Vicky Bennison is creator of the hugely popular YouTube channel, Pasta Grannies. Her first Pasta Grannies cookbook won a James Beard Foundation award in 2020. Other accolades have followed: she was a TEDx speaker in 2021; she was named a Conde Nast Traveler of the Year in 2024 for her work as a culinary documentarian; and won the ITV Food Creator of the Year award in 2025. Pasta Grannies is regularly featured in publications such as the New York Times, Financial Times, Vogue, and even appears (briefly) in the first season of the hit TV series, The Bear. Before becoming involved with food, Vicky spent many years working in international development in varied places such as Kenya, Siberia, South Africa, and Turkmenistan. The next decent meal was always on her mind, and she began writing about her culinary adventures, from mushroom hunting in Siberia's Taiga forest, to cooking zebra stew on the shores of Lake Turkana in Kenya. She divides her time between London and Italy where she and her husband have a home in Le Marche.