The artisans of taste.

Chef & Co-Owner, SingleThread Farm-Restaurant-Inn

Kyle Connaughton

Healdsburg, California, United States

Kyle Connaughton is the chef and co-owner of SingleThread Farm-Restaurant-Inn in Healdsburg, California, which opened in 2016 and earned three Michelin stars in 2019, a four-star…

Executive Chef & Co-Owner, Le Bernardin

Eric Ripert

New York City, New York, United States

Seafood fine dining is a discipline of restraint: sourcing, cut, temperature, seasoning, timing, and service all have to resolve before the plate reaches the dining room. At Le…

Executive Chef & Owner, Atomix and Atoboy

Junghyun Park

New York City, New York, United States

Food Science education, technique, and meal structure form the working base of Junghyun Park’s cooking. The training at Kyung Hee University gave him a technical frame before…

Executive Chef, Sézanne

Daniel Calvert

Tokyo, Japan

French technique gives this work its frame; Japanese seasonality gives it its pressure point. In Daniel Calvert’s kitchens, the connection is not treated as contrast. It is a…

Chef-Owner, Eleven Madison Park

Daniel Humm

New York City, New York, United States

Plant-based luxury dining in New York has been tested at full fine-dining scale at Eleven Madison Park, where Daniel Humm’s work centers the purity, clarity, and structure of…

Chef-owner, Providence

Michael Cimarusti

Los Angeles, California, United States

## The Trajectory Seafood fine dining at this level is built through repetition in disciplined rooms before it becomes a restaurant language. Michael Cimarusti trained at Culinary…

Chef & Founder, Alchemist

Rasmus Munk

Copenhagen, Denmark

Randers, Jutland, supplies a plain starting context for the cooking: a town less by restaurant culture than by seasonal rhythm, and a household where food functioned as…

Chef-Owner, The Chairman

Danny Yip

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Danny Yip is the chef-owner of The Chairman, a Hong Kong Cantonese restaurant opened in 2009 that has risen to global acclaim, including a top 10 ranking in The World’s 50 Best…

Owner-Chef, Sazenka

Tomoya Kawada

Tokyo, Japan

Chinese cooking at Sazenka in Tokyo is practiced through a Japanese frame: Sichuan cuisine, domestic ingredients, Japanese training, and tea pairings brought into one service…

Culinary Director & Executive Chef, Amber, The Landmark Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong

Richard Ekkebus

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

## The Path Professional kitchen formation is built through repetition, hierarchy, and pressure before it is visible as style. In Richard Ekkebus’s case, that formation included…

Executive Chef, Saison

Richard Lee

San Francisco, California, United States

Richard Lee is the Executive Chef at Saison, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant in San Francisco, where he took over leadership from Joshua Skenes and has maintained its status…

Caprice Executive Chef, Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong

Guillaume Galliot

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Before the Hong Kong dining room and the Contemporary French cuisine with global influences, the training line runs through Montpellier and the discipline of apprenticeship at…

Chef-Owner, Odette Restaurant

Julien Royer

Paris, France

Now chef-owner of Odette in Singapore, Julien Royer works within a French foundation shaped by Asian influence, using a seven-course tasting menu as the format for seasonal…

Chef & Proprietor, Narisawa

Yoshihiro Narisawa

Tokyo, Japan

European kitchen work gave Yoshihiro Narisawa a technical base outside Japan after he left home at 19. The later cooking did not discard that training; it put classical European…

Chef-Patron, L'Enclume

Simon Rogan

Cartmel, United Kingdom

## The Path A restaurant tied to place depends on more than sourcing; it has to let the surrounding land set the terms. Since 2002, Simon Rogan has worked from L'Enclume on that…

Executive Chef & Owner, Quince and Cotogna

Michael Tusk

San Francisco, California, United States

Michael Tusk is the chef and owner, along with his wife Lindsay, of Quince and Cotogna, two critically acclaimed restaurants in San Francisco's Jackson Square. Born in New Jersey…

Chef-Owner, Burnt Ends Hospitality Group

Dave Pynt

Singapore, Singapore

Dave Pynt is an Australian chef and owner of Burnt Ends Hospitality Group, a one-Michelin-starred modern barbecue restaurant in Singapore's Chinatown that he opened in 2013. Born…

Owner & Chef, Florilège

Hiroyasu Kawate

Tokyo, Japan

Hiroyasu Kawate is the owner and chef of Florilège, a two Michelin-starred French restaurant in Tokyo's Jingumae district, which he opened in Aoyama in 2009 and relocated in 2015.…

Executive Chef, Trèsind Studio

Himanshu Saini

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Indian cooking in a contemporary dining room depends on more than quotation and polish. At Trèsind Studio in Dubai, the modern gastronomy developed by Himanshu Saini works by…

Owner & Head Chef, Potong

Pichaya "Pam" Soontornyanakij

Bangkok, Thailand

Pichaya 'Pam' Soontornyanakij is the owner and head chef of Potong, a Michelin-starred Thai-Chinese fine-dining restaurant in Bangkok's Chinatown, opened in 2021 in her family's…

Chef-Patron, Moor Hall Restaurant with Rooms

Mark Birchall

Aughton, United Kingdom

Formal training set the base at Runshaw College; subsequent work in professional kitchens tested that base against regional produce, service discipline, and the responsibility of…

Executive Chef, Les Amis

Sebastien Lepinoy

Singapore, Singapore

French haute cuisine here is framed by discipline: early brigade work at La Côte Saint-Jacques and L'Auberge des Templiers, a long Joël Robuchon period, a Hong Kong chapter at…

Executive Chef, Disfrutar

Eduard Xatruch

Barcelona, Spain

Eduard Xatruch, born in 1981 in Vila-seca, Tarragona, Spain, trained at the Escuela de Hostelería de Cambrils before joining elBulli in 1999, where he advanced to the creative…

Chef, Disfrutar

Mateu Casañas

Barcelona, Spain

Mateu Casañas, born in 1977 in Roses, Girona, began his culinary career at his family's restaurant Si us plau before apprenticing at elBulli in 1997, rising to pastry chef in 2003…

Co-founder & Head Chef, Disfrutar

Oriol Castro

Barcelona, Spain

Oriol Castro is a Spanish chef born in Barcelona in 1974 who co-founded Disfrutar in Barcelona in 2014 alongside Eduard Xatruch and Mateu Casañas. He trained extensively at…

Head Sommelier, Disfrutar

Rodrigo Briseño

Barcelona, Spain

Before the title of Mexican Head Sommelier at Disfrutar in Barcelona, the dining-room craft had already given Rodrigo Briseño a working frame for gastronomy. Food and wine…

Chef, Co-founder & Gastronomic Director, El Celler de Can Roca

Joan Roca

Girona, Spain

## The Climb Technical formation in Girona runs through Escola d'Hosteleria de Girona, where Joan Roca studied the foundations of the trade before returning as a teacher. The…

Head Chef & Co-Founder, Quintonil

Jorge Vallejo

Mexico City, Mexico

In Mexico City, Quintonil works in a contemporary Mexican register built around local ingredients, regional sourcing, and sustainability. Since 2012, chef-owner Jorge Vallejo has…

Chef & Proprietor, Atelier Crenn

Dominique Crenn

San Francisco, California, United States

Three Michelin stars for Atelier Crenn in 2018 put a public measure on the standard of the kitchen Dominique Crenn built as chef and owner of Atelier Crenn in San Francisco, USA.…

Director of Culinary, Jade Dragon

Kelvin Au Yeung

Macau, Macau

His work has remained inside Cantonese cuisine, with Jade Dragon in City of Dreams, Macau as the fixed point. “The dishes I made were simple, but the kids loved them. Usually, I…

Chef & Co-Owner, Emeril’s

E.J. Lagasse

New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

E.J. Lagasse is the son of celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse and serves as Chef and Co-Owner of Emeril’s in New Orleans, where he took over leadership in 2022 following an extensive…

Chef Patron, Core by Clare Smyth

Clare Smyth

London, United Kingdom

County Antrim farm life gives a cook an early read on land, season, and raw product; in Clare Smyth’s case, that background sits behind a practice described through natural,…

Chef & Owner, Quique Dacosta Restaurante

Quique Dacosta

València, Spain

Dénia, Spain, functions here as working ground rather than backdrop: coast, product, memory, and restaurant practice are treated as source material for a contemporary kitchen. In…

Co-owner & Bar Director, Handshake Speakeasy

Eric van Beek

Mexico City, Mexico

Co-owner and bar director of Handshake Speakeasy in Mexico City.

Partner, Handshake Speakeasy

Marcos Di Battista

Mexico City, Mexico

Partner of Handshake Speakeasy in Mexico City.

Co-founder, Handshake Speakeasy

Rodrigo Urraca

Mexico City, Mexico

Co-founder and partner of Handshake Speakeasy in Mexico City.

Chef & Sole Proprietor, The Inn at Little Washington

Patrick O'Connell

Washington DC, Washington DC, United States

From the 1978 opening through the present, the work has stayed fixed to one dining room, one countryside address, and a continuing practice of American hospitality built around…

Chef, Piazza Duomo

Enrico Crippa

Alba, Italy

Born in Carate Brianza and raised in Viganò Brianza, the craft around Enrico Crippa was shaped early by two practical forms of attention: the pace and discipline of bicycles…

Chef & Owner, Pujol

Enrique Olvera

Mexico City, Mexico

Professional formation before ownership and the head-chef role at Pujol in Mexico City came through the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY. Repetition, kitchen…

Chef / Proprietor, Jungsik New York

Jungsik Yim

New York City, New York, United States

At MUJE, the working brief is modern Asian cuisine built from ingredients, culinary traditions, and cultural references gathered across the continent. In Jungsik Yim’s hands, that…

Executive Chef, The Glenturret Lalique Restaurant

Mark Donald

Crieff, United Kingdom

Mark Donald is the Executive Chef at The Glenturret Lalique Restaurant in Crieff, Scotland, where he led the team to a first Michelin star just seven months after joining in 2021…

Chef-Owner, Mingles

Mingoo Kang

Seoul, South Korea

Chef-owner of Hansik Goo, his first overseas outpost in Hong Kong since 2020, Mingoo Kang works from hansik as a live operating system rather than a fixed archive. The…

Chef & Owner, Jimbocho Den

Zaiyu Hasegawa

Tokyo, Japan

## Coming Up Kagurazaka Uwoto Ku supplied the early working discipline behind Zaiyu Hasegawa’s cooking, establishing the base that preceded his role as chef-owner of Den in 2014.…

Chef Patron, Ynyshir

Gareth Ward

Machynlleth, United Kingdom

Gareth Ward, originally from County Durham, England, joined Ynyshir Hall (now Ynyshir) in Machynlleth, Wales, as head chef in 2013, earning the restaurant its first Michelin star…

Chef-owner, Mugaritz

Andoni Luis Aduriz

Errenteria, Spain

Modernist cooking in Gipuzkoa is treated at Mugaritz as a working method rather than a display style: taste, texture, naming and expectation are put under pressure service by…

Head Chef & Proprietor, Restaurante Coque; Executive Chef, Haroma by Mario Sandoval

Mario Sandoval

Valdemoro, Spain

Mario Sandoval (born Madrid, 1977) is a Spanish chef and the head of Restaurante Coque, which he took over from his father in 1999 and elevated to two Michelin stars. Winner of…

Chef & Co-Owner, Blue Hill at Stone Barns

Dan Barber

Tarrytown, New York, United States

Dan Barber is the chef and co-owner of Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, New York, and Blue Hill in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, pioneering farm-to-table cuisine…

Chef & Owner, Restaurante Martín Berasategui

Martín Berasategui

Lasarte - Oria, Spain

Restaurant craft in the Basque Country is often transmitted before it is named: through station work, family obligation, product handling, and the repeated corrections of service.…

Chef & Owner, Sorn

Supaksorn "Ice" Jongsiri

Bangkok, Thailand

Supaksorn "Ice" Jongsiri is a Thai chef and owner of Sorn, a Southern Thai restaurant in Bangkok that became the first restaurant in Thailand to receive three Michelin stars in…

Chef & Proprietor, The Fat Duck

Heston Blumenthal

Bray, United Kingdom

## Training and Lineage Self-directed technical cooking in Britain has often moved through conventional schooling before the kitchen supplied the method. Heston Blumenthal was…

Chef & Co-Owner, Cocina Hermanos Torres

Javier Torres

Barcelona, Spain

Product-led cooking is the working premise at Cocina Hermanos Torres in Barcelona, Spain, where chef Javier Torres is part of a Spanish culinary avant-garde built on disciplined…

Executive Chef, Le Calandre

Massimiliano Alajmo

Bolgheri, Italy

Cooking at this level is a problem of structure: how to carry lightness without losing depth, and how to let a dish move without becoming vague. Massimiliano Alajmo’s work is…

Chef & Co-Proprietor, Cocina Hermanos Torres

Sergio Torres

Barcelona, Spain

Sergio Torres’s cooking at Cocina Hermanos Torres in Barcelona, Spain, is built around product clarity, Catalan reference points, and classical control. The work reads through…

Executive Chef & Director, Addison

William Bradley

San Diego, California, United States

Working-kitchen formation, rather than a credentialed-school path, shaped the cooking of William Bradley, Executive Chef and Director at Addison in San Diego, California. The…

Chef and Restaurateur, Daniel

Daniel Boulud

New York City, New York, United States

Born on 25 March 1955 in Saint-Pierre-de-Chandieu, France, the cooking associated with Daniel Boulud is built from French kitchen discipline, European hotel standards, private…

Head Chef & Owner, Steirereck im Stadtpark

Heinz Reitbauer

Vienna, Austria

In Stadtpark, Vienna, the bread trolley at Steirereck works as a register of Austrian baking rather than a garnish to service: classic and modern loaves move with time and season,…

Chef-Owner, Azurmendi

Eneko Atxa

El Palmar, Spain

Sustainability-led Basque cooking frames the work at Azurmendi in Larrabetzu, Spain, where Eneko Atxa is chef and owner. The restaurant’s position rests on a working balance:…

Chef & Co-Owner, Ikoyi

Jeremy Chan

London, United Kingdom

"I think of flavour as a multi-dimensional experience." In the cooking associated with Jeremy Chan, flavour is treated as structure rather than garnish: a set of pressures across…

Chef & Owner, Kato

Jon Yao

Los Angeles, California, United States

Jon Yao is the chef and owner of Kato, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Los Angeles that he opened in 2016 in a strip mall space originally leased by his parents in Sawtelle near…

Executive Chef, Robuchon au Dôme

Julien Tongourian

Macau, Macau

Contemporary French cooking in a Robuchon dining room depends on control before display: station discipline, repeatable standards, and a pass run with enough clarity that…

Chef, Atrio

Toño Pérez

Cáceres, Spain

“I try to create an honest cuisine with no tricks. A cuisine which gives satisfaction and pleasure.” In the kitchen at Restaurant Atrio in Cáceres, Spain, that sentence functions…

Chef Patron, The Ledbury

Brett Graham

London, United Kingdom

## The Ascent Seafood work close to the quay gives a cook a narrow margin: heat, timing, and freshness show quickly. In an early career role at a local seafood restaurant in…

Chef & Owner, Benu

Corey Lee

San Francisco, California, United States

Professional kitchens teach sequence before authorship: clearing tables, reading service, then moving through stations where repetition becomes judgment. Corey Lee entered the…

Owner-Chef, Quintessence

Shuzo Kishida

Tokyo, Japan

At Restaurant Quintessence in Tokyo, Japan, temperature is treated as a primary variable, not an afterthought. Probes, embers, steam, and tenth-degree control define a kitchen…

Chef & Owner, Aponiente

Ángel León

Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, France

Ángel León’s cooking at Aponiente in El Puerto de Santa María, Spain, treats the sea as working material rather than theme. The pantry is marine, but the method is inquiry:…

Chef & Owner, Hiša Franko

Ana Roš

Kobarid, Slovenia

In Kobarid, Slovenia, the raw material sets the terms: trout, deer, goat, forest fruits and wild plants, carried into the kitchen through foragers, shepherds, cheesemakers,…

Chef-Owner, L’Effervescence

Shinobu Namae

Tokyo, Japan

Born in Yokohama on February 16, 1973, the Japanese chef studied at Keio University and the University of Tokyo, worked as sous chef at Michel Bras TOYA Japon in Hokkaido, worked…

Chef & Owner, Frantzén

Björn Frantzén

Stockholm, Sweden

For the restaurants of Frantzén Group, the working principle is the reduction of distance between kitchen and dining room. In Björn Frantzén’s practice, service is not treated as…

Chef Proprietor, Restaurant Sat Bains with Rooms

Sat Bains

Nottingham, United Kingdom

Owner-operated Modern British cooking in Nottingham is the frame for Sat Bains’s work at Restaurant Sat Bains in Nottingham, England. The line runs through Derby training,…

Cocktail Service Professional

Ignacio "Nacho" Jimenez

New York City, New York, United States

## Coming Up New York bar service is the through-line in Ignacio "Nacho" Jimenez’s work: a sequence of rooms that sharpened pace, control, and feel for the floor. At Gabriela's in…

Owner & Head Chef, DiverXO

David Muñoz

Madrid, Spain

"Happy staff, happy food. Plain and simple." In David Muñoz’s kitchens, the staffing principle is treated as part of production, not as decoration around it. Born in Madrid on 15…

Head Chef, Restaurante Arzak

Elena Arzak

San Sebastián, Spain

## Training and Lineage Formal hotel-school discipline and family-restaurant apprenticeship sit on different sides of the same trade education. For Elena Arzak, the Hotel school…

Chef & Proprietor, La Cime

Yusuke Takada

Osaka, Japan

Yusuke Takada is the chef and proprietor of La Cime in Osaka, Japan, which he established in 2010 and has maintained two Michelin stars since 2016. He trained at legendary French…

Chef & Owner, Elkano

Aitor Arregi

Getaria, Spain

Aitor Arregi, born in Getaria in 1971, is the chef and owner of Restaurante Elkano, the renowned seafood grill restaurant founded by his father Pedro Arregi in 1964 in Getaria,…

Founder & Proprietor, The Social Company

Jason Atherton

London, United Kingdom

“I was born a chef [and] I’ll die a chef.” In the context of Jason Atherton’s current flagship, the line reads as a working position rather than a slogan. The restaurant is built…

Chef & Owner, Ricard Camarena Restaurant

Ricard Camarena

València, Spain

Ricard Camarena is a Valencian chef who began his career leasing Piscina de Barxar in Barx near Gandia in the early 2000s, opened Arrop in Gandia in 2004 earning a Michelin star…

Directrice Générale, Château Guiraud

Sandrine Garbay

Sauternes, France

Sandrine Garbay is a pioneering French oenologist and winemaker who served as maître de chai (head winemaker) at Château d'Yquem for 24-27 years beginning in 1998, making her the…

Executive Chef & Founder, Fu He Hui; Head Chef, Fu Restaurant Group

Tony Lu

Shanghai, China

Head of the Fu restaurant group in Shanghai, China, and Executive Chef at Fu He Hui, Tony Lu works in a register where Vegetarian Chinese fine dining is built from range rather…

Chef & Owner, Gabriel Kreuther

Gabriel Kreuther

New York City, New York, United States

Gabriel Kreuther is an Alsace-born chef who honed his skills in Michelin-starred kitchens across Germany, France, and Switzerland before moving to New York in 1997 to join La…

Executive Chef, Claridge's

Richard Galli

London, United Kingdom

Executive chef at Claridge's.

