NAOKO TAKEI MOORE is a Japanese home-cooking expert who teaches cooking classes in Los Angeles, California. Her company, toiro kitchen, sells donabe and Japanese artisan products, with a mission of promoting donabe in the U.S. Visit her blog Happy Donabe Life at naokomoore.com. 

KYLE CONNAUGHTON began his culinary career in L.A. with an apprenticeship at one of the oldest Japanese restaurants in the city and continued training in both pastry and savory at Spago Beverly Hills, The Dining Room at Ritz Carlton, Lucques, Hama Sushi, and A.O.C. This was followed by several years cooking in Japan for the famed chef Michel Bras and in numerous traditional Japanese cuisine restaurants. In 2006, Kyle joined Heston Blumenthal to become the Head Chef of Research and Development for the Fat Duck Experimental Kitchen. He is a contributor to the "Modernist Cuisine" series and a co-developer of the Culinary Science Bachelors Degree program for the Culinary Institute of America. Kyle is currently the owner-chef of Single Thread Farm-Restaurant-Inn, a 3 Michelin-starred restaurant.