The People · Page 117
The artisans of taste.
Winemaker
Vincent Joussier
Saint Denis De Vaux, France
The role itself tells the story: he is rooted in place, and his work is carried out from the vineyard side of the house, where the day-to-day rhythm is measured not in headlines…
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Winemaker
Vincent Papilloud
Vetroz, Switzerland
Vincent Papilloud works as winemaker at Cave du Vieux Moulin – Famille Papilloud in Vétroz, Switzerland. The point of the role is not breadth but continuity: one estate, one…
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Winemaker, Domaine Rapet Père & Fils
Vincent Rapet
Pernand-Vergelesses, France
Vincent Rapet runs Domaine Rapet Père & Fils in Pernand-Vergelesses, France, with his wife Sylvette, within a family line of winemaking that reaches back to 1765. In Burgundy,…
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Winemaker
Vincent Ricard
Thesee, France
He is proprietor at Domaine Vincent Ricard in Thésée, and that role now defines the work. Before that, the craft was formed in other people’s cellars and vineyards: Philippe…
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Chef
Vincenzo Lebano
Milan, Italy
Vincenzo Lebano’s cooking at Excelsior Hotel Gallia in Milan is built on a regional exchange that stays disciplined at the plate. Campania gives the work its warmth and…
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Chef
Vincenzo Mazzone
Milan, Italy
## The Climb Hotel school gave Vincenzo Mazzone the base layer; Beatrice in Milan gave him the floor of a working kitchen in 1980, where he started as assistant cook. By 1982, the…
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Winemaker
Vincenzo Mercurio
Tufo, Italy
## The Climb At Cantine di Marzo in Tufo, Italy, the winemaker's job sits between continuity and adjustment: Vincenzo Mercurio works inside an established place, and the work…
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Winemaker
Virgile Lignier
Morey-Saint-Denis, France
Virgile Lignier’s work at Domaine Lignier-Michelot is defined by continuity: a family estate in Morey-Saint-Denis, held to routine, patience, and close cellar attention since…
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James Beard Award winner
Vishwesh Bhatt
Oxford, Mississippi, United States
Vishwesh Bhatt is executive chef at Snackbar in Oxford, Mississippi. ## Coming Up He then worked as a restaurant worker at Restaurants in Jackson, Mississippi and Boulder,…
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Chef
Vítor Sobral
Lisbon, Portugal
## Coming Up At Varanda in Lisbon, Vítor Sobral holds the chef role that defines. The job is the fact; the kitchen is the context. In a restaurant setting, that means the daily…
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Winemaker
Vittorio Adriano
Alba, Italy
## Coming Up Early work at Adriano Marco e Vittorio in San Rocco Seno d’Elvio, Langhe, Piemonte, Italy put Vittorio Adriano into a setting where vineyard rhythm and cellar…
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Chef
Vivek Singh
London, United Kingdom
## Coming Up Modern Indian fine dining is the field where Vivek Singh has built his name, and the work reads as a study in precision, warmth, and control. As Executive Chef and…
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Winemaker
Viviana Malafarina
Barile, Italy
Viviana Malafarina has been winemaker at Basilisco in Barile, Italy, since 2010, and the work sits on accumulation rather than flourish. The grape at the center is Aglianico,…
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Winemaker
Viviana Pasta
Capolago, Switzerland
## The Path In a company built on continuity, stewardship is the primary craft. Since 2019, Viviana Pasta has held both owner and présidente roles at Castello di Cantone SA in…
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Chef
Vixa Kalenga
Cape Town, South Africa
## The Path The path into professional kitchen work is visible in the first rung: Vixa Kalenga began as a pot wash, and the line from there to Group Executive Chef at TANG in Cape…
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Vladimir Pak
Bergen, Norway
## Coming Up Today, Vladimir Pak cooks as Executive Chef of BARE Restaurant. ## Where They Are Now At BARE Restaurant in Bergen, Vladimir Pak works with Edomae-style sushi as a…
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Chef
Vusi Ndlovu
Cape Town, South Africa
Vusi Ndlovu, co-founder of EDGE Restaurant, has built a practice shaped by clean, potent flavours and controlled force. The work reads as deliberate rather than decorative:…
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Chef
Wade Ueoka
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
## Coming Up Comfort foods and local flavors sit at the center of Wade Ueoka’s cooking, and that preference shows up in the kitchens where he trained and advanced. Mid-Pacific…
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Chef
Wai Hon
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
## The Path Street stall cooking at dai pai dong in Sha Tau Kok, New Territories, gave Wai Hon a working education in speed, proximity, and repetition. That early line of work…
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Chef
Wai Yin Man
Bangkok, Thailand
Bangkok is the working ground; the materials are Chinese and Cantonese: dim sum shaped for service, Peking duck held as a signature, and banquet ingredients chosen with care. At…
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Chef