Managing Director, Claridge's

Thomas Kochs

London, United Kingdom

Managing Director of Claridge's.

Chef Executif, ESqUISSE

Lionel Beccat

Tokyo, Japan

At ESqUISSE in Tokyo, citrus, spices and herbs function as working materials, not garnish. In Lionel Beccat’s cooking, they set brightness, warmth, green lift and aromatic timing…

Chef de Cuisine, Per Se

Chad Palagi

New York City, New York, United States

Professional formation in fine dining often starts with systems: school, station work, repetition, and the pressure of service. For Chad Palagi, that formation runs through Napa…

Head Chef, Lasarte

Paolo Casagrande

Barcelona, Spain

Between Catalonia, the Basque Country, and Italy, the cooking associated with Paolo Casagrande works from geography without turning it into a postcard. Mediterranean brightness,…

Executive Chef, The Modern

Thomas Allan

New York City, New York, United States

Thomas Allan is the Executive Chef at The Modern, a two-Michelin-starred restaurant in New York City's Museum of Modern Art, where he was promoted in February 2020 after serving…

Executive Chef, Jaan by Kirk Westaway

Kirk Westaway

Singapore, Singapore

Kirk Westaway is the Executive Chef of Jaan by Kirk Westaway in Singapore, where he has led the restaurant since around 2018 with his 'Reinventing British' philosophy, drawing…

Chef & Owner, 8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana

Umberto Bombana

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Italian cooking in Hong Kong has often had to work in two registers at once: the discipline of regional product and the service expectations of an international dining room.…

Chef & Co-Owner, KOL Restaurant

Santiago Lastra

London, United Kingdom

Santiago Lastra (born 4 April 1990) is a Mexican chef and co-owner of KOL Restaurant in Marylebone, London, which opened in October 2020 and received its first Michelin star in…

Chef

Julia Momosé

Chicago, Illinois, United States

## Career Japanese nationality and a cross-trained hospitality practice define Julia Momosé’s work at Kumiko in Chicago, United States, where she has held the role of executive…

Chef & Owner, Oriole

Noah Sandoval

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Noah Sandoval is the Chef and Owner of Oriole, a two Michelin-starred restaurant he opened in Chicago's West Loop in March 2016 with his wife Cara Sandoval, which earned the stars…

Chef & Proprietor, L'Arpège

Alain Passard

Paris, France

## The Honours Vegetable-led cooking carries weight here because the method is specific: the plate is organized around produce as the primary material, not as garnish,…

Executive Chef, Chef Tam's Seasons

Kwok-Fung Tam

Macau, Macau

## The Ascent Chinese cookery in hotel dining rewards control across banquet polish, regional reference, and repeatable service. In the early career of Kwok-Fung Tam, that…

Head Chef & Co-Owner, Geranium

Rasmus Kofoed

Copenhagen, Denmark

## Career Arc Training in hospitality craft needs both structure and attention. In Rasmus Kofoed’s case, that foundation came through Rudolf Steiner schools and Hotel…

Chef & Proprietor, Döllerer's Genießerrestaurant

Andreas Döllerer

Golling an der Salzach, Austria

Andreas Döllerer is the chef and proprietor of Döllerer's Wirtshaus and Genießerrestaurant in Golling an der Salzach, Salzburg, Austria, where he pioneered 'Cuisine Alpine,'…

Chef

Hidetoshi Nakamura

Los Angeles, California, United States

Before the Executive Chef role at Myojaku in Tokyo, the work had already passed through the discipline of Japanese restaurants including Kyoto’s Maruta, with Hidetoshi Nakamura as…

Chef Patron, Osteria Francescana

Massimo Bottura

Modena, Italy

## The Making Formal study at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia preceded the restaurant work, and the early record includes a brief 1986 period as a wholesaler of…

Executive Chef & Director, Paco Roncero Restaurante

Paco Roncero

Madrid, Spain

Paco Roncero, born in Madrid in 1969, is a Spanish chef who joined the Casino de Madrid in 1991, becoming head chef of banquets in 1996 and executive chef in 2000, leading La…

Chef Propriétaire, La Grenouillère

Alexandre Gauthier

La Madelaine-sous-Montreuil, France

Alexandre Gauthier, born in 1979 in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, took over the family restaurant La Grenouillère in La Madelaine-sous-Montreuil, Pas-de-Calais, in 2003 at age 24,…

Head Chef, The Forest Side

Paul Leonard

Grasmere, United Kingdom

Paul Leonard is the head chef at The Forest Side in Grasmere, Lake District, appointed in November 2019 following his role at The Devonshire Arms in Bolton Abbey where he earned…

Head Chef, De Librije

Nelson Tanate

Zwolle, Netherlands

Nelson Tanate (born 1991 in Wierden, Netherlands) is a Dutch chef of Moluccan heritage who has served as Head Chef at De Librije in Zwolle since 2004, growing under the mentorship…

Chef & Owner, Restaurant Tim Raue

Tim Raue

Berlin, Germany

Tim Raue, born in Berlin in 1974, began his culinary training at age 17 after a challenging youth in Kreuzberg and became head chef by age 23. He earned his first Michelin star in…

Executive Chef & Co-Owner, Smyth and The Loyalist

John Shields

Chicago, Illinois, United States

John B. Shields is the Executive Chef and co-owner of Smyth and The Loyalist in Chicago's West Loop, a two-restaurant concept that earned three Michelin stars in November 2023. He…

Executive Chef & Proprietor, Alkimia

Jordi Vilà

Badalona, Spain

Jordi Vilà is an executive chef and proprietor of Alkimia in Barcelona, Spain, where he has maintained a Michelin star for 20 consecutive years since 2004. He has accumulated…

Chef de Cuisine, Cheval Blanc Paris (Plénitude & Restaurants)

Arnaud Donckele

Paris, France

## The Path Classical French kitchen progression runs through stations before authorship. École Ferrandi provided the formal base for Arnaud Donckele before a trainee post at…

Wine Director, Plénitude / Cheval Blanc Paris

Emmanuel Cadieu

Paris, France

Wine Director at Cheval Blanc Paris and Plénitude.

Executive Chef, Le Taillevent

Giuliano Sperandio

Paris, France

Giuliano Sperandio, born in Imperia, Italy in 1982, became Executive Chef of Le Taillevent in Paris in September 2021, retaining the restaurant's two Michelin stars from the 2022…

Pastry Chef, Cheval Blanc Paris

Maxime Frédéric

Paris, France

Born in June 1989, Maxime Frédéric came into pastry through bakery practice rather than plated-dessert theory. Two years with Christopher Jeanne at La Grigne bakery and pastry…

Chef

Paco Pérez

Llançà, Spain

Cooking and service are treated here as a single craft act: the plate, the room, the timing, and the guest’s reception are not separate measures. Paco Pérez states the position…

Chef & Co-Owner, Alinea

Grant Achatz

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Before the chef’s name was tied to Alinea in Chicago, the underlying formation was conventional in the useful sense: Grant Achatz trained at The Culinary Institute of America at…

Chef Patron, Kitchen Table

James Knappett

London, United Kingdom

James Knappett is the chef patron and co-founder of Kitchen Table, a two Michelin-starred restaurant in London's Fitzrovia, which he opened in 2012 with his wife and sommelier…

Chef Patron, Mirazur

Mauro Colagreco

Cap d'Antibes, France

## Coming Up Formal hotel-school training at the Lycée hôtelier de La Rochelle gave Mauro Colagreco the base expected of a cook entering the French system: technique first,…

Co-Gérant, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti

Aubert de Villaine

Vosne-Romanée, France

## Coming Up Training at Dijon placed Aubert de Villaine inside the Burgundian frame before his work widened through roles as an employee at Frederick Wildman Importers in United…

Co-Manager, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti

Bertrand de Villaine

Vosne-Romanée, France

## Coming Up Formation in Wine Commerce, agronomy, and place-based farming gives this profile its working frame. Bertrand de Villaine studied at the Master's in Wine Commerce in…

Winemaker, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti

Perrine Fenal

Vosne-Romanée, France

Estate continuity in Burgundy is built through proximity, representation, governance, and daily management rather than through abrupt succession. At Domaine de la Romanée-Conti,…

Chef-Owner, Jordnær

Eric Kragh Vildgaard

Gentofte, Denmark

Eric Kragh Vildgaard is a Danish chef and co-owner of Jordnær, a three-Michelin-star restaurant in Gentofte, Denmark, which he opened with his wife Tina in 2017 after working at…

Chef Patron, Hélène Darroze at The Connaught

Hélène Darroze

Paris, France

Hélène Darroze at The Connaught in London, United Kingdom, sits inside a practice built across Monaco, Paris, Provence, and London, with southwestern France remaining the…

Chef & Owner, Casa Marcial

Nacho Manzano

Arriondas, Spain

## The Trajectory Asturian creative cooking in this register depends on discipline before authorship: training at Tivoli Kopke and Casa Marcial gave Nacho Manzano the working base…

Chef & Owner, Reale

Niko Romito

Castel di Sangro, Italy

Vegetable-led Italian cooking is the central problem in Niko Romito’s work: how to carry heritage, reduction, and contemporary service formats without treating plants as a…

Executive Chef & Proprietor, Ta Vie

Hideaki Sato

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

At Ta Vie, French-Japanese cooking is framed by the working discipline of Pure, Simple and Seasonal. “At 19 I began working part-time in the kitchen of a small restaurant that…

Chef & Owner, Pierre Gagnaire (Paris)

Pierre Gagnaire

Paris, France

Pierre Gagnaire restaurant in Paris is the working base through which Pierre Gagnaire has defined his practice since 1996, as Head Chef and owner. The cooking is French in its…

Chef & Owner, Lazy Bear

David Barzelay

San Francisco, California, United States

David Barzelay is the chef and owner of Lazy Bear, a two Michelin-starred restaurant in San Francisco's Mission District that he opened in 2014 after starting as an underground…

Chef Patron, The Clove Club

Isaac McHale

London, United Kingdom

Isaac McHale is the Chef Patron of The Clove Club in Shoreditch, London, which he co-founded in 2013 after six years at The Ledbury where he rose to Development Chef during its…

Executive Chef, Tantris Maison Culinaire

Benjamin Chmura

Munich, Germany

Benjamin Chmura is the Chef de Cuisine and Executive Chef at Tantris Maison Culinaire in Munich, Germany, where he has led the kitchen since 2021, reviving the restaurant's French…

Chef-owner, HAJIME

Hajime Yoneda

Osaka, Japan

The useful fact is not origin sentiment but working temperament: structure precedes expression, and inquiry is treated as part of the mise en place. ## Coming Up Technical…

Chef & Owner, Belcanto

José Avillez

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

José Avillez is a Portuguese chef and restaurateur born in 1979 in Lisbon, who graduated in Business Communication with a thesis on Portuguese gastronomy before starting his…

Executive Chef and Owner, WING Restaurant

Vicky Cheng

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Vicky Cheng is the chef-owner of Wing Restaurant and Vea, both located in Central, Hong Kong, where Wing focuses on innovative interpretations of the eight great Chinese cuisines…

Chef & Proprietor, DSTAgE

Diego Guerrero

Madrid, Spain

Diego Guerrero Peromingo is a Spanish chef born in April 1975 in Vitoria-Gasteiz who founded DSTAgE in Madrid in 2014, an informal haute cuisine restaurant that earned two…

Sommelier, Northcote

Jack Prince

Langho, United Kingdom

Sommelier at Northcote.

Owner and Winemaker, Frog's Leap Winery

John Williams

Chiang Mai, Thailand

American wine is built through agriculture, cellar repetition, and the discipline to let place set the terms. In the work of John Williams, that pattern runs through academic…

Chef Patron-Director, Northcote

Lisa Goodwin-Allen

Langho, United Kingdom

Lancashire supplies the working vocabulary for this cooking: family meals built for use, one-pot dishes set in the middle of the table, slow-cooked meats, sausages and mash,…

Owner & Chef, Restaurant Les Cols

Fina Puidgevall

Olot, Spain

Fina Puigdevall, born May 30, 1963, in Olot, Spain, is the owner and chef of Restaurant Les Cols in Olot, Girona, Catalonia, which she founded in May 1990 in her family farmhouse.…

Head Chef, Les Cols

Martina Puigvert

Olot, Spain

Martina Puigvert is the head chef of Les Cols in Olot, Catalonia, where she has led the kitchen since 2016 alongside her mother, Fina Puigdevall. Under her direction, Les Cols has…

Owner & Winemaker, Domaine Leroy and Domaine d'Auvenay

Lalou Bize-Leroy

Saint-Romain, France

## Coming Up Burgundy négociant work depends on selection, timing, allocation, cellar judgment, and a clear reading of demand without letting the market define the wine. From…

Chef, Le Cinq - Four Seasons Hôtel George V

Christian Le Squer

Paris, France

Christian Le Squer works in a fine-dining register: modern, elegant cuisine organized around seasonal ingredients, Breton roots, and references to the capital. At Restaurant Le…

Winemaker

Max Schubert

Adelaide, Australia

Named by The Sydney Morning Herald among the 100 most influential Australians of the century in 2001, Australian winemaker Max Schubert belonged to a house-trained lineage, shaped…

Head Sommelier & Restaurant Manager, Asador Etxebarri

Mohamed Benabdallah

Atxondo, Spain

Head sommelier and restaurant manager at Asador Etxebarri.

