The People · Page 2

Chef & Proprietor, The Fat Duck
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
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
Rubano, 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…

CEO and Maître des Lieux, Alajmo Group and Le Calandre
Rubano, Italy
Padua-born Raffaele Alajmo is CEO and maître des lieux of the Alajmo Group, whose heart is Le Calandre. He began alongside his father Erminio in Le Calandre's dining room and wine…

Chef & Co-Proprietor, Cocina Hermanos 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
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…

Beverage Service Professional
New York City, New York, United States
## Coming Up Training with the Court of Master Sommeliers gave Cassandra Felix an early framework for the work: structure, recall, and discipline on the floor. That foundation ran…

Chef and Restaurateur, Daniel
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
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,…
General Manager, Royal Mansour Collection
Marrakech, Morocco
Jean-Claude Messant is General Manager of Royal Mansour Collection. He leads the Moroccan hospitality group anchored by Royal Mansour Marrakech and has overseen its expansion…

Co-head chef
Vienna, Austria
Michael Bauböck works in the Vienna register of Austrian cuisine, where regional products, forgotten ingredients, and the measured pressure between tradition and innovation define…

Chef-Owner, Azurmendi
Larrabetzu, 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
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
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…

Chef
Macau, Macau
Francky Semblat is Chef De Cuisine at The Hong Kong Jockey Club in Hong Kong, a role he has held since 2021. His previous post as Chef De Cuisine at Robuchon au Dôme in Macau…

Executive Chef, Robuchon au Dôme
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…

Founder, Michel Reybier Hospitality; Owner, La Réserve Paris
Paris, France
Michel Reybier is the founder of Michel Reybier Hospitality and owner of La Réserve Paris. His portfolio connects highly personal luxury hotels with wine estates including Château…

Chef, Atrio
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
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
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
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
Chiclana de la Frontera, Spain
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
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
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
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 & Owner, 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…

Executive Chef, Chef Tam's Seasons
Singapore, Singapore
## 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…

Chef Proprietor, Restaurant Sat Bains with Rooms
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,…

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

Owner & Head Chef, DiverXO
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…
Managing Director, Rosewood Hong Kong and K11 ARTUS
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Hugo Montanari is Managing Director of Rosewood Hong Kong and K11 ARTUS. Appointed to lead Rosewood Hong Kong in December 2022, he brought more than two decades of global…

Chef
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Refined Cantonese cooking depends on small tolerances: heat held close, seasoning kept clean, texture brought into focus without excess. At The Legacy House in Hong Kong, China,…

Head Chef, Restaurante 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
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
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,…

Executive Chef
Monte Carlo, Monaco
## The Climb High-level apprenticeship makes repetition useful: station discipline, pressure-tested consistency, and precision that still holds during service. In Dominique Lory’s…

Executive Chef, Claridge's
London, United Kingdom
Executive chef at Claridge's.

Michelin-starred chef
Miami, Florida, United States
Shaun Hergatt’s work is built on apprenticeship, high-pressure kitchens, and long runs at the pass. Across Australia and the United States, his roles have moved from entry-level…

Chef
London, United Kingdom
He started in service work, laying up tables for weddings early on a Saturday morning. That kind of first shift teaches pace, order and anticipation before it teaches anything…

Pastry chef
London, United Kingdom
## The Climb French pastry at Paris gave Thibault Hauchard the base he works from: precision, finish, and control. His training reads in the restraint of the work itself, where…

Managing Director, Claridge's
London, United Kingdom
German-born Thomas Kochs is Managing Director of Claridge's. Maybourne appointed him in April 2025, marking his return to the hotel where he had served as General Manager from…

Founder & Proprietor, The Social Company
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…

Director of Château Cheval Blanc
Sauternes, France
The route runs from Château Reynier to Clos Fourtet, then to Château Cheval Blanc, Château d’Yquem, Cheval des Andes, and his work at Château Marjosse. ## The Climb Estate…

Chef & Owner, Ricard Camarena Restaurant
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…