Walter Ferretto
Isola d'Asti, Italy
## The Path The work at Il Cascinalenuovo is rooted in place, and Walter Ferretto describes that ground with the certainty of someone cooking within a defined territory rather…
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Chef
Wandile Mabaso
Johannesburg, South Africa
Founder and Executive Chef at Les Créatifs Restaurant in Johannesburg, South Africa, Wandile Mabaso has built his work around one clear trade problem: how to turn an idea into a…
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Wang Feng
Singapore, Singapore
Wang Feng’s work is the Executive Chef role at JB Ah Meng in Singapore, a position that places him at the center of the restaurant’s daily output. Born in Ipoh, Malaysia, he…
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Winemaker
Warren Gibson
Hawkes Bay, New Zealand
## Coming Up At Trinity Hill, Warren Gibson holds the Chief Winemaker role across a house closely watched for its contemporary New Zealand style. The work calls for precision in…
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Watson Lim
Singapore, Singapore
Owner and second-generation hawker at Da Dong Prawn Noodles in Singapore since 2018, Watson Lim is defined by prawn noodles: a career identity that is compact, specific, and…
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Chef
Wayan Kresna Yasa
Jakarta, Indonesia
## The Path Formal training at Washburne Culinary Institute gave Wayan Kresna Yasa a structured base, and that structure shows in the way his work has been built: disciplined,…
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Winemaker
Wayne Donaldson
Calistoga, California, United States
Wayne Donaldson’s work sits at the intersection of cellar practice and production control: Chief Winemaker at Josh Cellars and head of global production at Deutsch Family Wine and…
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Winemaker
Wayne Dutschke
Lyndoch, Australia
Barossa Winemaker of the Year in 2010, Wayne Dutschke earned his place through the sort of work the Barossa rewards: classic red wines, fortifieds, and the discipline to keep both…
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Chef
Wayne Knight
Mount Standfast, Barbados
Wayne Knight is Head Chef at The Lone Star in St James, Barbados, a role that places him at the center of one of the island’s most recognisable dining addresses. ## Coming Up Head…
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Chef
Wei Chen
San Francisco, California, United States
## The Path The line work in an uncle’s restaurant in New York City gave Wei Chen his first read on professional cooking: service pace, discipline, and the pressure of…
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Chef
Wei Zhu
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
## The Path At Szechuan Gourmet on Murray Avenue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the work of a cook, baker, and chef gave Wei Zhu the practical base that still shows in the kitchen…
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Chef
Wei-Jen Chen
Taipei, Taiwan
Edomae omakase sushi sets the frame for the work at Qi 27 (Sushi 27) in Taipei, Taiwan, where Wei-Jen Chen serves as Executive Chef. ## The Trajectory The Executive Chef role at…
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Weihong Zhang
Sugar Land, Texas, United States
Weihong Zhang is a coffee roaster, brewer and educator who founded BlendIn Coffee Club in Sugar Land, Texas, after leaving a career in biochemistry. He develops the company's…
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Winemaker
Wenceslao Gil Durantez
Morales de Toro, Spain
Wenceslao Gil Durantez’s work sits between vine management and oenology, with Bodega Vega Sauco S.L. in Morales de Toro as the clearest expression of that discipline. Trained in…
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Chef
Weng Han Wong
London, United Kingdom
His public career is compact, but the record is clear: discipline, repeat performance, and a defined working method have shaped Weng Han Wong’s kitchen identity. From Kuala Lumpur…
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Winemaker
Werner Stucky
Magadino, Switzerland
Temenos is a named wine from Cantine Stucky Hügin Sagl in Magadino that received 93 Falstaff points. His work is also associated with other named wines from the same producer,…
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Winemaker
Werner Zirnsack
Sierndorf An Der March, Austria
Werner Zirnsack is the winemaker of Bioweingut Zirnsack in Sierndorf an der March, Austria. His work is tied to a certified organic estate shaped by the wild and romantic March…
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Winemaker
Wilfrid Franc de Ferriere
Pessac Sur Dordogne, France
Wilfrid Franc de Ferriere works the vineyard at Château Carbonneau in Pessac-sur-Dordogne, France, where the estate sets the pace as much as it sets the address. In 1992, he and…
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Winemaker
Wilhelm Kritzinger
Koelenhof, South Africa
Wilhelm Kritzinger works Pinotage from the cellar outward, treating the grape as a variety that asks for patience, precision and close control at each stage. His first training…
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Will Mester
Baltimore, Maryland, United States
His cooking runs through compact Baltimore kitchens, where restraint does the work of ornament and a plate has to land cleanly. At Grand Cru, Will Mester worked in that register:…