Chief Winemaker, Penfolds

Peter Gago

Adelaide, Australia

Peter Gago, born 25 April 1957 in the UK, is the Chief Winemaker at Penfolds in South Australia since 2002, succeeding John Duval as only the fourth person to hold the role since…

Chef & Owner, Asador Etxebarri

Victor Arguinzoniz

Atxondo, Spain

## The Ascent Live-fire cooking gains authority when it is treated as labor before theatre. Early in his career, Victor Arguinzoniz worked as a worker at a flag factory, a…

Chef & Owner, Zilte***

Viki Geunes

Antwerp, Belgium

The progression of a precise modern kitchen can be read through its origins in Mol, the 2011 move to Antwerp, and Michelin recognition in 2004, 2008 and 2021. In Viki Geunes’s…

Chef & Owner, Cenador de Amós

Jesús Sánchez

Villaverde de Pontones, Spain

Jesús Sánchez is the chef and owner of Cenador de Amós in Villaverde de Pontones, Cantabria, Spain, a restaurant housed in an 18th-century maison-palace that he opened in 1993…

Winemaker, Domaine Coche-Dury

Raphaël Coche

Meursault, France

The working frame at Domaine Coche-Dury is estate continuity rather than succession theater: viticulture, oenology, parcel reading, and cellar repetition in Meursault, France.…

Chef Patron, Restaurant Story

Tom Sellers

London, United Kingdom

Tom Sellers is a two Michelin-starred chef from Nottingham who opened Restaurant Story in Bermondsey, London, in 2013 at age 26, earning its first Michelin star within five months…

Chef & Owner, Flocons de Sel

Emmanuel Renaut

Megève, France

In Megève, the cooking is built from altitude before it is built from garnish. In Emmanuel Renaut’s kitchen, rose hip, wild blackberries, gentian, ceps, chanterelles, whitefish…

Chef, La Bastide de Saint-Tropez (Restaurant Isoletta)

Luca Binaschi

Megève, France

Luca Binaschi is a chef from Lake Como, Italy, who joined La Bastide de Saint-Tropez as head chef starting April 18, 2025, for the 2025 season. Trained under renowned chefs Arnaud…

Head Chef, logy

Ryogo Tahara

Taipei, Taiwan

Ryogo Tahara, born in 1983 in Hokkaido, Japan, trained in Italy under chefs like Gennaro Esposito at La Torre del Saracino and Maurilio Garola at La Ciau del Tornavento starting…

Chef

Mark Chou

New York City, New York, United States

The craft record here is built in New York kitchens where station work, sauce discipline, tasting-menu precision, and high-volume leadership each ask for a different kind of…

Chef Founder, Andō

Agustín Ferrando Balbi

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Agustín Ferrando Balbi is an Argentine chef and founder of Andō in Hong Kong, a Michelin-starred restaurant that fuses Spanish, Italian, and Japanese cuisines. Born in Ramos…

Chef

Teague Moriarty

San Francisco, California, United States

As owner of Sons & Daughters in San Francisco, Teague Moriarty built the work on a direct exchange between growing ground and kitchen. In his practice, ingredients were not…

Chef

Matteo Panfilio

Venice, Italy

## Coming Up Today, Matteo Panfilio is Executive Chef of Aman Venice. ## Where They Are Now At Aman Venice, Matteo Panfilio works as Executive Chef in a kitchen defined by…

Executive Chinese Chef, Lung King Heen at Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong

Chan Yan-tak

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

## The Ascent Cantonese kitchen formation often starts below the stove line, where repetition, prep discipline, and service rhythm come before authorship. Chan Yan-tak built that…

Chef-Owner, Gaa

Garima Arora

Bangkok, Thailand

Garima Arora is an India-born chef-owner of Gaa, a modern Indian restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand, which she opened in 2017 and which earned its first Michelin star in 2018, making…

Senior Executive Chinese Chef, Jin Sha at Four Seasons Hotel Hangzhou at West Lake

Wang Yong

Hangzhou, China

Wang Yong is the Senior Executive Chinese Chef at Jin Sha, a Hangzhou restaurant at Four Seasons Hotel Hangzhou at West Lake, specializing in Jiangsu-Zhejiang, Hangzhounese, and…

Chef de Cuisine, Le Louis XV - Alain Ducasse à l'Hôtel de Paris

Emmanuel Pilon

Monte Carlo, Monaco

## Coming Up Classical French kitchen formation is the base here: Lycée Hôtelier de Saint Chamond and Lycée professionnel Hélène Boucher supplied the school structure, followed by…

Chef & Co-Owner, Trivet

Jonny Lake

London, United Kingdom

Jonny Lake is a Canadian chef and co-owner of Trivet in London, which earned one Michelin star in 2022 and 2023, and two stars in 2024. Previously, he served as Executive Head…

Chef Patron, Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester

Jean-Philippe Blondet

London, United Kingdom

"We must let nature express itself in what it gives us." In the kitchen of Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester in London, where Jean-Philippe Blondet has been Chef Patron since 2023,…

Head Chef, ABaC Restaurant

Jordi Cruz

Barcelona, Spain

In the city, creative cuisine at ABaC is built from the product outward. Local, seasonal produce sets the terms; technique follows. Since 2010, Jordi Cruz, Spanish head chef at…

Chef, Uliassi

Mauro Uliassi

Senigallia, Italy

Hospitality school gave the formal base; Senigallia gave the working material. In the Adriatic city where Uliassi took shape, creative seafood cuisine is handled through…

Executive Chef & Owner, Hive Hospitality

Ryan Ratino

Kappelrodeck, Germany

Duck, dry age, vinegar, and fermentation put change at the center of the cooking. In Ryan Ratino’s kitchens, ingredients are worked through salt, air, acid, pressure, and time…

Chef

Lorenzo Antinori

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Before Lorenzo Antinori became co-founder and mixologist of Bar Leone in Hong Kong in 2023, the work already ran through a sequence of bars that trained pace, precision, and…

Bar Manager, Il Pellicano

Federico Morosi

Porto Ercole, Italy

Bar manager at Hotel Il Pellicano.

CEO & Creative Director, Pellicano Hotels Group

Marie-Louise Sciò

Porto Ercole, Italy

CEO and creative director of Pellicano Hotels Group, which includes Hotel Il Pellicano.

Chef & Proprietor, Noor

Paco Morales

Córdoba, Spain

Paco Morales is a Spanish chef born in Córdoba in 1981 who trained at renowned establishments including Ferran Adrià's El Bulli and Andoni Luis Aduriz's Mugaritz before opening…

Chef

Aretah Ettarh

New York City, New York, United States

## The Path At Gramercy Tavern, the work has been built through repetition, timing, and line discipline. Aretah Ettarh moved through the kitchen in steps that map a standard…

Head Chef, Onjium

Cho Eun-hee

Seoul, South Korea

Cho Eun-hee is the head chef of the one-MICHELIN-starred restaurant Onjium in Seoul, South Korea, where she specializes in delicate Korean royal court cuisine from the Joseon…

Chef, El Portal de Echaurren

Francis Paniego

Logroño, Spain

Francis Paniego, born in April 1968 in Ezcaray, La Rioja, Spain, is the chef of the two-Michelin-starred El Portal de Echaurren in Ezcaray, which he opened in 2002 as a creative…

Executive Chef, Gramercy Tavern

Michael Anthony

New York City, New York, United States

Michael Anthony is the Executive Chef of Gramercy Tavern in New York City, where he has led the kitchen since 2006, earning a one Michelin star, three stars from The New York…

Executive Chef, The Yeatman Hotel

Ricardo Costa

Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal

Ricardo Costa is the Executive Chef at The Yeatman Hotel in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, where he has led the gastronomic restaurant to two Michelin stars since 2017, following…

Chef

Josue Alvarado

Hetton, United Kingdom

Tasting-menu cookery at The Angel in Hetton, United Kingdom, is built on sequence, restraint, and local seasonality. Josue Alvarado heads the kitchen team in a format where each…

Chef

Mike Bagale

New York City, New York, United States

Mike Bagale’s work reads as a study in kitchen discipline: training, service, repetition, and then the move into larger responsibility. Mike Bagale is no longer serving as Former…

Chef de Cuisine & Owner, Schloss Schauenstein

Andreas Caminada

Fürstenau, Switzerland

Regional Swiss cooking, handled through a fine-dining register, defines the work associated with Andreas Caminada: local products, controlled surprise, and simple ingredients…

Head Chef & Partner, Schloss Schauenstein

Marcel Skibba

Fürstenau, Switzerland

Co-Owner & Head Chef at Schloss Schauenstein in Fürstenau, Switzerland, Marcel Skibba works inside a demanding European fine-dining frame: Three Michelin stars at the restaurant,…

Chef-Owner, Ristorante Duomo; Head Chef, Giano at W Rome

Ciccio Sultano

Rome, Italy

Ciccio Sultano is the chef-owner of the two-Michelin-starred Ristorante Duomo in Ragusa Ibla, Sicily, which he opened in 2000 after training in Germany, New York at Felidia with…

Chef & Owner, Nihonbashi Kakigaracho Sugita

Takaaki Sugita

Tokyo, Japan

Takaaki Sugita, born in 1973 in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, apprenticed for 12 years at Nihonbashi’s Miyakozushi starting after high school, then at age 30 took over a branch as…

Owner & Chef, L'évo

Eiji Taniguchi

Nanto, Japan

Eiji Taniguchi is the owner and chef of L'évo, an avant-garde restaurant in Toga Village, Toyama Prefecture, Japan, specializing in French-inspired cuisine using local foraged and…

Chef, Granite & La Chèvre d'Or

Tom Meyer

Èze, France

Tom Meyer is a French chef from the Jura region who opened Granite in Paris in 2021, earning a Michelin star and Gault&Millau 3 toques (15.5/20) shortly after, along with the…

Executive Chef, Le Bristol Paris

Arnaud Faye

Donaueschingen, Germany

In Paris, at Le Bristol Paris, the work of Épicure is organized around season, timing, sauce work, and brigade discipline. Arnaud Faye’s cooking there is measured rather than…

Executive Chef, Estro

Antimo Maria Merone

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Antimo Maria Merone is a Naples native and the chef-founder of Estro, his first independent restaurant in Hong Kong launched in 2021 in partnership with JIA Group, where he…

Winemaker, Domaine Armand Rousseau

Cyrielle Rousseau

Gevrey-Chambertin, France

Pinot Noir at Domaine Armand Rousseau is handled as a fourth-generation practice in Gevrey-Chambertin, France. Cyrielle Rousseau's permanent turn into the family business came in…

Co-Gérante, Domaine Armand Rousseau

Cyrille Rousseau

Gevrey-Chambertin, France

Cyrielle Rousseau (born September 1988) is the great-granddaughter of founder Armand Rousseau and current co-manager of Domaine Armand Rousseau in Gevrey-Chambertin, Burgundy,…

Winemaker & Proprietor, Domaine des Comtes Lafon

Dominique Lafon

Meursault, France

The working line in Burgundy runs through brokerage, cellars, and inherited domaines: work for Becky Wasserman, the pioneering American wine broker, precedes the responsibility…

Owner & Winemaker, Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier

Frederic Mugnier

Premeaux-Prissey, France

Frédéric Mugnier is the owner and winemaker of Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier in Chambolle-Musigny, Burgundy, taking over full responsibility for the family estate in 1985 after…

Owner & Winemaker, Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier

Frédéric Mugnier

Premeaux-Prissey, France

Pinot Noir from Chambolle-Musigny gives little cover to excess extraction, heavy wood, or cellar noise. At Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier, Frédéric Mugnier works inside that…

Founder, Domaine Dujac

Jacques Seysses

Morey-Saint-Denis, France

Jacques Seysses founded Domaine Dujac in Morey-Saint-Denis, Burgundy, in 1967-1968 by purchasing the struggling Domaine Marcel Graillet, which he renamed after himself, with the…

Winemaker & Co-Manager, Domaine Dujac

Jeremy Seysses

Morey-Saint-Denis, France

In Morey-Saint-Denis, Whole-cluster Pinot Noir is part of the working grammar at Domaine Dujac, used for aromatic lift and texture rather than as decoration. Jeremy Seysses,…

Chef & Owner, La Marine

Alexandre Couillon

Noirmoutier-en-l'île, France

## The Climb Technique built through service gives a kitchen its grammar before it gives it a point of view. In an early-career chef position under Michel Fornareso, Alexandre…

Consulting Chef, Don Julio

Guido Tassi

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Guido Tassi is a consulting chef at Don Julio parrilla in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he joined the team in 2016 to elevate its grilled meats and sausages, contributing to its…

Chef & Owner, Restaurant Guy Savoy

Guy Savoy

Paris, France

As he has said, "I started my apprenticeship at 15. I have been cooking for 44 years now." ## Coming Up A classical French kitchen career can pass through pastry, restaurant…

Chef

Christiaan Stoop

Shanghai, China

Executive Chef work across Taian Table Shanghai and Taian Table Guangzhou sits on repeatable systems: menu creation, research and development, team training, and a service…

Owner Chef, Sushi Noz

Nozomu Abe

New York City, New York, United States

Owner chef of Sushi Noz in New York.

Chef

Stefan Stiller

Shanghai, China

The cooking is built as an open-kitchen tasting-menu practice: seasonal products, European-rooted technique, and ingredients drawn from the country and around the world. In Stefan…

Beverage Director, We All Gotta Eat Group

Tira Johnson

New York City, New York, United States

Beverage Director for We All Gotta Eat Group, including Sushi Noz.

Executive Chef, Côte by Mauro Colagreco

Davide Garavaglia

Bangkok, Thailand

## The Climb Formal training at Milan’s leading culinary school in 2009 gave Davide Garavaglia the base before service in kitchens tied to distinct European registers: D’O under…

Chef, Le Pré Catelan & Le Jules Verne

Frédéric Anton

Paris, France

Frédéric Anton’s work at Le Pré Catelan in Paris sits in the high-discipline register of French gastronomy: exact mise en place, clean construction, and controlled finish. The…

Chef de Cuisine & Propriétaire, Le Petit Nice

Gérald Passédat

Marseille, France

Gérald Passédat, born March 24, 1960, in Marseille, is a French chef and proprietor of Le Petit Nice, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant in his native city. He trained at the…

Winemaker & Proprietor, Domaine Arnaud Ente

Arnaud Ente

Meursault, France

Micro-production white Burgundy sets the working frame at Domaine Arnaud Ente in Meursault, France, where Arnaud Ente has worked from 1992 to the present as winemaker and…

Beverage Service Professional

Jacob Brown

San Francisco, California, United States

## Coming Up At Lazy Bear in San Francisco, Aged California wine pairings are the core of Jacob Brown’s work as the former beverage director. The program sits between cellar and…

Chef

Andrew Wong

London, United Kingdom

Chef and owner of A. Wong, Andrew Wong works in Regional Chinese cuisine through inheritance, research and service. The practice joins family knowledge with ancient recipes and…

Chef & Owner, Aramburu

Gonzalo Aramburu

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Gonzalo Aramburu is the chef and owner of Aramburu, Argentina's only two Michelin-starred restaurant located in Buenos Aires' Recoleta district, which he opened in 2007 in the…

Chef

Andrea Capasso

Paris, France

## The Climb Training at ALMA, the school founded by Gualtiero Marchesi, gave Andrea Capasso a foundation built on precision, discipline, and the pressure that fine dining…

Executive Chef, Le Clarence, Paris

Christophe Pele

Paris, France

Christophe Pelé is a French chef born March 22, 1969, in Châtenay-Malabry, who has been Executive Chef at Le Clarence in Paris's 8th arrondissement since 2015. He previously…

Chef

Giacomo Giannotti

Barcelona, Spain

## The Path Behind the bar at Paradiso in Barcelona, Giacomo Giannotti learned the habits that define a tight service: disciplined mise en place, exact timing, and the calm needed…

Chef & Owner, D.O.M.

Alex Atala

São Paulo, Brazil

## The Climb European hotel-school training and high-level restaurant discipline formed the technical base: Alex Atala trained at École Hôtelière de Namur, then worked at…

Chef

Anthony Mangieri

New York City, New York, United States

In 2025, 50 Top Pizza named Una Pizza Napoletana in New York, NY the #1 pizzeria in the world. The recognition put a narrow form of work under wider inspection: Neapolitan-style…

Head Chef & Founder, Dewakan

Darren Teoh

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Darren Teoh is the founder and head chef of Dewakan, a fine-dining restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which he established in 2014 (initially at KDU University College in Shah…

Owner & Chef, Hof van Cleve

Floris Van Der Veken

Kruishoutem, Belgium

Floris Van Der Veken is the owner and chef of Hof van Cleve, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Kruisem, Belgium, founded by Peter Goossens in 1986. He served as executive…

Owner and Head Chef, Baan Tepa Culinary Space

Chudaree “Tam” Debhakam

Bangkok, Thailand

Chudaree “Tam” Debhakam is the owner and head chef of Baan Tepa Culinary Space in Bangkok, a two-Michelin-starred restaurant ranked No. 42 on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024,…

Executive Chef, Ossiano at Atlantis The Palm

Grégoire Berger

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Grégoire Berger, born in Versailles and raised in Brittany, France, graduated from CFA in Vannes and began his career with an apprenticeship at La Closerie de Kerdrain in Auray.…

Head Chef, Sketch (Lecture Room & Library)

Johannes Nuding

London, United Kingdom

Johannes Nuding is the Head Chef at the Lecture Room & Library within Sketch in Mayfair, London, where he oversees the kitchen executing Pierre Gagnaire's 'New French' cuisine.…

Chef

Library: Johannes Nuding

London, United Kingdom

His kitchen stays rooted in Pierre Gagnaire's 'New French' cuisine, read here as a precise contemporary French frame: measured, exacting, and built with architectural control. The…

Managing Director & Wine Director, Baron Philippe de Rothschild S.A. / Château Mouton Rothschild

Philippe Dhalluin

Pauillac, France

Philippe Dhalluin is a renowned winemaker who has served as managing director and wine director for Baron Philippe de Rothschild S.A. since 2003, overseeing production at Château…

Founder, Head Chef & Co-Owner, Noma

René Redzepi

Tokyo, Japan

Chef/co-owner work at Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark put René Redzepi’s public standing inside the New Nordic frame: localism, avoidance of waste, fermentation, bacteria, and a…

Chef & Owner, Maison Pic

Anne-Sophie Pic

Valence, France

## Training and Lineage Business training can shape a kitchen as much as station work when the work spans houses, markets, and formats. Anne-Sophie Pic studied at business school…

Chef & Owner, Restaurant JAN

Jan Hartwig

Munich, Germany

The kitchen lineage in this profile starts with trade proximity rather than romance: “My father is a chef too, so I helped out in the kitchen as a young child.” Classic French…

Executive Chef & Owner, Le Du

Thitid Tassanakajohn

Bangkok, Thailand

Thitid 'Ton' Tassanakajohn is the Executive Chef and Owner of Le Du in Bangkok, which earned 1 Michelin star in 2019 and was ranked #1 on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2023. After…

Chef & Owner, Ristorante Arnolfo

Gaetano Trovato

Colle di Val d'Elsa, Italy

Gaetano Trovato, born in Sicily and raised in Colle di Val d'Elsa, Tuscany, opened Ristorante Arnolfo in 1982 with his mother and sister, earning his first Michelin star at age 25…

Chef, Saddle

Adolfo Santos García

Madrid, Spain

Adolfo Santos García is the chef of Saddle, a Madrid restaurant that holds 1 Michelin star and 2 Repsol Suns, located in the former Jockey space. Originally from Barco de Ávila,…

Chef & Co-Owner, Restaurant Pearl Morissette

Daniel Hadida

Lincoln, Canada

Daniel Hadida is a chef and co-owner of Restaurant Pearl Morissette in Lincoln, Ontario, Canada, which he joined at the Pearl Morissette winery in 2015 and opened as a restaurant…

Co-Chef & Co-Owner, Restaurant Pearl Morissette

Eric Robertson

Lincoln, Canada

Eric Robertson is co-chef and co-owner of Restaurant Pearl Morissette in Lincoln, Ontario, alongside Daniel Hadida, where they opened the restaurant in 2017 emphasizing…

Chef

Brandon Jew

San Francisco, California, United States

## The Climb The line work came first: busboy, food runner, cook. Brandon Jew moved through those stations before taking a cook apprenticeship in Piedmont and Bologna, Italy, then…

Chef Propriétaire (Chef & Proprietor), L'Assiette Champenoise

Arnaud Lallement

Reims, France

## Coming Up Champagne-country cooking at L'Assiette Champenoise in Tinqueux near Reims is built on precision, restraint, and the handling of product without excess. Arnaud…

Directeur & Maître de Chai, Clos de Tart

Alessandro Noli

Morey-Saint-Denis, France

## The Path Vineyard work sets a different order of attention than cellar-first training: rows, soils, weather, and repeated observation come before polish. From 2006, Alessandro…

Chef

Nando Jubany

Calldetenes, Spain

At Can Jubany in Calldetenes, where Nando Jubany has been owner and chef since 1995, the work starts with a clear reading of the popular recipe book. “The secret is to know well…

Chef

Nandu Jubany

Calldetenes, Spain

In Calldetenes, Spain, Can Jubany works from a Catalan register where local and seasonal product sets the frame. The kitchen associated with Nandu Jubany is identified by game…

Head Chef & Co-owner, Kadeau Copenhagen and Kadeau Bornholm

Nicolai Nørregaard

Åkirkeby, Denmark

## The Path Island cooking starts with limits: weather, coastline, fields, forests and the seasonal pressure of what Bornholm can give at a given moment. Early restaurant work…

Chef & Co-Proprietor, Frères Troisgros (Maison Troisgros)

Pierre Troisgros

Ouches, France

## Training and Lineage Family-house cooking matters here because the later work did not read as a detached appointment or brand extension. The practice that became Frères…

Chef de Cuisine, Aubergine Carmel

Alec Moreno

Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, United States

Chef de cuisine at Aubergine Carmel.