Chef & Owner, 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…

Chef-Owner, Gaggan
Bangkok, Thailand
In Bangkok’s contemporary dining trade, modern Indian cooking is being worked through tasting-menu structure, theatre, and molecular gastronomy. At Gaggan Anand, Gaggan Anand uses…
Majority Shareholder, Badrutt's Palace Hotel
St. Moritz, Switzerland
Anikó Badrutt is the majority shareholder of Badrutt's Palace Hotel in St. Moritz. Her stewardship represents the continuing Badrutt family ownership of the independent alpine…

Chef
New York City, New York, United States
## The Path The food programme at Superbueno is led by Cyed Adraincem, where the brief asks for more than execution. The work has to sit with the bar, match its register, and hold…

Cocktail Service Professional
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…
Managing Director, Badrutt's Palace Hotel
St. Moritz, Switzerland
Richard Leuenberger is Managing Director of Badrutt's Palace Hotel. He leads the executive operation of the family-owned St. Moritz landmark alongside Hotel Manager Gian Müller…

Chef Executif, ESqUISSE
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
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
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
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
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…

Executive Chef and Owner, WING Restaurant
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 & Co-Owner, KOL Restaurant
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…

Regional Vice President and General Manager, Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok at Chao Phraya River
Bangkok, Thailand
Ostrava-born Lubosh Barta is Regional Vice President and General Manager of Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok at Chao Phraya River. A fourth-generation hotelier, he joined Four Seasons…

Chef & Proprietor, L'Arpège
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,…
Fourth-Generation Family Operator, Hotel Santa Caterina
Amalfi Coast, Italy
Alessandro Camera is a fourth-generation family operator of Hotel Santa Caterina. The hotel's official history identifies him among the family members supporting its daily…
Fourth-Generation Family Operator, Hotel Santa Caterina
Amalfi Coast, Italy
Beatrice Camera is a fourth-generation family operator of Hotel Santa Caterina. The hotel's official history identifies her among the family members supporting its daily direction…
Third-Generation Family Co-Director, Hotel Santa Caterina
Amalfi Coast, Italy
Carmela 'Ninni' Gambardella is a third-generation family operator of Hotel Santa Caterina in Amalfi. She and her sister Giusi direct the hotel's daily activities with the fourth…
Fourth-Generation Family Operator, Hotel Santa Caterina
Amalfi Coast, Italy
Crescenzo Gargano is a fourth-generation family operator of Hotel Santa Caterina. The hotel's official history identifies him among the children supporting Giusi and Ninni…

Chef
Amalfi, Italy
On the Amalfi Coast, Mediterranean cooking starts with a narrow pantry and a clear obligation: olives, tomatoes, coastal fish, oil, herbs, milk, acidity and crunch must read as…
Third-Generation Family Co-Director, Hotel Santa Caterina
Amalfi Coast, Italy
Giuseppina 'Giusi' Gambardella is a third-generation family operator of Hotel Santa Caterina in Amalfi. The official hotel history says she and her sister Ninni direct the…

Chef
Darby, Montana, United States
Jacob Leatherman has been Executive Chef at Triple Creek Ranch in Darby, United States, since 2005, shaping the property’s dining with consistency and control. At a ranch where…

Director, Plénitude / Cheval Blanc Paris
Paris, France
Alexandre Larvoir is the restaurant director and restaurant manager of Plénitude in Paris. At Cheval Blanc Paris, he serves as director of Plénitude, with a brief centered on…

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

Chef, Plénitude / Cheval Blanc Paris
Paris, France
## Coming Up Luxury kitchens are built on repetition, timing, and trust, and Clément Bécherel’s early posts show that kind of progression clearly. At La Vague d’Or – Cheval Blanc…

Wine Director, Plénitude / Cheval Blanc Paris
Paris, France
Wine Director at Cheval Blanc Paris and Plénitude.

