John McKenna has written about Ireland's food culture for almost thirty years, and has won many national and international awards for his work, including the André Simon Special Award. He is the curator of the annual The 100 Best Restaurants in Ireland, published since 1992. The Wall Street Journal described him as "Ireland's most authoritative food writer".

Sally McKenna is a photographer, cookery editor, film-maker and the publisher of the McKennas' Guides, working from her office in West Cork. Her book Extreme Greens: Understanding Seaweed was described by BBC Radio 4's The Food Programme as "a new bible for seaweed cookery".