Executive Chef, Aubergine at L'Auberge Carmel

Justin Cogley

Starnberg, Germany

Justin Cogley is the Executive Chef at Aubergine restaurant in L'Auberge Carmel, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, where he joined in January 2011 and oversees all culinary programs.…

Executive Chef & Co-Owner, Clover Hill

Charlie Mitchell

Crissier, Switzerland

Charlie Mitchell (born 1992) is an American chef and restaurateur based in New York City, specializing in soul food with a fine dining approach. Born in Detroit, Michigan, he is…

Executive Chef & Co-Owner, Restaurant de l'Hôtel de Ville Crissier

Franck Giovannini

Crissier, Switzerland

The cooking at Restaurant de l’Hôtel de Ville Crissier, Switzerland, is built on fine ingredients, classical structure, and controlled movement between tradition and innovation.…

Winemaker & Proprietor, Domaine Roulot

Jean-Marc Roulot

Meursault, France

In the Côte de Beaune village, continuity is a practical choice before it is a family story. “Meursault was always on my mind, and when my cousin left I had to make a decision. I…

Managing Director, Château Margaux

Philippe Bascaules

Margaux, France

Philippe Bascaules joined Château Margaux in 1990 at age 27 as Estate Director, working under Paul Pontallier until 2011 when he left to become Managing Director and winemaker at…

Chef-Owner, Le Suquet / Bras

Sébastien Bras

Laguiole, France

Sébastien Bras is the chef-owner of Le Suquet (now Bras) in Laguiole, Aubrac, France, a three-Michelin-star restaurant he took over from his father Michel Bras in 2009 after…

Chef & Owner, Ogata

Toshiro Ogata

Kyoto, Japan

Toshiro Ogata is the chef and owner of the two-Michelin-starred restaurant Ogata in Kyoto, Japan, which he opened in 2008 after serving as head chef at the prestigious ryotei…

Executive Chef, The Waterside Inn

Fabrice Uhryn

Bray, United Kingdom

Belgian Classical French cooking in Bray is a matter of continuity, not relocation. Born and raised in Belgium, Fabrice Uhryn has built his work inside one exacting house: The…

Executive Chef, Sushi Shikon

Yoshiharu Kakinuma

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

In Tokyo sushi, scale can be reduced to one piece: rice held at the right warmth, seafood cut for texture, and a finish that leaves the palate clean. At Ningyocho Sushi Kaki,…

Chef & Owner, Mélisse

Josiah Citrin

Los Angeles, California, United States

## Career Arc Formal culinary formation can start before a dedicated trade school kitchen; in this case, Josiah Citrin’s training at Santa Monica High School is the given starting…

Chef Patron, Da Terra

Rafael Cagali

London, United Kingdom

Rafael Cagali is the Chef Patron of Da Terra, a two Michelin-starred restaurant in Bethnal Green, London, which he opened in January 2019 and earned its first star within eight…

Chef & Owner, Restaurant Kei

Kei Kobayashi

Paris, France

Before the French address, the working logic came from Nagano: product first, proximity as a form of training, and flavor understood before intervention. Kei Kobayashi has…

Executive Chef, Jean-Georges Shanghai

Nikolai Grigorov

New York City, New York, United States

Nikolai Grigorov is the Executive Chef at Jean-Georges Shanghai, where he transforms classic French dishes with bold Asian-inflected seasonings and unexpected flavor combinations…

Chef & Owner, Restaurant David Toutain

David Toutain

Paris, France

David Toutain is a Normandy-born chef who opened Restaurant David Toutain in Paris's 7th arrondissement in December 2013, earning one Michelin star in 2015, a second in 2020, and…

Chef

Pedro Sánchez

Jaén, Spain

The arc is compact but forceful: study, departure, return, and then the restaurant where Pedro Sánchez’s work continues, sharpened into a style that stays close to the line of…

Owner-Chef, Nihonryori RyuGin

Seiji Yamamoto

Tokyo, Japan

Kaiseki at Nihonryori RyuGin in Tokyo is practiced as Seasonal Japanese Cuisine under close technical scrutiny. As representative director and owner chef, Seiji Yamamoto, born in…

Chef & Owner, Rosetta

Elena Reygadas

Mexico City, Mexico

Elena Reygadas is a Mexican chef born in 1976 in Mexico City, owner of Rosetta, Panadería Rosetta, Salón Rosetta, Bella Aurora, and Lardo, all in Mexico City. She opened Rosetta…

Winemaker

Ernst Loosen

Bernkastel-Kues, Germany

## Coming Up At Weingut Dr. Loosen in Bernkastel-Kues, Germany, the core work has been held by Ernst Loosen since 1988: owner and winemaker, with the business and the cellar under…

Chef

Michelle Bernstein

Miami, Florida, United States

Michelle Bernstein is American and based in Miami, Florida, United States, where her cooking has helped shape the city’s bright, bilingual, always-moving dining rhythm. A James…

Chef & Owner, Hayato

Brandon Hayato Go

Los Angeles, California, United States

Brandon Hayato Go is the chef and owner of Hayato, a two-Michelin-starred kaiseki restaurant in Los Angeles' ROW DTLA, opened in 2018, offering an intimate seven-seat counter…

Technical Director, Château Haut-Brion

Jean-Philippe Masclef

Pessac, France

Jean-Philippe Masclef is the Technical Director at Château Haut-Brion, where he has worked since 1988 alongside the cellarmaster, focusing on winemaking as a scientist and…

Head Chef & Co-Owner, CODA

René Frank

Los Angeles, California, United States

René Frank is a German pastry chef born in 1984 in Wangen im Allgäu, who opened CODA, Germany's first dessert restaurant, in Berlin-Neukölln in 2016 as co-owner and head chef with…

Executive Chef, FZN by Björn Frantzén

Torsten Vildgaard

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Torsten Vildgaard is the Executive Chef at FZN by Björn Frantzén in Dubai, where under his leadership the restaurant earned three Michelin stars in the 2025 Dubai Michelin Guide,…

Chef, Moments

Raül Balam

Barcelona, Spain

Raül Balam is a Catalan chef and co-manager of Moments, the Michelin-starred restaurant at Mandarin Oriental Barcelona on Passeig de Gràcia, working alongside his mother, the…

Chef

Chen Zhiping

Shanghai, China

The Michelin Young Chef Award in 2021 put trade attention on the Fujianese work being done by Chen Zhiping at Meet the Bund in Shanghai. The recognition widened the audience for…

Chef & Co-Owner, Sud 777 and Comedor Jacinta

Edgar Núñez

Mexico City, Mexico

Edgar Núñez is a Mexico City-born chef (1980) renowned for his 'Mexican vegetable cuisine,' who opened Sud 777 in 2008 as his vision of fine dining, achieving rankings as high as…

Head Chef, Nobelhart & Schmutzig

Micha Schäfer

Berlin, Germany

Since 2015, the kitchen at Speiselokal Nobelhart & Schmutzig in Berlin has worked from a narrow regional brief: fields, market gardens, seasons, preservation, and the food culture…

Chef

Aitor Zabala

Los Angeles, California, United States

A modern Spanish tasting-menu grammar frames the work at Somni in West Hollywood, where Aitor Zabala uses technique as structure, memory as material, and produce as a variable…

Chef & Proprietor, Les Prés d'Eugénie

Michel Guérard

Eugénie-les-Bains, France

## The Path The pastry bench set the early discipline: Michel Guérard trained at Lycée Pierre-Corneille, then entered the craft as an apprentice at Kléber Alix's patisserie in…

Winemaker

Sandro Boscaini

Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella, Italy

## Coming Up In wine, lineage is part of the work. Sandro Boscaini is president and the sixth-generation family leader of Masi, and that role carries continuity as much as…

Managing Director, Agronomist and Oenologist, Château Smith Haut Lafitte

Fabien Teitgen

Martillac, France

Fabien Teitgen is the Managing Director, agronomist, and oenologist at Château Smith Haut Lafitte in Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, where he joined in October 1995 as vineyard manager,…

Executive Chef, La Pergola

Heinz Beck

Rome, Italy

## The Ascent Classical kitchen formation, in this case at the Professional School in Passau, supplied the base before restaurant pressure refined it. Heinz Beck later worked as…

Chef, Bardal

Benito Gómez

Ronda, Spain

Benito Gómez, a Catalan-born chef based in Ronda, Málaga, Andalusia, took over Tragabuches in 2014 and reimagined it as Tragatá, a relaxed dining spot that earned a Michelin…

Executive Chef, ES:SENZ

Edip Sigl

Grassau, Germany

“Soße ist bei mir Chefsache.” In Edip Sigl’s kitchen, the sentence puts sauce where many working chefs still place it: under direct judgment, close to the pass, decided by taste,…

Proprietor & Winemaker, Gaja

Angelo Gaja

Barbaresco, Italy

Barbaresco’s modern trade position was reshaped through cellar work, vineyard selection, and market discipline as much as through appellation history. Since 1961, Angelo Gaja has…

Executive Chef, T'ang Court at The Langham, Shanghai, Xintiandi

Tony Su

Shanghai, China

Tony Su is the Executive Chef of T'ang Court at The Langham, Shanghai, Xintiandi, leading the restaurant to a one-star Michelin rating in the 2025 MICHELIN Guide Shanghai. Under…

Owner

Francois Pinault

Vosne-Romanée, France

François Pinault, a French billionaire businessman, acquired the historic Domaine René Engel in Vosne-Romanée, Côte de Nuits, Burgundy, in 2006 following the death of Philippe…

Directrice du Domaine, Château Latour

Hélène Genin

Pauillac, France

Hélène Génin is the Directrice du Domaine and Directrice Technique at Château Latour, a 1er Grand Cru Classé in Pauillac, where she has worked since 2001 or 2007, overseeing the…

Cocktail Professional

Kevin Diedrich

San Francisco, California, United States

Top U.S. Bar Mentors in 2022 placed Kevin Diedrich’s work in the teaching side of the bar trade: building drinks, running rooms, and influencing how bartenders develop. His path…

Head Chef & Co-Founder, Orfali Bros

Mohammad Orfali

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

## Formation Formal training set the technical base before the public-facing work arrived. The Institute Hotelier of Aleppo (1997) gave Mohammad Orfali a method-led foundation; Le…

Chef Patron & Owner, Villa Crespi

Antonino Cannavacciuolo

Orta San Giulio, Italy

“Cooking, for me, is about feeling the lure of the places I grew up in. Welcoming people is having them discover places they've never been to.” ## The Climb A formal Italian…

Owner, La Camaronera Seafood Joint and Fish Market

David Garcia

Madrid, Spain

David Garcia is the owner and operator of La Camaronera Seafood Joint and Fish Market in Miami's Little Havana, a family-run seafood spot opened in 1973 by his uncles Arsenio,…

Chef-Owner, Osip

Merlin Labron-Johnson

New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

Merlin Labron-Johnson is the chef-owner of Osip in Bruton, Somerset, a farm-to-table restaurant that received a Michelin star in the 2021 guide. Born and raised in Devon, England,…

Winemaker

Germán Bruzzone

Maldonado, Uruguay

Germán Bruzzone works the cellar at Bodega Garzón in Maldonado, Uruguay, with a practice shaped less by school than by house knowledge. “I grew up in a family dedicated to wine…

Chef & Proprietor, Harutaka

Harutaka Takahashi

Tokyo, Japan

## Coming Up Edo-mae training at the counter is built on repetition, restraint, and the requirement that small movements become reliable under service pressure. Harutaka…

Executive Chef, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

Jon Miles-Bowring

London, United Kingdom

Jon Miles-Bowring served as Executive Chef at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal in London's Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, where he collaborated with Heston Blumenthal to execute…

Chef, Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler

Norbert Niederkofler

Brunico, Italy

“Nature and all of its wonders has always been a constant of my life,” says Norbert Niederkofler. In his work, that constant is organized into “Cook the Mountain,” a practice…

Chef Exécutif, Domaine Les Crayères

Christophe Moret

Reims, France

Christophe Moret, born in 1966 in Orléans, France, is a chef who trained under luminaries like Alain Ducasse at Le Louis XV in Monaco and Bruno Cirino before leading the kitchens…

President, Champagne Salon and Champagne Delamotte

Didier Depond

Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, France

Didier Depond has served as President of Champagne Salon and Champagne Delamotte since 1997, overseeing production and distribution of these prestigious houses in Le…

Technical Director, Château Lafite Rothschild & Château Duhart-Milon

Éric Kohler

Pauillac, France

Éric Kohler is the Technical Director for Château Lafite Rothschild and Château Duhart-Milon in Pauillac, Bordeaux, a role he assumed in a recent reorganization by Domaines Barons…

Director of Winemaking, Biondi-Santi Tenuta Il Greppo

Federico Radi

Montalcino, Italy

Federico Radi is the Director of Winemaking at Biondi-Santi Tenuta Il Greppo in Montalcino, Tuscany, where he has overseen production since 2017, focusing on Sangiovese Grosso for…

Chef & Proprietor, Restaurant Gary Danko

Gary Danko

San Francisco, California, United States

Gary Danko is the chef and proprietor of Restaurant Gary Danko in San Francisco, which he opened in 1999 and which has held a one Michelin star since 2007, a Wine Spectator Grand…

Enologo Consulente, Tenuta San Guido

Graziana Grassini

Bolgheri, Italy

For oenology, laboratory discipline is not an accessory to cellar work; it is one of its controls. In the career of Graziana Grassini, Consultant Oenologist of Giusti Wine in…

Proprietor, Biondi-Santi Tenuta il Greppo & Castello di Montepò

Jacopo Biondi Santi

Montalcino, Italy

"This was the first time I did it alone." In a cellar context, the sentence marks a practical threshold: the point where inherited standards stop being abstract and become…

Winemaker & Owner, Domaine Jean-Louis Chave

Jean-Louis Chave

Mauves, France

Winemaking in this register is built on inheritance, cellar judgment, and restraint in handling. With a degree in oenology and work at his family’s estate since 1992, Jean-Louis…

Founder & Proprietor, Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix

JP Moueix

Pomerol, France

Jean-Pierre Moueix (1913–2003) was a legendary Bordeaux wine merchant who founded Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix in Libourne in 1937 and transformed the Right Bank wine region…

Winemaker

Julio Sáenz

Haro, Spain

## The Climb In Rioja, cellar discipline starts early, and Julio Sáenz began there in 1996 as head of Quality Control at La Rioja Alta, S.A. That role put him on the production…

Winemaker

Nicolò Incisa della Rocchetta

Bolgheri, Italy

We need to keep abreast with the times. ## Where They Are Now At Tenuta San Guido, the role of honorary president places Nicolò Incisa della Rocchetta in a position of continuity…

Winemaker, Ruffino Estates

Olga Fusari

Castagneto Carducci, Italy

Olga Fusari served as head oenologist and winemaker at Ornellaia in Bolgheri, Tuscany, from 2005, starting as an intern and becoming head winemaker in 2016 after 18 years…

