Jae-Ha Kim

Jeremy Lin is riding a well-deserved wave of goodwill and adulation. After being undrafted and waived by not one, but two, NBA teams last year–the 23-year-old point guard for the New York Knicks has become the sport’s latest sensation. And Asian Americans are loving it. Each time Lin shows off his skills on the basketball court or does an on-air interview where—surprise!–he has no accent, he helps Asian Americans get one step closer to being accepted as “real” Americans.

To television viewers, Andrew Zimmern of “Bizarre Foods” fame is known as that guy who’ll eat anything. And he’d like Americans to give it a shot, too. “Open up and expand your horizons, people!” says the James Beard Award-winning chef and author. “My favorite mixed metaphor is, ‘Put on your big girl pants and man up!’ I am unable to comprehend a place on the planet where the food is ‘too different.’”

A couple years ago, actress Katherine Heigl and her husband Josh Kelley adopted an adorable little baby girl from South Korea. No one would deny that they didn’t deserve to be parents. But what some folks—myself included—found curious was that they had been married for less than two years when they were matched with their child.

A bona-fide foodie, Emeril Lagasse picks New Orleans as one of the all-time great food destinations. “We have unbelievable food here in New Orleans,” says Lagasse, 51. “There is a season for everything down here — shrimp, oysters, strawberries, crabs. No other place has such a direct connection to the farms and fisheries. You can’t beat going to Jazz Fest and getting a soft-shell crab po’ boy, or jambalaya at Mardi Gras or making a big pot of seafood gumbo on football weekends.

“There is no difference between my job and my life,” says “Top Chef Just Desserts” host Gail Simmons. “It’s one big blur and it’s all delicious. I travel and seek out great food. That’s kind of how I plan my trips, and my life.” Born in Toronto and currently residing in New York City, the 35-year-old TV personality — who also handles special projects for Food and Wine magazine — studied at the Institute of Culinary Education and worked in the kitchens of the Vong restaurants and Le Cirque 2000. Her memoir, “Talking with My Mouth Full: My Life as a Professional Eater,” will hit stores next year.

Fashion designer Amsale Aberra — known professionally simply as Amsale — is synonymous with upscale wedding gowns that can cost brides $75,000. Aberra stars in the WE tv reality series “Amsale Girls,” which focuses on the brides who frequent her New York boutique and the women who help them pick out their fantasy dresses.

People know who Bobby Flay is because he is everywhere. The celebrity restaurateur (Mesa Grill) is the Food Network’s face of grilling, an Iron Chef and host of the network’s biggest show “Food Network Star,” which premieres this season on Sunday, June 5. Though Flay loves traveling overseas, the 46-year-old culinary artist says if he were forced to pick between visiting domestic or international locales, he’d pick the United States.

On “Blais Off,” chef Richard Blais takes a scientific approach to cooking. That’s fitting, since the series airs on the Science Channel. “I’m not a scientist so I have to do a lot of fact-checking to make sure everything’s correct,” says Blais, 38.

Kathy Benziger Threlkeld knows her wine. The 44-year-old Sonoma, Calif., resident is a partner in the family business: Benziger Family Winery. An avid traveler who enjoys destinations that offer both snow and beachfront views, she picks a Wisconsin resort as her all-time favorite hotel.

For his latest book, “Planet Barbecue” (Workman Publishing, $35), master griller Steven Raichlen traveled to 60 countries to see for himself how grilling is done in places such as South Korea, Uruguay and South Africa. With his first-hand knowledge, he put together more than 300 barbecue recipes that are eclectic yet basic enough for the average home griller to follow. The 57-year-old chef describes his life as spending “half the year in Miami, half the year in Martha’s Vineyard and half the year on airplanes. No wonder I’m so tired.”