Tim Laird is an authority on wines and spirits with more than thirty years of experience in the hospitality industry. He is the chief entertaining officer of Brown-Forman, a major producer of fine wines and spirits (including Jack Daniel’s, Woodford Reserve, and Old Forester whiskeys and bourbons) based in Louisville, Kentucky. Laird hosts two local weekly television shows—Secrets of Bluegrass Chefs and Secrets of Louisville Chefs—and is a featured columnist for Louisville’s Food & Dining Magazine. He has appeared on Today, The Early Show, Fox & Friends, The Tonight Show, and World News Now, among many others.
David Danielson is the executive chef at Churchill Downs, the home of the Kentucky Derby. Prior to joining the team at Churchill Downs, Chef Danielson held executive chef positions at the Rockefeller Center in New York with Restaurant Associates, the United Nations Plaza Hotel, and The Palmer House Hilton in Chicago. Over the course of his more than 20 years in the industry, Chef Danielson has managed and catered numerous momentous events including the Kentucky Derby, the Super Bowl, the US Open, the PGA championship, and the Olympics, among others. He was featured in People for the food he cooked for the 2016 Kentucky Derby.