Pastry Chef, Cheval Blanc Paris
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…

Head Chef & Co-Owner, Geranium
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…

Co-Founder, General Manager and Wine Director, Geranium
Copenhagen, Denmark
Søren Ledet is Co-Founder, General Manager and Wine Director of Geranium in Copenhagen. He and chef Rasmus Kofoed founded Geranium in 2007, initially working together in the…

Chef
Paris, France
## The Climb Training at Traditional kaiseki restaurant, Sapporo, put Takuya Watanabe inside a discipline built on restraint, precision, and the authority of detail. That base…

Chef & Owner, 8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana
Macau, Macau
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 & Proprietor, Döllerer's Genießerrestaurant
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
Tokyo, Japan
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…

World's 50 Best
Modena, Italy
Lara Gilmore’s work is built around decision-making under pressure, where competing viewpoints are not a problem to solve so much as part of the method. In her own words, the…

Chef Patron, Osteria Francescana
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
Ibiza, 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
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,…

Chef
Ascot, United Kingdom
In Ascot, Berkshire, at Woven by Adam Smith, British produce sets the terms of the cooking. The raw material, the season, and the story carried by each ingredient all matter here,…

Chef
Riviera Maya, Mexico
Executive Chef at Rosewood Mayakoba in Riviera Maya, Mexico since 2022, Edgar Chavez comes into the role with formal training at Cordon Bleu and a long run through resort kitchens…

Chef
Newton in Cartmel, United Kingdom
## Coming Up Lineage in Northern kitchens shows up in the sequence of stations as much as in the final style. Kevin Tickle trained at Kendal College before starting as an…

Head Chef, The Forest Side
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
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
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…
Owner and Managing Director of the Holding Company, Sacher
Vienna, Austria
Alexandra Winkler is an owner of Sacher and Managing Director of its holding company. She and her brother Georg Gürtler inherited Hotel Sacher Wien in 1990, and the family brought…
Owner, Sacher
Vienna, Austria
Georg Gürtler is an owner of Sacher and a member of the family generation now stewarding Hotel Sacher Wien. He and his sister Alexandra inherited the hotel in 1990 and entered the…

Restaurateur / hotelier
New York City, New York, United States
Josh Pickard’s work sits in the register of sustained hospitality: the kind built through repetition, consistency, and a steady hand across multiple rooms. In New York City, that…
CEO and Managing Director, Sacher
Vienna, Austria
Matthias Winkler is CEO of Sacher and, since 2014, a Managing Director of its operating companies. He leads the family-run hotel and culinary business together with the…
Managing Director, Sacher
Vienna, Austria
Michael Mauthner is a Managing Director of Sacher's operating companies. He shares executive responsibility with CEO Matthias Winkler for the family-owned hotel and culinary…
Director of Operations and Partner, Smyth and The Loyalist
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Christopher Gerber is director of operations and partner at Smyth and The Loyalist in Chicago. His service career includes management at Trio, Alinea, NoMI, The Aviary and…

Co-Owner, Co-Founder and Executive Chef, Smyth
Chicago, Illinois, United States
John Shields is co-owner, co-founder and executive chef of Smyth in Chicago. After working at Charlie Trotter's and as an opening sous chef at Alinea, he and Karen Urie Shields…

Executive Chef & Proprietor, Alkimia
Barcelona, 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…

Co-Owner, Co-Founder and Executive Pastry Chef, Smyth
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Karen Urie Shields is co-owner, co-founder and executive pastry chef of Smyth in Chicago. After pastry roles at TRU and Charlie Trotter's, she and John Shields developed their…
Wine Director, Smyth and The Loyalist
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Louis Fabbrini is wine director of Smyth and The Loyalist in Chicago. His international hospitality career includes wine and management roles at Locanda, Carbone Hong Kong,…

Executive Chef, Le Taillevent
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…

Co-Founder, Jigger & Pony Group
Singapore, Singapore
## Coming Up Indonesia is the starting point, but the work here is regional scale: Indra Kantono is the co-founder of Jigger & Pony Group, built inside a cocktail market that has…

Creative Director, Jigger & Pony
Singapore, Singapore
Uno Jang is the Korean creative director of Jigger & Pony Group in Singapore, working from within a house he first helped run on the floor. The through-line is operational rather…