Philip­pa Sklaar grew up in Johan­nes­burg and built cater­ing com­pa­nies and cook­ing schools in South Africa and Los Ange­les. She has cooked for lead­ers includ­ing Nel­son Man­dela and Desmond Tutu, and her first Los Ange­les client was Eliz­a­beth Tay­lor. Sklaar owned a gourmet cook­ie com­pa­ny, authored Hot Cui­sine, co-authored When Lov­ing Him Hurts and The Affair, and appeared on Guy’s Gro­cery Games.