PENNY WATSON

Wrote “A Taste of Victoria,”

“I grew up in regional Victoria, and it makes sense that the food scene has changed since then. But I wasn’t prepared for the complete evolution of the past few years,” says Watson, an Australian travel writer and author who contributes to newspapers and magazines across the Asia-Pacific region. “While I’ve been living as an expat in Hong Kong, the farmers, artisan producers, chefs, and winemakers in my home state have been creating gastronomical magic. Now some of the best dishes, ingredients, and restaurants are found beyond Melbourne’s city limits and foodies are more than happy to go the distance to check them out.” Watson has this year been named a finalist in the Australian Society of Travel Writers’ Travel Writer of the Year award for her stories about Hong Kong and elsewhere in Asia.