Other
Irina Janakievska
James Beard Award winner
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
Shortlisted for the Jane Griggrson Trust Award, Irina Janakievska’s work sits at the point where recipe development, writing and cultural record meet. Food is the medium, but the subject is wider: Balkan cuisine, history and cultural identity. In that frame, Irina Janakievska treats a dish as evidence of place and memory, not just flavour.
The Climb
Training at the London School of Economics (2001) gave Irina Janakievska a foundation shaped by structure and argument. Leiths School of Food and Wine (2020) came later, marking a formal shift into food after a substantial career as solicitor in Britain (2001–2020). The contrast between those two institutions is part of the story: one route built on legal method, the other on culinary technique, with the years in practice carrying the discipline that now shows in her writing and development work. The range matters less than the consistency across it: each role points back to the same concern with how food is described, tested and placed in context. Her work moves between formats, but the throughline remains the same—craft tied to culture.
Today
Balkan cuisine, history and cultural identity are the core subjects of Irina Janakievska’s current work. That focus gives her writing a clear register: researched, specific and grounded in lived reference. Her time in the Ottolenghi test kitchen is part of that professional picture, placing her in a working environment known for precision and collaboration. From there, she has built writing and development that carry both instruction and context, with the cuisine always read through its history.
Signature
Irina's signature dishes include The Balkan Kitchen and The Balkan Kitchen and Recipes and Stories from the Heart of the Balkans. The titles point to how the work is built: recipes carried alongside narrative, with the Balkans as both subject and frame. Irina Janakievska uses that structure to keep cuisine connected to history, identity and the cultures that shape it. The signature, then, is not a single dish so much as a method of presentation—food set within its own record.
Recognition
Recognition has followed in measured steps. Irina Janakievska's honors include James Beard Award (International Category) (2025), Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, Special Award (2024), and Jane Grigson Trust Award shortlist (2023). Taken together, those marks place her work in view beyond her own field and confirm the reach of her writing across food culture. For a practice built around Balkan cuisine, history and cultural identity, the acknowledgements align with the work itself: they respond to its subject and its handling of it.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Irina
What is Irina Janakievska's current role?
As of 2026, Irina Janakievska is author of the Balkan Kitchen.
Where did Irina Janakievska train or study?
Irina Janakievska trained at London School of Economics and Leiths School of Food and Wine.
What recognition has Irina Janakievska received?
James Beard Award (International Category) (2025).