Winemaker, Château Pétrus

Olivier Berrouet

Pomerol, France

Olivier Berrouet is the winemaker at Château Pétrus in Pomerol, Bordeaux, succeeding his father Jean-Claude Berrouet in 2008 at age 29 after training at Château Cheval Blanc,…

Director of Culinary, Tin Lung Heen

Paul Lau Ping Lui

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Chef Paul Lau Ping Lui is the Director of Culinary at Tin Lung Heen, a two-Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurant on the 102nd floor of The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong. Originally from…

Directeur Général, Château Cheval Blanc

Pierre-Olivier Clouet

Saint-Émilion, France

Pierre-Olivier Clouet is the Directeur Général of Château Cheval Blanc in Saint-Émilion, Bordeaux, having joined as a stagiaire in 2004 and advanced to Directeur Technique in 2008…

Proprietor & Winemaker, Giacomo Conterno

Roberto Conterno

Monforte d'Alba, Italy

## The Trajectory Traditional production at Giacomo Conterno has been carried forward under Roberto Conterno since 1988, keeping the family winery’s reputation tied to continuity…

Chef

Sven Erik Renaa

Stavanger, Norway

The cooking at RE-NAA works from a Norwegian training line and a coastal brief. In Sven Erik Renaa’s case, the line runs from Trondheim through hotel-school foundations, major…

Executive Chef, Founder & Co-Owner, Brat and Mountain

Tomos Parry

London, United Kingdom

Tomos Parry is a Welsh chef and the Executive Chef, founder, and co-owner of Brat in Shoreditch, London, which opened in 2018 and earned a Michelin star within six months, and…

Chef

Adam Handling

London, United Kingdom

At Frog by Adam Handling in London, modern British cooking is organised around provenance, open-kitchen service, and controlled presentation. In Covent Garden, the room uses the…

Owner-Chef, Kagurazaka Ishikawa

Hideki Ishikawa

Bordeaux, France

Kaiseki practice is built on restraint, seasonality, and rule-bound simplicity; Hideki Ishikawa, born in Niigata prefecture, built his name inside that discipline. “The veal is…

Executive Chef, Seta at Mandarin Oriental Milan

Antonio Guida

Milan, Italy

Antonio Guida, born in 1972 in Tricase, Salento, Italy, is the Executive Chef at Seta restaurant in Mandarin Oriental Milan, where he earned the first Michelin star in December…

Head Chef, Fable Kitchen

Matthew Villamoran

Macau, Macau

Matthew Villamoran is the Head Chef at Fable Kitchen, a Michelin Bib Gourmand-awarded farm-to-table restaurant in Vancouver's Kitsilano neighborhood, where he joined in 2023 after…

Winemaker, Domaine Hubert Lignier

Laurent Lignier

Morey-Saint-Denis, France

In Morey-Saint-Denis, France, Côte de Nuits work is parcel work first: fruit selection, oak kept measured, élevage carried long on lees, and bottling handled by gravity. Laurent…

Chef

Nick Bril

Antwerp, Belgium

## Coming Up Training is the through-line in Nick Bril’s early record: Ter Groene Poorte and Oud Sluis gave him the technical base and working standards that shaped his approach…

Executive Chef, Villa René Lalique

Paul Stradner

Wingen-sur-Moder, France

Paul Stradner is an Austrian chef born June 23, 1981, in Graz, who earned two Michelin stars at Brenners Park Restaurant in Baden-Baden within three months of his 2012 arrival,…

Chef

Stephen McLaughlin

Auchterarder, United Kingdom

Stephen McLaughlin’s role as Head Chef at Restaurant Andrew Fairlie in Auchterarder, United Kingdom, belonged to a long line of kitchen continuity rather than a late appointment.…

Chef & Proprietor, Oteque

Alberto Landgraf

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Alberto Landgraf is chef and proprietor of Oteque in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The work is seafood-led Modern Brazilian cooking: technical, pared back, and built around local…

Chef Exécutif, Le Gabriel - La Réserve Paris

Jérôme Banctel

Paris, France

Three Michelin stars for Le Gabriel - La Réserve Paris in 2024 put a public marker on a body of work built through French hotel training, capital-city brigade discipline, and a…

Executive Chef, Zén

Martin Öfner

Singapore, Singapore

Martin Öfner is the Executive Chef at Zén, a three Michelin-starred restaurant in Singapore and sister venue to Frantzén in Stockholm, where he shares leadership with Tor Aik Chua…

Head Chef & CEO, TIAN Restaurant Wien

Paul Ivić

Vienna, Austria

Paul Ivić is an Austrian chef of Tyrolean origin with Croatian heritage who has been the head chef and CEO of TIAN Restaurant Wien since its opening in December 2011. He pioneered…

Chef & Owner, Amador

Juan Amador

Vienna, Austria

German precision, Swabian grounding and Spanish roots sit inside a cooking practice that has moved through Sylt, Sailauf, Langen, Frankfurt, Mannheim and Vienna. In Juan Amador’s…

Chef-Founder, JL Studio

Jimmy Lim

Taichung, Taiwan

Singaporean Modern cuisine, as practiced at JL Studio in Taichung, is built on translation rather than transplantation. In Jimmy Lim’s kitchen, Singapore supplies the references,…

Executive Chef & Owner, Le Du, Baan, Nusara, Mayrai

Thitid "Ton" Tassanakajohn

Bangkok, Thailand

Thitid 'Ton' Tassanakajohn is the Executive Chef & Owner of Le Du, Nusara, Baan, Mayrai, Samut, and other restaurants in Bangkok, Thailand. After earning a degree in Economics…

Chef & Partner, Claud and Penny

Joshua Pinsky

New York City, New York, United States

Joshua Pinsky is the chef and co-owner of Claud, a downtown bistro in New York City's East Village, which he opened in 2022 with partner Chase Sinzer, and Penny, a raw bar and…

Co-Executive Chef, Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare

Marco Prins

New York City, New York, United States

Marco Prins is a Dutch chef from Rotterdam who previously served as executive chef at Ukiyo in New York, where the restaurant earned a Michelin star under his leadership, and…

Culinary Director, Montage International & Executive Chef, Montage Los Cabos

Xavier Salomon

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Culinary Director of Montage International and Executive Chef at Montage Los Cabos.

Chef

Luke Selby

Oxford, United Kingdom

## The Path The apprenticeship-to-leadership arc is clear in Luke Selby’s route through some of the country’s most exacting kitchens. He began as commis chef at Le Manoir aux…

Chef & Owner, AM par Alexandre Mazzia

Alexandre Mazzia

Marseille, France

The cuisine is built from cross-currents rather than a single school: African childhood influences, French tradition, instinctive cooking disciplined by service, and a working…

Chef & Proprietor, L'Air du Temps

Sang-Hoon Degeimbre

Liernu, Belgium

Born in Miryang, South Korea, and Belgian by nationality, Sang-Hoon Degeimbre works in a register where molecular gastronomy, foodpairing science, and farm-restaurant practice…

Chef & Owner, Tempura Naruse

Takeo Shimura

Shizuoka, Japan

Today, tempura defines the working frame: chef, owner of Itamae-Tempura Naruse, and the maker of a set menu where cutlass fish tempura with shaved radish dipping sauce is counted…

Executive Chef & Co-Owner, Acquerello

Suzette Gresham

San Francisco, California, United States

Suzette Gresham, born in 1955 in California, is the Executive Chef and co-owner of Acquerello in San Francisco, which has held two Michelin stars since 2014, with the first…

Chef

Alex Kratena

London, United Kingdom

Alex Kratena’s work at Artesian is best read through the bar practice it produced: a high-volume luxury hotel setting used as a site for modern cocktail development, service…

Chef & Owner, Table

Bruno Verjus

Paris, France

Bruno Verjus, born in 1959 in Roanne, France, is a self-taught chef who transitioned from careers in medicine, advertising photography in Los Angeles, and entrepreneurship in…

Chef

Éric Pras

Chagny, France

In Chagny, Saône-et-Loire, haute cuisine at Lameloise is built on precision rather than display. In Éric Pras’s kitchen, milk-fed veal, acacia flower, garlic praline, burnt lemon…

Chef

Monica Berg

London, United Kingdom

## Training and Lineage Bartending education in Oslo provides the first formal frame in this record: H. Butlers Bartending School is where Monica Berg trained, before later taking…

Chef-Owner, Meta

Sun Kim

Singapore, Singapore

At Meta in Singapore, Contemporary Korean cooking is built from a Korean base and worked through Japanese technique, Western schooling, and seasonal produce. In Sun Kim’s hands,…

Cocktail Service Professional

Takuma Watanabe

New York City, New York, United States

## The Path Head bartending at Angel’s Share in New York put Takuma Watanabe inside one of the city’s most closely watched cocktail rooms, where precision and atmosphere carried…

Executive Chef, Enoteca Pinchiorri

Riccardo Monco

San Francisco, California, United States

Riccardo Monco, born in Milan in 1972, trained at Scuola Alberghiera “Carlo Porta” and under chefs Angelo Paracucchi at La Locanda dell'Angelo, Pietro Leemann at Joia, and Alain…

Director of Communications, Napa Valley Reserve & Meadowood Napa Valley

Amanda Harlan

Napa, California, United States

Amanda Harlan, daughter of Harlan Estate founder Bill Harlan, was born in 1989 and raised in Napa Valley. She earned a degree in Psychology from the University of Southern…

Owner, Scarecrow Wine

Bret Lopez

Napa, California, United States

Bret Lopez, born in Los Angeles in 1948, is the grandson of J.J. Cohn and owner of the JJ Cohn Estate in Rutherford, Napa Valley, where he produces Scarecrow Cabernet Sauvignon…

Winemaker, Scarecrow Wine

Celia Welch

Napa, California, United States

Celia Welch is an independent winemaker based in Napa Valley, best known for crafting Scarecrow Cabernet Sauvignon from the historic J.J. Cohn Estate in Rutherford since its…

Head Chef & Host, Victor's Fine Dining by Christian Bau

Christian Bau

Perl, Germany

Born in Offenburg and German by nationality, Christian Bau’s record sits in a trade line built through houses, not slogans: Restaurant Talmühle for education, Schwarzwaldstube for…

Director of Winemaking, Harlan Estate, BOND, and Promontory

Cory Empting

Napa, California, United States

Cory Empting is the Director of Winemaking at Harlan Estate, BOND, and Promontory, all under the Harlan family in Napa Valley. He joined Harlan Estate as a harvest intern in 2001…

Owner & Winemaker, Domaine Emmanuel Rouget

Emmanuel Rouget

Flagey-Echézeaux, France

Flagey-Échézeaux, Burgundy, France, gives Domaine Emmanuel Rouget its frame: Pinot Noir handled through vineyard detail, low yields, destemming, concrete fermentation, barrel…

Chef

George Blogg

East Grinstead, United Kingdom

West Sussex supplies a practical produce grammar: brief garden leaves, lifted roots, and foraged margins that locate a plate in a particular landscape. At Gravetye Manor, George…

Executive Chef, Ocean Restaurant

Hans Neuner

Bruges, Belgium

Hans Neuner is an Austrian executive chef who has led Ocean restaurant in the Algarve, Portugal since 2007, earning the establishment two Michelin stars in 2009 and 2011. Named…

Proprietor & Winemaker, Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair

Louis-Michel Liger-Belair

Vosne-Romanée, France

Louis-Michel Liger-Belair, born in 1970, is the seventh Count Liger-Belair who founded Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair in Vosne-Romanée in 2000 with 3.2 hectares including Village…

Executive Chef, Boury

Tim Boury

Roeselare, Belgium

In Roeselare, Belgium, product-led cooking sets the terms before technique announces itself. In Tim Boury’s kitchen, raw langoustine is cut into tartare; sweet pumpkin supplies…

Managing Director, Domain H. William Harlan

Will Harlan

Napa, California, United States

Will Harlan is the second-generation leader of Domain H. William Harlan, stewarding Harlan Estate, BOND, Promontory, and The Mascot. He founded The Mascot as a Napa Valley…

Founder, Harlan Estate, Bond, Promontory & The Mascot

William Harlan

Napa, California, United States

Will Harlan is the second-generation leader of Harlan Estate, a prestigious Napa Valley winery founded by his father Bill Harlan in 1984. Born in 1987, Will joined the family…

Chef, Cabaña Buenavista

Pablo González

El Palmar, Spain

Pablo González Conejero is the chef and owner of Cabaña Buenavista in El Palmar, Murcia, Spain, the only restaurant in the region with two Michelin stars (2017–2024) and three…

Chef

Brian Limoges

Sonoma, California, United States

Formation in fine dining is cumulative: school fundamentals, station discipline, sous-chef control, chef-de-cuisine responsibility, and the wider view required to run multiple…

Owner & Chef, Mizai

Hitoshi Ishihara

Kyoto, Japan

Hitoshi Ishihara is the owner and chef of Mizai, a three-Michelin-starred kaiseki restaurant in Kyoto, Japan. He previously served as food chief at Kitcho Arashiyama at age 27…

Chef, La Tanière³

François-Emmanuel Nicol

Bordeaux, France

François-Emmanuel Nicol is the chef of La Tanière³ (Tanière 3) in Québec City's Vieux-Port, the first and only Québec restaurant to earn 2 Michelin stars since 2019 under his…

Chef

Joshua Overington

Hovingham, United Kingdom

From a market town just outside York, and with summers spent in France and across Europe, Joshua Overington’s early formation was shaped by travel, appetite, and the discipline…

Head Chef, L'Amant Secret

Son Jong-won

Seoul, South Korea

Contemporary cooking here is built from seasonality, fermentation, and controlled recomposition. In Son Jong-won’s work, modern technique is used to clarify familiar flavors from…

Chef & Owner, Haoma

Deepanker Khosla

Bangkok, Thailand

Deepanker Khosla is the Indian-born chef and owner of Haoma, a Michelin-starred neo-Indian restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand, recognized as one of the world's most sustainable…

Chef & Proprietor, Tuju

Ivan Ralston Bielawski

São Paulo, Brazil

Ivan Ralston Bielawski is a Brazilian chef born in São Paulo in 1985 who founded the two Michelin-starred restaurant Tuju in 2014. He trained at prestigious international…

Chef/Owner, Vespertine & Meteora

Jordan Kahn

Los Angeles, California, United States

Jordan Kahn is the chef and owner of Vespertine and Meteora, both in Los Angeles, California. He began his career at age 15 in Savannah, Georgia, attended Johnson & Wales…

Executive Chef, Atera

Ronny Emborg

New York City, New York, United States

Ronny Emborg is a Danish chef appointed as Executive Chef at Atera, the two-Michelin-starred restaurant in New York City's Tribeca neighborhood, succeeding Matthew Lightner in…

Chef-Owner, Waku Ghin

Tetsuya Wakuda

Singapore, Singapore

Tetsuya Wakuda, born in Hamamatsu, Japan in 1959, moved to Sydney in 1982 and trained under chef Tony Bilson at Kinsela's, learning classical French techniques that he fused with…

Propriétaire, Château Pape Clément

Bernard Magrez

Pessac, France

Bernard Magrez is the owner of Château Pape Clément, a Grand Cru Classé in Graves, which he acquired in the 1980s as his first major wine estate purchase. He subsequently acquired…

Chef

Josean Alija

Bilbao, Spain

Josean Alija works from Nerua, the Michelin-starred restaurant set within the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. The cooking there is built on aroma, beauty, texture and flavour,…

Chef

Tom Aikens

London, United Kingdom

Modern British fine dining has few early benchmarks as plain as Two Michelin stars awarded to Pied à Terre in London in 1997, when Tom Aikens became the Youngest British chef ever…

Chef-Owner, Vyn Restaurant

Daniel Berlin

Simrishamn, Sweden

Daniel Berlin is a Swedish chef and restaurateur known for his contemporary Nordic cuisine and sustainable approach to cooking. He previously operated Daniel Berlin Krog, a…

Chef

Val Cantu

San Francisco, California, United States

At Californios, the cooking is market-focused and seasonal, worked through a Mexican lens. For Val Cantu, chef and owner of Californios in San Francisco, that means a style that…

Chef

Val M. Cantu

San Francisco, California, United States

Before the chef-and-owner role at Californios in San Francisco, California, the craft was built through school, prep, travel, and high-pressure restaurants. Val M. Cantu studied…

Chef-Proprietor, Bo Innovation

Alvin Leung

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Alvin Leung, known as the Demon Chef, is a self-taught chef born in London to Hong Kong Chinese parents and raised in Toronto, who transitioned from engineering to open Bo…

Winemaker, Domaine Edmond Vatan

Anne Vatan

Vatan, France

Anne Vatan is the winemaker at Domaine Edmond Vatan in Chavignol, Sancerre, where she took over vinification from her father Edmond in 2007 after his illness, producing the highly…

Founder & Owner, Ristorante Quattro Passi

Antonio Mellino

Marina del Cantone, Italy

Antonio Mellino, born in Buenos Aires and raised in Nerano on the Amalfi Coast, worked for ten years on cruise ships before founding Ristorante Quattro Passi in Nerano, Italy, in…

Chef

Christoph Rüffer

Hamburg, Germany

At Restaurant Haerlin in Hamburg, the cooking follows the year as a working structure. Spring, summer, autumn, and winter are treated as changes in product condition, weight,…

Chef

Claus-Peter Lumpp

Baiersbronn, Germany

The Black Forest grand-hotel kitchen is a craft system as much as an address: hierarchy, repetition, product discipline, and a dining room with a long memory. At Restaurant…

