design tours she would want to join, and that other like-minded people would love.

When it comes to travel, for Tania it’s all about surprises and the simple things – the sound of a foreign language; connecting with people through food; each place becoming a part of you; the feeling of teetering in the unknown and discovering a new destination; or returning again and again to a familiar destination and experiencing things as if for the first time.

When she is not discovering new travel experiences or developing the cooking school program and produce line, Tania loves to spend time with her husband, family and friends sharing food, wine and stories, e-mountain biking with her friends, paddleboarding (neither of which she is very good at), doing Pilates, and will always be one of the first on the dancefloor!

MELINA PUNTORIERO

Chef & Italy/Mediterranean Specialist

Based in Brescia, Northern Italy, Melina is the creative force behind Restaurant, Taverna 11 Cortile and International Culinary School Manuelina Culinary, both based in Northern Italy.  

Melina has a deep love of the Mediterranean, and a passion for the food of the region that respects raw ingredients. As a traveller, she believes that a lot of barriers can be broken down through food, and that food brings people a lot closer to the culture, sights and sounds of each country.

And that’s how it is with Melina’s tours. You will discover the seldom travelled sites of the Italian regions and Mediterranean, and enjoy exemplary regional street food and Michelin dining, artisan producers and spectacular winery visits.

Being a chef, Melina can explain in detail all the beautiful ingredients and how they are used in a dish, and her global culinary knowledge, contacts and bi-lingual language skills ensure you’re in good hands when on tour.

When Melina is not travelling the Mediterranean, she loves spending time at home with her husband and son, foraging in the hills, riding bikes and spending time sharing a meal with family and friends… especially ones she hasn’t had to cook!

DAMIEN (DAMO) RYAN

Chef & India/Morocco/Bhutan Host

Damo is a passionate chef and global explorer. An early love of food led to an apprenticeship, and he’s been working in kitchens in Australia and overseas since he was 16 (that’s more than 40 years!).

It was through food that he first ‘caught the wanderlust’ and travelled to as many unique destinations tasting as many exotic foods as he could, spending more than 12 years travelling and honing his skills and culinary knowledge. 

For the past 17 years, Damo has been part of the award-winning Spirit House Restaurant in Yandina. He was initially head chef before he left to start and run a bed and breakfast with his wife and children for seven years. These days, he spends a few days a week at Spirit House teaching Asian cuisine in their cooking school.

His true calling though lies in combining his love of food and passion for travel, hosting food and cultural tours through the amazing sights, sound and flavours of India, Morocco & Bhutan. Damo loves discovering hidden secrets and sharing them with others. He believes it’s what happens between visiting the big sights of a region that makes a trip special and food is the absolute icing on the cake. His trips are a tribute to a country he has loved and explored for more than 20 years.

When he’s not travelling and eating his way around the subcontinent or teaching at Spirit House, Damo enjoys exploring our great country, camping, four-wheel-driving and motorcycling with family and friends. He’s also developed quite the passion for craft beer. Cheers, Damo!

NERIDA BABIC

South East Asia Tour Host

Nerida has been part of the tours team since joining as an assistant in 2016. Her favourite destinations include Vietnam, India and Sicily and she absolutely loves connecting with people and sharing good food experiences, and wine, of course! She also believes there is no better way to experience a country than to eat where the locals eat, away from the touristy spots.

Nerida’s love of food started early. Her Dad worked as a photographer at Australian Consolidated Press, so school holidays were spent as his assistant on shoots. He photographed food for many of the Australian Women’s Weekly cookbooks which saw a young Nerida spending a lot of time in the test kitchen watching the recipes being tested, photographed, and most importantly tasted. She also worked at House & Garden Magazine as an Editorial Assistant, and her eyes were opened to the world of gourmet food, wine and travel.

Time spent as Client Liaison for a film production company saw her travelling all over Australia looking after international clients from breakfast to dinner, ensuring they were experiencing the best dining on offer in the cities and towns of our great country. It was a tough gig, but someone had to do it!

Nerida’s love of South East Asia started when she lived in Penang, Malaysia, for three years.

During that time, she travelled extensively throughout Malaysia, Thailand and Japan, immersing herself as much as possible in local life. This included eating her way through different destinations – from street food to fine dining, and shopping at wet markets for amazing fresh fruits, vegetables, and meat (yes, even choosing which chicken would be taken home ‘fresh’!).

Nerida fell in love with the people, countries and culture of South East Asia and her thirst for travel and more time there is quenched in her role as a tour host for Food I Am.

When she’s not on tour, Nerida loves going to the producers’ markets in Wagga Wagga every Thursday, chatting to the farmers and getting to know where her food has come from. Not quite the hustle, bustle and smells of the of the Asian wet markets, but it’s still good.