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Chef
Will Meyrick
Canggu, Indonesia
For Will Meyrick, the working base sits between art-school training, London kitchen discipline, and the study of Southeast Asian recipes through travel and street-food practice.…
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Willem-Jan Hendriks
Amsterdam, Netherlands
## At a Glance - Role: owner and host. - Additional title: director. - Kitchen note: vegetable-focused cooking from their own garden. Vegetable-led cooking is the center of…
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Chef
William Bernet
Paris, France
## The Path Traditional French butchery set the terms of William Bernet’s training early: precision, respect for the product, and repetition until technique becomes instinct. At…
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Winemaker
William De Courten
Châteauneuf-du-Pape, France
William De Courten works as the independent winemaker at Domaine du Calcernier in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, where the job is built on pacing, judgment, and consistency rather than…
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Chef
William Dissen
Asheville, North Carolina, United States
William Dissen is the chef and owner of The Market Place in Asheville, North Carolina, and a restaurateur, author, and culinary diplomat. The work reads as practice shaped by…
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William Kresky
Washington DC, Washington DC, United States
## Coming Up French technique and brigade discipline are the spine of William Kresky’s early kitchen work. Ryerson University gave the formal base; Richmond Station in Toronto,…
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Chef
William Leaman
Seattle, Washington, United States
William Leaman is chef and owner of Bakery Nouveau in Seattle, Washington, and the bakery has become the clearest expression of his standards in practice: steady production, tight…
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Chef
William Werner
San Francisco, California, United States
William Werner was chef and founder of Craftsman and Wolves in San Francisco, a name that came to stand for a particular kind of modern pastry work: technically exacting, quietly…
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Chef
William Wright
Houston, Texas, United States
## The Climb Executive Chef at Helen Greek Food and Wine in Houston, William Wright has worked a kitchen line where Greek recipes meet locally sourced produce. The result is a…
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Chef
Willie Orellana
Málaga, Spain
## The Climb Training at Escuela de Hostelería La Cónsula gave Willie Orellana his base in the trade. The work later settled into Málaga at Uvedoble Taberna, where he has held the…
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Winemaker
Willy Cretegny
Satigny, Switzerland
Willy Cretegny has been the founder and winegrower of Domaine de la Devinière in Satigny, Switzerland since 1990. The work is defined by continuity: one estate, one year of…
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Winemaker
Willy Pérez
El Puerto de Santa María, Spain
Willy Perez works as an oenologist and winemaker at Bodegas Luis Pérez in Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz, Spain, where the emphasis is on measured decisions and long horizons rather…
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Chef
Wilson Alonzo
Halachó, Mexico
Wilson Alonzo’s public profile is short, but it still shows the shape of a working chef: a current post, a narrow public record, and recognition tied to Yucatán. The facts on…
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Chef
Winston Fong
Lizard Island, Australia
## The Climb Training at Ultimo TAFE gave Winston Fong the technical base that later showed up in the way his kitchens were run: disciplined, adaptable, and built for service at…
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Wong Ai Tin
Singapore, Singapore
Wong Ai Tin is the chef of Sungei Road Laksa in Singapore, and the work is defined by a narrow remit: one cook, one stall, one dish. In a trade where careers are often measured by…
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Chef
Wong Liang Tai
Singapore, Singapore
Chef-owner of Ah Tai Hainanese Chicken Rice in Singapore is the title that carries Wong Liang Tai’s work. Since April 2012, when he opened the stall at Maxwell Food Centre, that…
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Chef
Woon Tek Seng
Singapore, Singapore
Woon Tek Seng is the owner of Killiney Kopitiam in Singapore, and kaya toast is the name most closely tied to his public culinary identity. In a food culture where breakfast…
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Chef
Wouter Keersmaekers
Boechout, Belgium
## Coming Up Hotelschool Coloma gave Wouter Keersmaekers the first formal structure of the trade: discipline, repetition, and the standards that hold a kitchen together. The years…
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Chef
Wu Pao Chun
Taipei, Taiwan
Bread entered the work as a practical trade before it became public identity. Born into a family of eight, Wu Pao Chun took up bread baking right out of high school as a skill…
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Chef
Xaris Xygkakis
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
“I believe in strong convictions. No one can be forced to do anything – people will only follow, and I will follow them, as long as there are good reasons.” With Xaris Xygkakis,…