Chef

Clemens Rambichler

Dreis, Germany

Waldhotel Sonnora in Dreis works in a register built on French technique, ingredient selection, and controlled modern presentation. Within that framework, Clemens Rambichler’s…

Winemaker

Dan McKee

Louisville, Kentucky, United States

## Coming Up Training at Indiana Wesleyan University gave Dan McKee the academic base for a career that would be defined on the production side of whiskey, where process and…

Chef

Dimitri Droisneau

Cassis, France

Dimitri Droisneau is the French chef and owner of La Villa Madie in Cassis, France, which earned Three Michelin stars in 2022. ## Career Arc A Paris-and-Riviera formation gave…

Chef Patron, Enrico Bartolini al Mudec

Enrico Bartolini

Milan, Italy

The recognition rests on contemporary classic cooking rooted in Pescia, Tuscany, where culture, tradition, seasonality, bold flavor, elegant presentation, and carefully built…

Chef

Esben Holmboe Bang

Oslo, Norway

# ## Born in Copenhagen Nordic cooking built on agriculture, seasonality, and restraint provides the frame for Esben Holmboe Bang, born in Copenhagen and raised in Denmark with…

Chef

Fabien Ferré

Le Castellet, France

Formation in exacting French kitchens is a matter of repetition before expression: service rhythm, restraint, sauce work, and the ability to make a plate read cleanly under…

Chef, L'Auberge de Montmin

Florian Favario

Talloires-Montmin, France

Florian Favario, a chef from Haute-Savoie, France, began his career at age 14-15 with an apprenticeship at Le Clos des Sens in Annecy, later working with chefs like Michel…

Executive Chef & Owner, Casa Perbellini 12 Apostoli

Giancarlo Perbellini

Stradella, Italy

The work runs through pastry-shop discipline, Italian dining-room grammar, French kitchen rigor, New York scale, and a return to Verona. In Giancarlo Perbellini’s case, tradition…

Chef, L'Auberge du Vieux Puits

Gilles Goujon

Fontjoncouse, France

Chef Patron work at Auberge du Vieux Puits in Fontjoncouse, France, is built on a long sequence of station discipline rather than a sudden break. Gilles Goujon, born on 10…

Chef, Dal Pescatore

Giovanni Santini

Runate, Italy

Italian family cooking at Dal Pescatore is carried through refinement, continuity, and the discipline of generosity at the table in Mantova. ## The Path The chef role at Dal…

Head Chef & Owner, Honkogetsu

Hideo Anami

Osaka, Japan

Hideo Anami, born in Fukuoka Prefecture in 1949, began his culinary career at age 16 at a Japanese restaurant in Osaka and became head chef of Honkogetsu (formerly Kogetsu) in…

Chef & Owner, Gion Sasaki

Hiroshi Sasaki

Kyoto, Japan

Hiroshi Sasaki, from Nara Prefecture, is chef and owner of Gion Sasaki in Kyoto, Japan. The house works inside Japanese cuisine, shaped by kaiseki and by a service model that…

Owner-Chef, Nihonryori Kanda

Hiroyuki Kanda

Tokyo, Japan

At Kanda in Tokyo, menu work starts with procurement rather than template. The morning’s seafood, vegetables, rice, beef, and broth determine the sequence: temperature, season,…

Owner & Head Chef, Taian

Hitoshi Takahata

Osaka, Japan

Osaka provides the working ground for Hitoshi Takahata’s kaiseki: a restaurant culture where appetite and discipline sit close together, and where tradition is maintained through…

Chef, Le Coquillage

Hugo Roellinger

Saint-Méloir-des-Ondes, France

“From this ‘marine water,’ I create my cuisine.” In the cooking of Le Coquillage in Saint-Méloir-des-Ondes, France, where Hugo Roellinger leads the kitchen, that statement defines…

Winemaker

Isabelle Raveneau

Chablis, France

Isabelle Raveneau’s role at Domaine François Raveneau sits inside the kind of work that Chablis reads carefully: vineyard decisions, cellar discipline, and a pace set by season…

Chef

Jacques Marcon

Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid, France

Inheritance in a working restaurant is measured in repeated service, not in family language. At Restaurant Marcon, Jacques Marcon’s route into the kitchen sits inside that daily…

Chef & Owner, Little Bear

Jarrett Stieber

Santa Ana, California, United States

Jarrett Stieber is a chef and owner of Little Bear, an Atlanta-based restaurant recognized as a Bib Gourmand establishment by the Michelin Guide. He won the 2023 MICHELIN Guide…

Founder & Owner, Hundred Acre Wine Group

Jayson Woodbridge

Napa, California, United States

Jayson Woodbridge is the founder and owner of Hundred Acre Wine Group, a Napa Valley winery established in 1999 that has achieved historic recognition with more than 61 perfect…

Head Winemaker, Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé

Jean Lupatelli

Chambolle-Musigny, France

The title carried by Jean Lupatelli is grounded in vineyard-specific Burgundy work: Musigny, Bonnes-Mares, Chambolle-Musigny Village and Premier Cru vineyards in the same commune.…

Deputy Managing Director – Wines and Estates, Domaine Clarence Dillon

Jean-Philippe Delmas

Bommes, France

Jean-Philippe Delmas is the third-generation winemaker at Château Haut-Brion in Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, taking over from his father Jean-Bernard Delmas in 2004 after studying…

Cellar Master, Krug

Julie Cavil

Udon Thani, Thailand

Julie Cavil is the first female Cellar Master (Chef de Caves) at Maison Krug in Reims, Champagne, appointed in 2020 after joining the house in 2006 as part of the winemaking team…

Winemaker, Domaine la Barroche

Julien Barrot

Châteauneuf-du-Pape, France

Julien Barrot is the winemaker at Domaine la Barroche, a family-owned estate in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, where he joined in 2002 after completing studies in oenology and business,…

Chef & Owner, Taïrroir

Kai Ho

Taipei, Taiwan

Kai Ho is the chef and owner of Taïrroir in Taichung, Taiwan, which he founded in 2016 by fusing Taiwanese culinary traditions with French techniques after training…

Chef

Kenichiro Sekiya

Tokyo, Japan

## Coming Up French restaurant technique provided the base, with Kenichiro Sekiya training in Paris, France, at Lucas Carton (from 2002) and Pierre Gagnaire (from 2002), then…

Chef

Kevin Fehling

Hamburg, Germany

## The Route Hotel training, city kitchens, shipboard service, and resort fine dining form the working sequence here. Kevin Fehling trained at Hotel Thomsen before moving through…

Chef & Owner, Kohaku

Koji Koizumi

Tokyo, Japan

After Hideki Ishikawa moved his restaurant, the former Ishikawa space became a study in continuity rather than reinvention. In that room, Koji Koizumi had learned the working…

Chef

Luiz Filipe Souza

São Paulo, Brazil

The cooking is built around oriundi cuisine: Italian roots worked through Brazilian products, with the exchange created by Italian immigration to Brazil treated as the central…

Executive Chef, Rutz Restaurant

Marco Müller

Berlin, Germany

## The Climb Long tenure in an executive-chef role gives a kitchen time to build a grammar rather than a sequence of statements. At Rutz Restaurant, Marco Müller has held that…

Executive Chef, Kong Hans Kælder

Mark Lundgaard

Dordabis District, Namibia

Mark Lundgaard is the Executive Chef of Kong Hans Kælder, Copenhagen's two-Michelin-starred restaurant and a Relais & Châteaux property, where he is the fourth head chef in the…

President & Chair, Tempos Vega Sicilia

Marta Álvarez Mezquíriz

Valbuena de Duero, Spain

Marta Álvarez Mezquíriz is a member of the Álvarez family that purchased Vega Sicilia in 1982 and currently serves as President and Chair of Tempos Vega Sicilia, the group's…

Executive Chef, Restaurant Ikarus at Red Bull Hangar-7

Martin Klein

Salzburg, Austria

## The Route Fine-dining progression in Europe often moves through station discipline, then full kitchen accountability. Martin Klein trained at School of Hotel Management in…

Chef & Owner, Masa

Masayoshi Takayama

New York City, New York, United States

Masayoshi 'Masa' Takayama (born May 1, 1954) is a Japanese chef and restaurateur best known as the owner and head chef of Masa, a two-Michelin-starred Japanese and sushi…

Chef

Michaël Arnoult

Jongieux, France

Michaël Arnoult is the chef-proprietor of Les Morainières in Jongieux, France, opened with his wife Ingrid in 2005. The restaurant’s work is tied to a lakes-and-mountains setting…

Chef de Cuisine, Château Restaurant Joël Robuchon

Michael Michaelidis

Tokyo, Japan

Culinary leadership in a Riviera Dining Group setting depends on two operating languages held at once: French technical restraint and Mediterranean-inflected hospitality built for…

Executive Chef, La Rei Natura by Michelangelo Mammoliti at Il Boscareto Resort & Spa

Michelangelo Mammoliti

Serralunga d'Alba, Italy

## The Path Italian fine-dining discipline sits under this work before any nature-led vocabulary appears. In the Kitchens of Gualtiero Marchesi, Michelangelo Mammoliti trained in…

Head Chef & Owner, Isshisoden Nakamura

Motokazu Nakamura

Kyoto, Japan

Motokazu Nakamura is the sixth-generation head chef and owner of Isshisoden Nakamura (also known as Isshi Souden Nakamura), a Kyoto kaiseki restaurant founded in 1827 that has…

Chef, Dal Pescatore Santini

Nadia Santini

Runate, Italy

Italian restaurant craft in Lombardy is carried through continuity: study, family restaurant work, and the repeated correction of dishes until they can hold both regional memory…

Director of Winemaking and Viticulture, Screaming Eagle Vineyards

Nick Gislason

Napa, California, United States

Nick Gislason is the director of winemaking and viticulture at Screaming Eagle Vineyards in Oakville, Napa Valley, where he has led the winemaking team since the 2011 vintage…

Executive Chef, L'Osier

Olivier Chaignon

Tokyo, Japan

Technique from France reads differently when it is practiced in Tokyo: the base grammar stays classical, while the margin for excess narrows. In the case of Olivier Chaignon, that…

Chef & Owner, Akelarre

Pedro Subijana

San Sebastián, Spain

Kitchen formation sets the terms for durable authorship: discipline before style, repetition before invention, restraint before reach. For Pedro Subijana, that foundation was the…

Executive Chef, Cheval Blanc at Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois

Peter Knogl

Basel, Switzerland

From Deggendorf in Bavaria to Basel, Switzerland, the line of work here is contemporary French cooking disciplined by hotel fine dining and opened to Mediterranean and Asian…

Winemaker

Prince Robert de Luxembourg

Pessac, France

## Coming Up Stewardship is the through-line in the work of Prince Robert de Luxembourg at Domaine Clarence Dillon in Pessac, France. The progression from board member at Domaine…

Owner, Screaming Eagle Winery and Vineyards

Stan Kroenke

Napa, California, United States

Stan Kroenke is an American billionaire businessman and owner of Screaming Eagle Winery in Napa Valley's Oakville region, which he acquired in 2006 alongside Charles Banks before…

Chef de Cuisine, Aqua at The Ritz-Carlton Wolfsburg

Sven Elverfeld

Wolfsburg, Germany

In Wolfsburg, Germany, Modern European cooking at Aqua was built through control of contrast: spruce tips, raw beef, Büsum shrimps, champagne and chocolate used as working…

Chef, Memories at Grand Resort Bad Ragaz

Sven Wassmer

Bad Ragaz, Switzerland

“The longer I cook, the more I leave out.” In Sven Wassmer’s work at Memories in Bad Ragaz, Switzerland, that sentence functions as a working rule for Contemporary Alpine cuisine:…

Chef-Patron, schanz.restaurant

Thomas Schanz

Piesport, Germany

Thomas Schanz’s cooking at schanz.restaurant in Piesport, Germany is built around subtraction as much as construction. The restaurant earned Three Michelin stars in 2022, but the…

Küchenchef, Tohru in der Schreiberei

Tohru Nakamura

Munich, Germany

From Werneckhof by Geisel to Tohru in der Schreiberei, the Munich line is concise: formal training, managerial responsibility, and a kitchen language built from Japanese, German,…

Head Chef, Schwarzwaldstube

Torsten Michel

Baiersbronn, Germany

At the Baiersbronn-Tonbach kitchen, the work is built on richness under control: regional products set beside luxury ingredients such as caviar and truffles, with a register…

Owner & Chef, Azabu Kadowaki

Toshiya Kadowaki

Tokyo, Japan

## The Path Restaurant craft often starts before the stove. In Toshiya Kadowaki’s case, the first station was management department staff at Koshi in Roppongi, close to the…

Chef de Cave, Dom Pérignon

Vincent Chaperon

Hautvillers, France

Vincent Chaperon is the Chef de Cave (Cellar Master) of Dom Pérignon, a role he assumed at the start of 2019 after 13 years of close collaboration with predecessor Richard…

Owner & Winemaker, Valdicava

Vincenzo Abbruzzese

Montalcino, Italy

Vincenzo Abbruzzese is the owner and winemaker of Valdicava, a winery in the Montosoli area north of Montalcino, Tuscany, founded by his grandparents Martini Bramante and his wife…

Chef, Yannick Alléno Group

Yannick Alléno

Surat Thani, Thailand

French gastronomy here is organized around sauce work, modern service, and a Paris-trained kitchen lineage. Born in Puteaux, Paris, Yannick Alléno built his practice through hotel…

Executive Chef, Chao Shang Chao (Chaoyang)

Yat Fung Cheung

Sea Island, Georgia, United States

Yat Fung Cheung is the Executive Chef at Chao Shang Chao (Chaoyang) in Beijing, where he has led the restaurant to three Michelin stars in 2024 and 2025, specializing in refined…

Owner & Chef, Kikunoi

Yoshihiro Murata

Tokyo, Japan

Kaiseki’s Kyoto origin is not a backdrop detail; it defines the operating system of the cuisine. In Yoshihiro Murata’s work, the form is built around season, nature, ingredient…

Owner Chef, Hyotei

Yoshihiro Takahashi

Kyoto, Japan

By 1999, Yoshihiro Takahashi was head chef there; today he is owner chef, carrying traditional tea kaiseki through a house where continuity is maintained by repeated acts: stock…

Chef, Il Pagliaccio

Anthony Genovese

Rome, Italy

Technique built from formal hotel-school discipline gives this cooking its first frame: Anthony Genovese trained at École Hôtelière de Nice (1985), then worked through Florence…

Chef & Owner, D'O

Davide Oldani

Cornaredo, Italy

Davide Oldani is an Italian chef born in 1967 in Cornaredo, Lombardy, who created the philosophy of Cucina POP, blending high quality with accessibility, and opened his restaurant…

Chef

Diego Murciego

Madrid, Spain

## The Climb Since 2021, Diego Murciego has held the chef’s post at Desde 1911, a role built on daily judgment rather than gesture. The work asks for exact sourcing, a steady hand…

Head Chef & Proprietor, The Black Swan at Oldstead; Co-Proprietor, Roots York

Tommy Banks

Oldstead, United Kingdom

Tommy Banks (born 3 June 1989) is a British Michelin-starred chef and restaurateur from North Yorkshire who became Britain's youngest Michelin-starred chef at age 24 in 2013 when…

Chef

Kim Jin-hyuk

Seoul, South Korea

Executive Chef Kim Jin-hyuk leads Alla Prima in Seoul, South Korea. His cooking moves across Japanese, French, Italian, molecular, and creative registers, with definition coming…

Chef Patron, Trinity

Adam Byatt

London, United Kingdom

Adam Byatt is a Michelin-starred chef and restaurateur known for his modern British cuisine, having opened Trinity in Clapham in 2006, which earned a Michelin star in 2016 and AA…

Winemaker

David Baverstock

Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal

## Coming Up Rosenworthy Agricultural College gave David Baverstock an early technical base, and that matters in a trade built on repeatable decisions. From there, his work in…

Chef-Owner

Chris Bleidorn

San Francisco, California, United States

Chris Bleidorn is the chef-owner of Birdsong in San Francisco. He began his career at Nine-Ten in San Diego, worked with Grant Achatz at Alinea, and later cooked at Benu, Atelier…

Chef & Co-owner, Restaurant Ryuzu

Ryuta Iizuka

Tokyo, Japan

Ryuta Iizuka, born in 1968 in Tokamachi City, Niigata Prefecture, Japan, trained at hotels including Hotel Okura Tokyo Bay and Hotel The Manhattan before joining the opening team…

Executive Chef & Owner, Lasai

Rafa Costa e Silva

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Rafa Costa e Silva is a Rio de Janeiro-born chef and owner of Lasai, a Michelin-starred farm-to-table restaurant in Rio's Botafogo neighborhood that he opened in 2014. After…

Chef and Owner, Central Restaurante

Virgilio Martínez

Roanne, France

## Coming Up Formal technique entered the work through Le Cordon Bleu, where Virgilio Martínez received the foundation expected of cooks moving into fine-dining kitchens. The next…

Executive Chef, Alex Dilling at Hotel Café Royal

Alex Dilling

London, United Kingdom

Alex Dilling is a London-born chef who trained at Westminster College before launching his career at Alain Ducasse's Adour in New York City, where he helped earn two Michelin…

