Dani Valent Author

Hamed Allahyari was born in Iran and arrived in Australia as a refugee in 2012. In Iran, Hamed was a chef and restaurateur when his life was placed in danger. He soon realised that leaving - immediately - was his only option. He travelled to Indonesia, then by rickety fishing boat towards Australia where he was detained on Christmas Island. Hamed was released into the community and slowly built a new life. His Melbourne restaurant SalamaTea is a hard-won sanctuary, a business that fuels his immigrant dream as well as a place for sharing pride in Persian cooking. Hamed has also brought his flair and talent to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and the Free to Feed cooking school. He is much loved in Melbourne food circles for his advocacy for other refugees as well as support for food service operators during the pandemic.

Dani Valent is one of Australia's most respected food communicators. She is a longtime freelance journalist and restaurant critic, award-winning cookbook author and chief creator at danivalent.com. Her business card says: writer, eater, traveller and cook, and if you could sum up Dani's ethos in a phrase, it would be 'connecting people to great food experiences'.