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Winemaker
Xavier Ausàs
Madrid, Spain
Since 2015, Xavier Aus has been consultant and owner of Ausàs Bodega y Viñedos, a dual role that sits squarely in the working realities of winery management and style decisions.…
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Winemaker
Xavier Braujou
Aniane, France
## The Climb Wine work here is built on field discipline, and Xavier Braujou’s route into it ran through the practical end of the trade. Training in Alsace gave him a technical…
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Winemaker
Xavier Gonet-Médeville
Bisseuil, France
Xavier Gonet-Médeville is Winemaker — Champagne Gonet-Médeville (Bisseuil, France). ## Coming Up Since 2000, winemaking at Champagne Gonet-Médeville has been shaped by Xavier…
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Winemaker
Xavier Jean
Saint-Émilion, France
## Career Xavier Jean has owned Château Couvent des Jacobins in Saint-Émilion, France, since 2012. That long-running ownership places the estate at the center of his work and…
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Owner & Head Sommelier, Double T Dining
Y.S. Oh
Gangneung, South Korea
Y.S. Oh is the owner and head sommelier of Double T Dining in Gangneung, South Korea. A self-taught sommelier, Oh built and runs the restaurant's wine program, currently about 402…
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Yamada Kosuke
Tokyo, Japan
## The Path At Tamahide Restaurant, Yamada Kosuke works as chef and as the eighth-generation owner of Tamahide, and that lineage is part of the craft itself. In Tokyo, where speed…
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Chef
Yamada Yuji
Kaga Shi, Japan
Yamada Yuji is Executive Chef at Horin / 方林 Restaurant in Kaga Shi, Japan. The work is measured against Kaga rather than against a broad idea of Japanese cuisine: seasonality,…
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Winemaker
Yann Chave
Mercurol, France
He had been an economist with a bank in Paris, then chose to make wine from the grapes his father was sending to the Tain co-op. It was a pivot that traded spreadsheets for soil,…
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Chef
Yann Couvreur
Paris, France
## Coming Up Pastry training at Tecomah provided the base before hotel and restaurant service shaped the production discipline. Yann Couvreur worked as chef at Les Trois Marches…
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Chef
Yann Ghazal
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
## The Path A kitchen career like Yann Ghazal’s is built in the lower-pressure work that nobody sees: commis service, station discipline, and the repetition that teaches timing…
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Winemaker
Yannick Amirault
Bourgueil, France
## Coming Up Since 1977, Yannick Amirault has been the vigneron behind Domaine Amirault / Domaine Yannick Amirault in Bourgueil, France, building an estate identity through…
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Winemaker
Yannick Reyrel
Saillans, France
## Where They Are Now At Château de Carles, the work is one of daily calibration: setting pace, reading the house, and keeping decisions aligned with the estate’s character.…
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Chef
Yaroslav Artyuk
Kyiv, Ukraine
His specialty is Modern Ukrainian cuisine, with a brief set of terms that matter in the trade: refine the traditional, keep the structure intact, and do not loosen the roots. In…
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Chef
Yasutaka Ishibashi
Fukuoka, Japan
## Coming Up At Ippongi Ishibashi, the work is defined by concentration rather than range. Yasutaka Ishibashi’s public career is tied to one kitchen in Hirao, Chuo Ward, Fukuoka…
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Yehi Zino
Ashdod, Israel
## Coming Up Since 2009, Yehi Zino has been co-founder, owner, and Executive Chef of Pescado. In that span, the role has signaled more than management: it has defined a kitchen…
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Chef
Yen Ngo
New York City, New York, United States
In the East Village, regional Vietnamese cooking can be built from a few exacting moves: steam to set batter, tapioca to hold shape, shrimp and scallion for lift, mint and lime…
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Chef
Yeung Koon Yat
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
His career is tied to Forum Restaurant, where Yeung Koon Yat held a founding role and served as chef. The link between chef and restaurant has been long and exact: one kitchen,…
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Chef
Yew Eng Tong
Singapore, Singapore
## The Climb Opening a restaurant sets a different kind of standard for a chef: service structure, pace, timing, and consistency have to be built while the room is still taking…
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Yohei Yamamoto
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Yohei Yamamoto’s position at Wagyu Mafia in Hong Kong sits inside a kitchen defined by pressure, precision, and a high public profile. The work there is less about volume than…
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Chef
Yoji Masuda
Tokyo, Japan
In 2024, Sushi Masuda in Vancouver, Canada, earned one MICHELIN Guide Vancouver star for sushi, a recognition that put Yoji Masuda’s measured, disciplined cooking into view. ##…