Proprietor & Chef, Sojiki Nakahigashi

Hisao Nakahigashi

Kyoto, Japan

Hisao Nakahigashi is the chef and proprietor of Sojiki Nakahigashi, a two Michelin-starred restaurant in Kyoto's Ohara region, specializing in 'herbivorous cuisine' or So-Jiki,…

Executive Chef, Wing Lei at Wynn Las Vegas

Ming Yu

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Xian Ming Yu is the Executive Chef of Wing Lei at Wynn Las Vegas, the first Chinese restaurant in the United States to receive a Michelin star in 2008 and 2009. He joined Wing Lei…

Chef

Tam Kwok Fung

Singapore, Singapore

In Singapore, at Wine RVLT, freshness is treated as a working material in Cantonese cooking: season, texture, restraint, and the point at which an ingredient is ready to be used.…

Chef

Brian Mark Hansen

Copenhagen, Denmark

On Denmark’s north coast, the cooking reads through the meeting point of land and water, with Brian Mark Hansen using fish and shellfish as the centre of the plate rather than as…

Chef & Owner, Torre del Saracino

Gennaro Esposito

Vico Equense, Italy

Gennaro Esposito is the chef and owner of Torre del Saracino in Seiano, Vico Equense, on the Sorrento Peninsula, which he opened in 1991 focusing on local ingredients and creative…

Chef & Proprietor, Le Chambard

Olivier Nasti

Kaysersberg, France

Olivier Nasti, born December 9, 1966 in Belfort, France, is the chef-owner of Le Chambard in Kaysersberg, Alsace, where La Table d'Olivier Nasti holds two Michelin stars since…

Chef

Fue Yue Liang

Hangzhou, China

Zhejiang cuisine at Ru Yuan in Hangzhou is handled as a working regional language: delicate, fragrant, balanced, seasonal, and tied to the city’s ingredients and habits of taste.…

Chef

Maksut Aşkar

Istanbul, Turkey

Maksut Aşkar’s cooking works from Anatolian memory through the conditions of a modern Istanbul restaurant. At Neolokal in Istanbul, Turkey, where Aşkar is chef and co-owner, the…

Chef and Owner, Albi

Michael Rafidi

Tokyo, Japan

Michael Rafidi is a Palestinian-American chef and restaurateur who owns the Michelin-starred Albi in Washington, D.C.'s Navy Yard, opened in 2020, and the Levantine-inspired cafe…

Chef, Lido 84

Riccardo Camanini

Fasano del Garda, Italy

Contemporary Italian kitchen practice at Lido 84 in Gardone Riviera, Italy, gained Michelin recognition in 2014, with Riccardo Camanini bringing experience from Gualtiero…

Executive Chef, Villa Feltrinelli

Stefano Baiocco

Gargnano, Italy

Stefano Baiocco is an Italian chef born in Ancona who has been the executive chef at Villa Feltrinelli on Lake Garda since 2003, making him one of Italy's longest-serving…

Chef

Tom Barnes

Manchester, United Kingdom

## The Climb Professional kitchens shaped Tom Barnes through repetition, pressure and precision. At Trinity House, part-time kitchen work put him on the floor at service speed,…

Executive Chef, Ecco Ascona (former)

Rolf Fliegauf

Lech, Austria

Rolf Fliegauf is a German chef born December 13, 1980, in Nördlingen who became one of Switzerland's most decorated culinary leaders. He joined Ecco Ascona in 2007 as head chef…

Head Chef & Owner, Restaurant Horváth

Sebastian Frank

Berlin, Germany

Sebastian Frank is an Austrian-born chef and head chef & owner of the 2-Michelin-starred Restaurant Horváth in Berlin's Kreuzberg district, where he has been cooking since 2010.…

Executive Chef & Owner, Soigné

Jun Lee

Hanover, Germany

Jun Lee is the chef and owner of Soigné, a two-Michelin-starred restaurant in Seoul that he opened in 2015, blending contemporary Korean, American, and European cuisines through…

Head Chef & Owner, Boragó

Rodolfo Guzmán

Santiago, Chile

## The Path Formal kitchen training at Instituto Profesional Culinary supplied the first technical frame: method, sequence, and the shared discipline of a professional kitchen.…

Chef

Niki Nakayama

Los Angeles, California, United States

Kaiseki gives structure to season, material, and sequence. In Niki Nakayama’s work at n/naka in Los Angeles, that structure is handled through modern Japanese kaiseki: a…

Chef

Andrea Antonini

Rome, Italy

## The Climb Andrea Antonini’s progression runs through kitchens where the line asks for consistency before style. As a member of the brigade at Giuda Ballerino in Rome, Italy,…

Chef, Ristorante Andrea Aprea

Andrea Aprea

Milan, Italy

Andrea Aprea is an Italian chef born in Naples in 1977 to a family of Neapolitan restaurateurs, who began his career at age 15 and gained international experience in London, Kuala…

Chefkoch & Inhaber, De Nieuwe Winkel

Emile Van Der Staak

Nijmegen, Netherlands

Emile van der Staak is the chef and owner of De Nieuwe Winkel, a two Michelin-starred restaurant in Nijmegen, Netherlands, specializing in fully plant-based botanical gastronomy.…

Chef, Mérito

Juan Luis Martínez

Lima, Peru

Juan Luis Martínez is a Venezuelan chef who arrived in Peru in 2014 for a stage at Central, the restaurant of Virgilio Martínez, after training in France and Spain. In 2018, he…

Head Chef, El Molino de Urdániz

David Yárnoz

Taipei, Taiwan

David Yárnoz is the head chef of El Molino de Urdániz, a Michelin two-starred restaurant with a Green Star located in Urdániz, Navarre, Spain, opened by his parents in 1992. He…

Chef and Owner, Aska

Fredrik Berselius

New York City, New York, United States

Before the work at Aska in Brooklyn, New York, the useful tension was already in place: Stockholm, Sweden, and New York as two different sets of conditions. In Fredrik Berselius’s…

Executive Chef & Owner, Tatiana

Kwame Onwuachi

New York City, New York, United States

Afro-Caribbean cooking in New York carries borough memory, immigrant commerce, and family-table technique into a restaurant register. At Tatiana in New York City, Kwame Onwuachi…

Chef

Peter Tempelhoff

Cape Town, South Africa

Cape Town gives this cooking its working register: FYN Restaurant in the city, Japanese technique used for restraint and structure, and a regional larder that runs from garden…

Chef, Ambivium

Cristóbal Muñoz

Peñafiel, Spain

Cristóbal Muñoz Ortega is the chef in charge of the kitchen at Restaurante Ambivium in Peñafiel, Valladolid, where he leads a sincere, product-driven cuisine that highlights local…

Chef & Owner, Kjolle

Pía León

Roanne, France

Pía León is a Peruvian chef born in Lima in December 1986, who trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Lima and worked at El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Spain, the Ritz in New York, and…

Executive Chef, Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare

Max Natmessnig

Bangkok, Thailand

Max Natmessnig is an Austrian chef and Executive Chef at Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare in Manhattan, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant. He previously led the…

Chef

Solemann Haddad

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Chef Patron work at Moonrise in Dubai is built on self-directed training rather than a formal school lineage. In Solemann Haddad’s case, the absence of culinary school or an…

Chef

César Ramirez

New York City, New York, United States

César Ramirez is the Mexican chef-owner of César in New York City, an intimate, seafood-focused restaurant where hyper-exquisite fine dining earned Two Michelin stars in 2024. The…

Chef

Kim Dae-chun

Seoul, South Korea

At 7th Door in Seoul, the kitchen is built around timing, temperature, and the slow work of fermentation. Kim Dae-chun cooks with a read on conditions rather than control, letting…

Chef

Paco Perez

Barcelona, Spain

His cooking sits in Contemporary Mediterranean, with mar i muntanya at the center, but in Paco Perez’s hands the term reads less like a label than a working ground: sea and…

Chef, Restaurant Christophe Hay - Fleur de Loire

Christophe Hay

Blois, France

Christophe Hay is a French chef born in Vendôme, in the Loir-et-Cher region, who began his career at Au Rendez-Vous des Pêcheurs in Blois under Eric Reithler before training with…

Chef, Operakällaren

Viktor Westland

Stockholm, Sweden

Viktor Westland is the chef at Operakällaren in Stockholm, Sweden, a restaurant recognized in culinary rankings for its Swedish cuisine. He is listed as the head chef in the OAD…

Chef

William Joo

Los Angeles, California, United States

The move from appetite to method is the central fact of William Joo’s work: pizza becomes disciplined through repetition, heat management, and dough handling, until the final…

Winemaker

Erwan Faiveley

Nuits-Saint-Georges, France

Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from single vineyards set the working brief at Domaine Faiveley in Nuits-Saint-Georges, France, where Erwan Faiveley has served as President since 2005.…

Chef & Proprietor, Nihonryōri Seizan

Haruhiko Yamamoto

Tokyo, Japan

Haruhiko Yamamoto is a Tokyo-born chef and proprietor of Nihonryōri Seizan, a 2-Michelin-starred kaiseki restaurant in Minato City, Tokyo, which he opened in April 2011 at age 31.…

Winemaker, Domaine Faiveley

Jérôme Flous

Nuits-Saint-Georges, France

Technical direction in Burgundy depends on continuity between vineyard, cellar, élevage, and bottling. At Domaine Faiveley, Jérôme Flous has held that remit since 2007 as…

Chef Exécutif, La Tour d'Argent

Yannick Franques

Paris, France

## The Path Classical French dining-room formation runs through Le Bristol, Hôtel de Crillon, Louis XV, and Grande Cascade; in Yannick Franques’s case, that foundation preceded…

Head Chef & Creative Director, El Bulli (1987-2011); Founder, El Bulli Foundation

Ferran Adrià

Roses, Spain

Ferran Adrià Acosta, born May 14, 1962, in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain, joined elBulli in Roses on the Costa Brava as chef de partie in 1984, became sole head chef…

Chef & Proprietor, Restaurant Vrijmoed

Michaël Vrijmoed

Ghent, Belgium

Michaël Vrijmoed is the chef and proprietor of Restaurant Vrijmoed in Ghent, Belgium, which earned its first Michelin star within eight months of opening in 2013 and received a…

Winemaker

Andrea Leon

Santa Cruz, Chile

## The Path Technical discipline and site memory have defined Andrea Leon’s work from the start. As assistant winemaker at Lapostolle in the Apalta subregion, Colchagua Valley,…

Chef, Septime

Bertrand Grébaut

Paris, France

Bertrand Grébaut, born in 1981 in Paris, transitioned from graphic design to cuisine, graduating top of his class at École Ferrandi before working under Alain Passard at L'Arpège…

Chef & Founder, Mayta

Jaime Pesaque

Lima, Peru

Jaime Pesaque is a Peruvian chef who graduated from Le Cordon Bleu and earned a Master's in Culinary Arts from the Italian Culinary Institute (ICIF), apprenticing at…

Chef & Restaurateur, Koan and Juju

Kristian Baumann

Copenhagen, Denmark

Kristian Baumann is a Danish chef of Korean origin, adopted from Korea and raised in Denmark, who previously worked at top Copenhagen kitchens including Noma, Manfreds, Relæ, and…

Chef

Vicky Lau

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Chinese and French technique meet most clearly here as a matter of sequence, composition, and service architecture. In Hong Kong, Vicky Lau has built TATE Dining Room & Bar around…

Chef Patron, House of Tides & Solstice by Kenny Atkinson

Kenny Atkinson

Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Kenny Atkinson is a Geordie chef-patron who has spent over 29 years in professional cooking, achieving his first Michelin star in 2008 as head chef at St Martin's on the Isle of…

Beverage Service Professional

Linda Milagros Violago

Seattle, Washington, United States

## The Path At Winnipeg, the groundwork for service was set before the floor taught the rest: pacing, pressure, and the habits that turn a dining room into a working system. Linda…

Co-owner & Co-chef, Mon Lapin

Marc-Olivier Frappier

Montréal, Canada

Co-owner and co-chef of Mon Lapin in Montreal.

Chef

Oriol Rovira

Sagàs, Spain

From Sagàs, the work reads as a closed loop: countryside, kitchen, and restaurant held together by one place. At Els Casals, Oriol Rovira’s cooking is shaped less by arrival than…

Chef

Wong Wing Keung

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Hong Kong cooking at its most exacting depends on timing and controlled restraint: steam around a grouper fillet, the short season of matsutake mushroom, the point at which a…

Chef

Albert Sastregener

Corçà, Spain

Albert Sastregener is the owner of Bo.TiC in Corçà, Spain, a restaurant whose development has been defined by continuity rather than reinvention. Begun in 2007 with Cristina…

Chef

Marc Álvarez

Barcelona, Spain

His work is built around liquid gastronomy and cocktail innovation, with each drink approached less as a pour than as a composed exercise in sensory control. In Marc Álvarez’s…

Chef

Simone Caporale

Barcelona, Spain

Glasswashing is often the first station in a bar education: pace, breakage, reset, mise en place, and the sound of service before the drink is ever built. Simone Caporale entered…

Chef, Il Luogo di Aimo e Nadia

Alessandro Negrini

Playa del Carmen, Mexico

Alessandro Negrini, born in 1978 in Caspoggio, Valmalenco, Lombardy, Italy, is a chef who graduated from hotel school in Sondrio and trained at prestigious venues including Palace…

Co-Chef & Co-Owner, Il Luogo di Aimo e Nadia

Fabio Pisani

Paris, France

Fabio Pisani is an Italian chef born in 1978 in Molfetta, province of Bari, where he earned his culinary diploma. From 2000 to 2005, he trained at prestigious…

Owner Chef, Kutan

Kotaro Nakajima

Tokyo, Japan

Kotaro Nakajima is the owner and chef of Kutan, a modern kaiseki restaurant in Ginza, Tokyo, which he opened in 2018. Born in Fukuoka Prefecture in 1978, he began his career at a…

Chef & Owner, La Madonnina del Pescatore

Moreno Cedroni

Marzocca, Italy

Moreno Cedroni, born July 9, 1964, in Ancona, Italy, opened La Madonnina del Pescatore in Marzocca di Senigallia, Marche region, in 1984, earning its first Michelin star in 1996…

Chef

Pepe Solla

Poio, Spain

Spanish cooking on the Galician coast is built on product, service, and the table’s sense of timing. At Casa Solla in Poio, Spain, chef and owner Pepe Solla has worked that…

Executive Chef & Owner, Restaurant Grön

Toni Kostian

Helsinki, Finland

At Grön on Albertinkatu 36 in Helsinki, seasonality is handled as a working constraint rather than a theme. Finnish and Nordic products set the range: wild leaves, organic…

Executive Chef, George Restaurant at Grand Hotel Parker's

Domenico Candela

Naples, Italy

Domenico Candela, born in Naples in 1986, began his culinary career at age 15 as a dishwasher in Eraclea and trained under chefs including Antonio Guida, Stefano Mazzone, Damiano…

Chef

Gonçalo Bita Bota

Montalcino, Italy

## The Path At Oxalis in Funchal, Gonçalo Bita Bota cooks from the island’s rhythm rather than outside it. The work is grounded in Madeiran flavors and in a contemporary reading…

Chef Patron, Cedar Tree by Hrishikesh Desai at Farlam Hall

Hrishikesh Desai

Brampton, United Kingdom

Hrishikesh Desai is the Chef Patron at Cedar Tree by Hrishikesh Desai at Farlam Hall Hotel & Restaurant in Brampton, Cumbria, where the restaurant earned one Michelin star in 2024…

Chef

Josh Niland

Sydney, Australia

## Formation Professional fish cookery in Sydney runs through trade school, restaurant repetition, and close handling before it becomes a point of view. Josh Niland trained at…

Chef & Proprietor, La Mère Brazier

Mathieu Viannay

Lyon, France

Mathieu Viannay is a French chef born July 14, 1967, in Versailles, who has led the iconic La Mère Brazier restaurant in Lyon since 2008. He earned the title of Meilleur Ouvrier…

Chef & Owner, Amelia

Paulo Airaudo

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Paulo Airaudo, born in 1985 in Córdoba, Argentina to Italian immigrant parents, began his culinary career at 18, training at renowned kitchens including Arzak in San Sebastián,…

Chef-Owner, Cloudstreet; Chef-Owner, Kotuwa; Chef-Owner, Station by Kotuwa

Rishi Naleendra

Singapore, Singapore

Rishi Naleendra is a Sri Lankan-born, Australian-trained chef and restaurateur based in Singapore, best known as chef-owner of the two-Michelin-starred Cloudstreet, which opened…

Chef de Cuisine, Mezzaluna

Ryuki Kawasaki

Bangkok, Thailand

Ryuki Kawasaki is the Japanese-born Chef de Cuisine at Mezzaluna, a two Michelin-starred restaurant on the 65th floor of lebua at State Tower in Bangkok, where he has led the…

Winemaker

Christophe Roumier

Chambolle-Musigny, France

The domaine's foundation belongs to the Burgundian mechanics of family landholding: marriage, village parcels, inheritance and cellar continuity. In 1924, Christophe Roumier's…

Chef

Diego Cabrera

Madrid, Spain

In Madrid, cocktail work at Salmon Guru is built around high visual impact, fusion structure, and a room designed for energy as much as service. Founded by Diego Cabrera, the bar…

Food & Creative Director, JKS Restaurants

Karam Sethi

London, United Kingdom

Karam Sethi is the chef-patron and Food & Creative Director of JKS Restaurants, which operates Trishna, Gymkhana, and Hoppers in London. London-born, he trained at the Maurya in…