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Yoko Hasegawa
New York City, New York, United States
Yoko Hasegawa’s profile is built around a single room of work rather than a wide spread of public posts. At Sushi Kaito in New York City, the measure is the craft itself:…
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Winemaker
Yolanda García Viadero
San Vicente de la Sonsierra, Spain
Yolanda García Viadero is winemaker at Explotaciones Valduero in Gumiel de Mercado, Burgos, Spain, where she also carries Technical Director and Advisor responsibilities at…
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Chef
Yoon Tae Kyun
Seoul, South Korea
Material selection is the first technical act in this Seoul kitchen. In Yoon Tae Kyun’s work at Le Café Louis Vuitton in Seoul, the weekly market visit, the cut, the trim, and the…
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Chef
Yoshi Okai
Austin, Texas, United States
Food & Wine named Yoshi Okai a Best New Chef in 2017, following years of work in kitchens where timing and technique carry equal weight with flavor. The recognition did not mark a…
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Chef
Yoshiaki Nagasawa
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
The identity is precise and spare: a chef, a restaurant, and a specialty presented without extra claims. ## FAQ **What is Yoshiaki Nagasawa known for?** He is Known for tempura.…
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Chef
Yoshiaki Takazawa
Tokyo, Japan
## Coming Up French culinary school and a Michelin star sit in the record, but the more useful signal is the method: Yoshiaki Takazawa has built a career on precision first, then…
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Chef
Yoshihito Suzue
Kyoto, Japan
## The Path Since 2016, the chef’s role at Shunseki Suzue (旬席 鈴江) in Kyoto has been tied to a dining room where name, room, and service are part of the same working frame.…
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Yoshiji Otsuka
Tokyo, Japan
Steak is the defining specialty of Yoshiji Otsuka, and the work reads from that center outward. In a trade that often rewards novelty, the discipline here is narrower: heat,…
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Yoshikazu Kondo
Los Angeles, California, United States
He hails from Tokyo. ## The Climb Yoshikazu Kondo’s early kitchen work was built through head chef posts at b.o.s. and at Chaya Venice, Los Angeles, California, United States.…
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Yoshimasa Aoki
Mexico City, Mexico
## The Climb Today, Yoshimasa Aoki stands at the helm of Sushi Kyo, where the title of head chef is less a line on a résumé than the living center of his daily work. It is a role…
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Yoshio Kuriyama
Tokyo, Japan
Yoshio Kuriyama’s cooking is built on restraint: the plate lands with little excess, and each element reads as placed, not added. At Biodinamico in Tokyo, Italian cuisine is the…
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Chef
Yoshiro Narisawa
Tokyo, Japan
It means expressing the wisdom of life and food culture that arise from places where people and nature interact – not only in Japan but also around the world – through cooking.…
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Yoshiteru Maekawa
Kanazawa, Japan
## The Climb Yakitori rewards control: fire management, timing, repetition, and the discipline to keep the work clean. Yoshiteru Maekawa’s profile is built around those demands,…
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Chef
Yoshiyuki Araki
Sapporo, Japan
## The Path Yoshiyuki Araki’s work is defined by a single discipline: tempura, practiced at Tempura Araki in Sapporo, Japan. In that setting, the craft depends on control rather…
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Yoshiyuki Maruyama
Santa Clara, California, United States
The line through Yoshiyuki Maruyama’s work is built on broth, charcoal, and restraint. Santa Clara marks the ramen side of the practice; Iroriya marks the fire side, where…
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Yoshiyuki Ono
Tokyo, Japan
The work reads as restraint made visible: a current kitchen in Tokyo, an ingredient-led register, and a discipline that avoids ornament. Yoshiyuki Ono’s profile is defined less by…
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Chef
Yotaka Martin
Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Food & Wine named Yotaka Martin a Best New Chef in 2025, recognition tied to the cooking she leads as chef and owner of Lom Wong in Phoenix. The honor lands on food with a clear…
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Chef
Youji Iwakura
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Former Executive Chef at Oishii Boston, Youji Iwakura was born in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. His own line—“My name is Youji Iwakura, and my first love was music.”—sets…
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Chef
Younghoon Lee
Lyon, France
The Michelin Guide awarded one star to Le Passe Temps in Lyon, France, in 2016 for work built on French-Korean cuisine: French cooking with subtle Korean touches, shaped by…
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Youra Kim
Copenhagen, Denmark
Her own line sets the tone: “It’s like inviting people into my own home.” For Youra Kim, that places the work squarely in the register of hospitality: intimate, measured, and…
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