Winemaker, Domaine Hubert Lamy

Olivier Lamy

Saint-Aubin, France

Seasonal measurement sets the frame at Domaine Hubert Lamy in Saint-Aubin, France, where Olivier Lamy works as winemaker/grower. The reference points are weather, water, heat,…

Executive Chef, Vila Joya

Dieter Koschina

Albufeira, Portugal

Dieter Koschina is an Austrian chef born in Dornbirn on May 6, 1962, who has been the Executive Chef at Vila Joya in Albufeira, Portugal since 1991. He secured Vila Joya's first…

Restaurateur

Nicole Krasinski

San Francisco, California, United States

Smoke, fire, curing, fermenting, preserving, and dehydrating shape the kitchen at The Progress in San Francisco as method, not effect. There, Nicole Krasinski serves as owner and…

Chef

Pedro Moran

Prendes, Spain

## The Path Asturian cuisine sits at the center of Pedro Moran’s cooking, and fabada is the dish most closely tied to his name. ## The Work Today Pedro Moran is chef of Casa…

Chef

Angel Leon

Chiclana de la Frontera, Spain

Marine cookery at Alevante in Chiclana de la Frontera, Spain, is built from the sea as working material rather than scenery. In Angel Leon’s kitchens, the usable field includes…

Chef

David Žefran

Kranjska Gora, Slovenia

At Milka, Alpine cooking is handled as a discipline of reduction: season, landscape, rural memory, and technical clarity set the limits of the plate. In David Žefran’s work,…

Chef

Gilles Reinhardt

Collonges-au-Mont-dOr, France

Across the years that followed his training, Gilles Reinhardt’s career settled into a rare kind of steadiness: one house near Lyon, one disciplined Classical French repertoire,…

Chef

Olivier Couvin

Collonges-au-Mont-dOr, France

## The Path The Executive Chef role at Paul Bocuse in Lyon, France, became a defining post for Olivier Couvin in 2001. Inside a house where consistency is part of the brief, that…

Chef, La Table de Yoann Conte

Yoann Conte

Agen, France

Yoann Conte, born in 1974 in Brest, France, trained under Marc Veyrat at Auberge de l’Eridan in 1993 and took over his restaurant in Veyrier-du-Lac as La Table de Yoann Conte…

Chef and Owner, Tempura Kondo

Fumio Kondo

Tokyo, Japan

Fumio Kondo is the chef and owner of Tempura Kondo in Tokyo's Ginza district, a two-Michelin-starred specialist tempura restaurant he opened in 1991 at age 43. Born in Tokyo in…

Managing Director

AXA Millesimes

Preignac, France

AXA Millésimes is the owner of Château Suduiraut, a Premier Cru Classé Sauternes estate acquired in 1992, and Château Pichon-Longueville Baron (also known as Pichon Baron), a…

Executive Chef, Cornus

Gary Foulkes

London, United Kingdom

Gary Foulkes is the Executive Chef at Cornus in London's Belgravia, where the restaurant earned a Michelin star in its first year of opening in 2024. Previously, he served as…

Chef, Ristorante Dalla Gioconda

Davide Di Fabio

Gabicce Monte, Italy

Davide Di Fabio, born in 1985 in Rho near Milan and raised in Abruzzo, trained at the Istituto Alberghiero di San Benedetto del Tronto before joining Osteria Francescana in Modena…

Head Chef, Henne Kirkeby Kro

Paul Cunningham

Henne, Denmark

## The Climb Kitchen formation here runs through pubs, country house hotels, fish station work, and Danish restaurant kitchens before ownership and long-service head chef work.…

Chef

Shaun Rankin

Ripon, United Kingdom

Chef Patron at Shaun Rankin at Grantley Hall in Ripon, United Kingdom, Shaun Rankin works in a Michelin-starred Modern British register built from North Yorkshire produce,…

Chef

Alex Bond

Nottingham, United Kingdom

Chef-owner of alchemilla in Nottingham, United Kingdom, Alex Bond works in a register built on accumulation rather than myth. The story is less about theatre than about repeated…

Chef & Propriétaire, Le Grand Restaurant

Jean-François Piège

Paris, France

Jean-François Piège, born in Valence, Drôme in 1970, trained at the hôtel school in Tain l'Hermitage and apprenticed under chefs like Bruno Cirino and Alain Ducasse, rising to…

Executive Chef & Owner, Spectrum at Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam

Sidney Schutte

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Sidney Schutte is a two-Michelin-star chef born in Middelburg, Zeeland, Netherlands, who began his career at age 16 and trained at prestigious kitchens including two-star De…

Executive Chef, Platán Gourmet Restaurant

István Pesti

Tata, Hungary

István Pesti is the executive chef of the two-Michelin-starred Platán Gourmet in Tata, Hungary, the first rural Hungarian restaurant to earn two stars in November 2022. Born in…

Chef

Toby Burrowes

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

## The Path A London kitchen career tends to be built on repetition, standards, and the ability to hold pace without losing detail. Toby Burrowes came up through that discipline…

Winemaker

Alejandro Vigil

Agrelo, Argentina

## The Path Alejandro Vigil has served as winemaking director since 2007 (current)., a long tenure that shaped the estate’s voice through discipline, patience, and scale. In a…

President, Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group

Byron Lazaroff-Puck

Singapore, Singapore

Byron Lazaroff-Puck is the President of Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group, overseeing 21 fine dining restaurants across 6 countries including Spago Beverly Hills, CUT Beverly Hills,…

Winemaker

Emmanuel Hautus

Pernand-Vergelesses, France

Emmanuel Hautus has been winemaker at Domaine Bonneau du Martray in Pernand-Vergelesses, France since 2011. In a region where credibility is built over time and measured against…

Chef

Luis Alberto Lera

Castroverde de Campos, Spain

His stance is spare, unsentimental, and pointedly against grandstanding. When Luis Alberto Lera says, “I do not consider myself a standard-bearer of anything,” the line does its…

Winemaker

Michel Chapoutier

Tain-l'Hermitage, France

## Coming Up Family succession in the Rhône is a practical transfer of vineyards, cellar decisions, and commercial responsibility. In 1977, Michel Chapoutier took over the family…

Winemaker, Domaine Bonneau du Martray

Thibault Jacquet

Pernand-Vergelesses, France

On the Hill of Corton in Burgundy, Chardonnay is worked as a translator of slope, exposure, salinity and stone. In the Grand Cru ground of Corton-Charlemagne and Charlemagne,…

Chef & Owner, Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group

Wolfgang Puck

Orlando, Florida, United States

Wolfgang Puck is the owner of Spago Beverly Hills, in Beverly Hills, United States, the restaurant for which he earned Two Michelin Stars. The restaurant’s place in modern…

Resident Chef, Ristorante Glam by Enrico Bartolini

Donato Ascani

Venice, Italy

Born in 1987 in Fiuggi, Lazio, Donato Ascani trained at a local hospitality institute and worked in renowned Italian kitchens including L’Antica Pesa in Verona with Fabio…

Chef

Jon Ayala

Hondarribia, Spain

In Hondarribia, Spain, grill work at Laia is built on a narrow discipline: dry-aged beef, controlled heat, and timing. Jon Ayala co-owns the house, where the Basque parrilla is…

Chef & Co-owner, Pizzeria Mozza and Osteria Mozza

Nancy Silverton

Los Angeles, California, United States

Pastry, bread, and restaurant craft in Los Angeles have often moved through the same stations: formal training, hotel-caliber pastry discipline, market-driven cooking, and bakery…

Chef Patron, The Sportsman; Executive Chef, Noble Rot

Stephen Harris

London, United Kingdom

Stephen Harris is the chef patron of The Sportsman, a gastropub in Seasalter, Kent, recognized as a Top 50 Gastropubs winner. He serves as executive chef and consultant for the…

Chef

Chris Harrod

Whitebrook, United Kingdom

The Wye Valley supplies the working vocabulary at The Whitebrook, United Kingdom: local produce, freshly foraged herbs and plants, and the short timing of micro-seasonality in the…

Winemaker

Damien Le Sueur

Reims, France

Damien Le Sueur’s role at Champagne Taittinger sits on a chain of technical, production, and executive responsibilities. In Reims, the work of a Directeur Général is less about…

Chef

Hiroshi Kawashima

Nara, Japan

Modern Spanish cooking, when carried into Nara rather than copied from Spain, depends on translation: technique has to answer to local ingredients, local history, and the scale of…

Chef

Scott Hunnel

Orlando, Florida, United States

Recognition attaches to a room where ceremony, restraint, and ingredient control are part of the craft, not decoration. The cooking associated with Scott Hunnel works inside fine…

Executive Chef, Atelier

Bradyn Kawcak

Busnes, France

Bradyn Kawcak is the Executive Chef at Atelier in Chicago's Lincoln Square, where he took over in early 2024 from Chef Christian Hunter, retaining the restaurant's Michelin star…

Chef

Huang Jinghui "Chef Fei"

Guangzhou, China

Classical Cantonese technique sets the frame for seasonal work at Jiang by Chef Fei, where Huang Jinghui "Chef Fei" keeps the cooking rooted in the cuisine’s established forms…

Chef & Owner, Tokuha Motonari

Shinya Matsumoto

Kyoto, Japan

Shinya Matsumoto is the chef and owner of Tokuha Motonari in Kyoto's Kamigyo-ku, having previously served as head chef at Muromachi Wakuden in Nakagyo-ku. At Muromachi Wakuden, a…

Chef

Philip Tessier

St. Helena, California, United States

## The Climb Philip Tessier’s career is built on incremental gains: formal training, disciplined station work, and larger kitchens that tightened the standards. The Culinary…

Executive Chef, L'Atelier Joël Robuchon Dubai

Roberto Torre

Nara, Japan

Roberto Torre is an Italian Executive Chef leading the brigade at L'Atelier Joël Robuchon Dubai since 2015. Originally from Italy, he studied at the Hotel School in Salerno and…

Chef

Przemyslaw Klima

Kraków, Poland

His cooking is written in a Modern Polish register: tradition in the base, agriculture and memory in the foreground. The result is a style that reads as familiar at once, yet more…

Chef

Tommy Myllymäki

Stockholm, Sweden

Tommy Myllymäki works as chef at AIRA in Stockholm, Sweden, a restaurant awarded Two Michelin stars. ## The Making Contemporary restaurant cooking in Stockholm can move between…

Chef & Owner, Alo Food Group

Patrick Kriss

Barcelona, Spain

Founder-led restaurant work is often judged by how well fine-dining discipline survives scale. In Alo Food Group, Patrick Kriss is the evidence: Alo, Aloette, Alobar, Salon, and…

Chef

Satoru Asahina

Tokyo, Japan

## The Route Formal training in Brittany, France, supplied the working frame for Satoru Asahina’s cooking: discipline, precision, and a practical sense of place. In this context,…

Chef & Proprietor, Le Chabichou

Stéphane Buron

Lannion, France

Stéphane Buron is a French chef born in Limoges in 1964 and raised in Lorraine, who has been the head chef of Le Chabichou in Courchevel since 1996 and sole proprietor since 2018.…

Chef, Le Restaurant des Rois - La Réserve de Beaulieu

Julien Roucheteau

Vienne, France

Julien Roucheteau is the chef at Le Restaurant des Rois at La Réserve de Beaulieu near Nice, having taken over the entire restauration there since 2019. A Meilleur Ouvrier de…

Chef

Christina Rasmussen

Singapore, Singapore

Chef-owner Christina Rasmussen brings a kitchen-and-floor perspective to Fura in Singapore, where co-ownership and head-chef duties have sat with her since 2023. The work reads as…

Chef

Sébastien Faramond

Saint-Émilion, France

## The Climb The discipline of service at Hostellerie de Plaisance in Saint-Émilion, France (2019–2020) shaped Sébastien Faramond’s early ascent as chef second. In that post, the…

Chef & Owner, Sushi Arai

Yuichi Arai

Tokyo, Japan

Edomae sushi is a discipline of small margins: seasoning, temperature, texture, timing, and the sequence in which each piece is served. Within that language, Yuichi Arai has…

Winemaker

Arnaud Mortet

Gevrey-Chambertin, France

## Training and Lineage Estate leadership in Burgundy is practical before it is symbolic: picking dates, soil work, sorting, extraction, élevage, and bottling choices all…

Winemaker, Domaine Bruno Clair

Bruno Clair

Marsannay-la-Côte, France

The domaine is the primary unit of work: 27 hectares in Burgundy, articulated through Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Aligoté. At Domaine Bruno Clair, precision carries more weight…

Chef, Château de Beaulieu

Christophe Dufossé

Busnes, France

Christophe Dufossé, born in 1968 in Calais, France, trained at Lycée Hôtelier de Guebwiller before working at prestigious establishments including Alain Ducasse’s Louis XV in…

Winemaker

Florent Nys

Aÿ, France

Florent Nys is the Chief Winemaker (Chef de Cave) at Champagne Billecart-Salmon, a family-owned Champagne house in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ founded in 1818. Raised in Mesnil-sur-Oger in the…

Chef

Hampus Thunholm

Stockholm, Sweden

Scandinavian-style cocktails, circularity principles, and close attention to ingredient, season, and technique define the drinks language Hampus Thunholm has developed. The work…

Chef & Owner, Dede and Baba'de, Baltimore

Ahmet Dede

Baltimore, Ireland

Ahmet Dede is the chef and owner of Dede, a two Michelin-starred Turkish restaurant in Baltimore, West Cork, Ireland, and its sister restaurant Baba'de, which earned a Bib…

Chef

Margarita Manzke

Los Angeles, California, United States

Margarita Manzke, born and raised in the Philippines, is a renowned pastry chef who trained at top Los Angeles restaurants including Patina, Spago, and Mélisse before opening…

Chef

Mariana Schurt

New York City, New York, United States

## The Path The work at Clemente Bar is built around a single room and the pace that room demands. As Senior Sous Chef and manager of The Studio, Mariana Schurt works inside a…

Chef

Walter Manzke

Los Angeles, California, United States

Walter Manzke is a Southern California native chef renowned for his fine dining career, starting under Joachim Splichal at Patina and advancing through stages at El Bulli and…

Chef & Owner, Restaurant Hjem

Alex Nietosvuori

Wall, United Kingdom

Alex Nietosvuori is a Swedish chef and co-owner of Restaurant Hjem, opened in 2019 at the Hadrian Hotel in Wall, Northumberland, where he earned a Michelin star blending…

Winemaker

Kevin Judd

Blenheim, New Zealand

## The Climb Roseworthy Agricultural College gave Kevin Judd the formal base; Nearby winery (1980–1982) and Selaks in Marlborough, South Island (until 1984) gave him the…

Chef

Yoshitomo Ishii

Osaka, Japan

Yakitori at Torisho Ishii in Osaka is built on a foundation outside the usual grill-only track: traditional Japanese cuisine, followed by a tenure at Kimoto in Tokyo. In Yoshitomo…

Chef

Julio Fernández

Seville, Spain

## The Path Training at Escuela Superior de Hostelería de Sevilla gave Julio Fern the base before the floor-level work began at Taberna del Alabardero in Seville, where he moved…

Chef

Andrew Richardson

Vancouver, Canada

The craft here is restraint: Italian cuisine handled with a light hand, where prime ingredients are left to register clearly on the plate. In Andrew Richardson’s kitchens, the…

Chef

Hideki Matsuhisa

Barcelona, Spain

Japanese technique in Barcelona is the operating frame for Hideki Matsuhisa’s work at Koy Shunka in Barcelona, Spain, where he is owner and chef. The line starts in Toyota, Japan,…

Executive Chef, PM & Vänner

Anders Lauring

Växjö, Sweden

Anders Lauring is the Executive Chef at PM & Vänner, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Växjö, Sweden, where he oversees the kitchen for the fine dining establishment, bistro, and…

Chef

Cheung Siu Kong

Singapore, Singapore

My cooking philosophy is simple. I believe that the key to creating authentic and exquisite Cantonese dishes is through modest cooking techniques which bring out the natural…

Winemaker

Marie-Andrée Mugneret

Vosne-Romanée, France

The family-domaine model in Vosne-Romanée works through accumulated practical control: vineyard decisions, harvest execution, cellar follow-through, and the continuity of buyers…

Winemaker

Marie-Andrée Nauleau

Vosne-Romanée, France

Marie-Andrée Nauleau is winemaker and vineyard manager at Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg in Vosne-Romanée, France. The role joins vine and cellar work in one line of…

Winemaker

Marie-Christine Mugneret

Vosne-Romanée, France

Marie-Christine Mugneret works in the register of Burgundian domaine stewardship: ownership, management, and oenological judgment applied over time rather than announced through…

Winemaker

Marie-Christine Teillaud

Vosne-Romanée, France

Marie-Christine Teillaud has worked as winemaker at Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg in Vosne-Romanée, France since 1988, with cellar work anchoring that role across decades. The…

Chef

Steve Smith

Bagshot, United Kingdom

Bagshot, Surrey sets the working context for Modern British cooking at The Latymer at Pennyhill Park, where Steve Smith’s kitchen builds its menus from island produce, the…

Chef

Daniele Cason

Tokyo, Japan

In Japan’s capital, a Roman-style dough craft is built from a narrow set of controls: flour, water, yeast, fermentation, heat, and service rhythm. At The Pizza Bar on 38th, inside…

Chef

Ilya Evdokimov

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

À STAY by Yannick Alléno at One&Only The Palm, the contemporary French table is built around five- and six-course menus. The register is Modern French and tied directly to Yannick…

Winemaker