The People · Page 44
The artisans of taste.
Chef
Shinya Fukumoto
Kobe, Japan
Shinya Fukumoto is known for 今帰仁アグーのロースト at Ca Sento in Kobe, Japan: pork roasted in a vacuum first, then finished over charcoal to bring out strong umami and juicy fat. The…
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World's 50 Best Bars
Aki Wang
Taipei, Taiwan
Aki Wang entered hospitality at 16, working the back-and-forth pace of a coffee bar to help support his family. That start reads less like backstory than training: service…
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Chef
Christian Martena
Bangkok, Thailand
Christian Martena works the line between Italian rootedness and Bangkok service, with the kitchen notes kept plain: Puglia first, then Sensi in Bangkok, and now CLARA. He started…
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Chef
Danny Grant
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Danny Grant’s career in Chicago has been built on control, pacing, and a strong read on form. Now chef and partner at Maple & Ash in Chicago, he works inside new American…
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Chef
Gino Sorbillo
Naples, Italy
Gino Sorbillo works as chef at Gino Sorbillo in Naples, where the Neapolitan pizza tradition is carried under his own name. The craft here is local, specific, and closely bounded:…
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Chef
Hiroshi Ukai
Osaka, Japan
Executive Chef at Kitashinchi Fukutatei in Osaka, Hiroshi Ukai’s public profile is built around one kitchen and one specialty: wagyu steak. That concentration gives the work its…
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Chef
Hokuto Hasegawa
Tokyo, Japan
## Coming Up French technique is the backbone of Hokuto Hasegawa’s cooking, and the discipline of a classic training path shows in the way he works. At GOURMANDISE in Tokyo, that…
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Chef
Jesse Griffiths
Austin, Texas, United States
Before Jesse Griffiths became chef and co-owner of Dai Due in Austin, Texas, his foundation was laid in Denton, where he was born and raised. That early Texas grounding later…
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Matteo de Degola
London, United Kingdom
Matteo de Degola’s cooking at Josephine Bouchon in London, United Kingdom works within Classic French bistro fare, with Lyonnaise traditions setting the register. The kitchen…
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Chef
Rosio Sanchez
Copenhagen, Denmark
## Coming Up Pastry work at wd-50 in New York put Rosio Sanchez inside a kitchen where technique had to hold up under pressure. The pastry cook role there was followed by a move…
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Chef
Scott Bacon
Baltimore, Maryland, United States
His work sits in Baltimore and the Maryland region that shaped it, with Columbia as an early frame of reference: Scott Bacon grew up there in a mixed-race global family. That…
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Chef
David McIntyre
London, United Kingdom
## Coming Up Formal training at the Culinary Institute of America gave David Mclntyre the base that would carry into apprenticeship and consulting work in California. That early…
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Chef
Elliott Grover
London, United Kingdom
London steakhouse cooking depends on purchase, heat, timing, and restraint. At 45 Park Lane, Elliott Grover works in that register through locally sourced ingredients, direct…
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Chef
Jacob Kenedy
London, United Kingdom
## The Climb At Plaquemine Lock in Angel, Islington, London, the work was immediate and operational: chef-patron Jacob Kenedy was learning the pace, pressure, and discipline of a…
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Chef
Jacob Kennedy
London, United Kingdom
The defining fact of Jacob Kennedy’s career is not a scatter of titles, but a single association: a chef identified with one named dining room, after earlier work in the kitchen…
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Chef
Kenichi Fujimoto
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
In Hong Kong at Sushi Fujimoto, Edomae sushi is handled as a craft of fish, cut, sequence, and restraint. As chef-owner, Kenichi Fujimoto turns most insistently to tuna across a…
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Chef
Paul Walsh
London, United Kingdom
## The Path Line work at The Savoy Hotel gave Paul Walsh the kind of early training that matters in a disciplined kitchen: pace, repetition, and standards that do not move.…
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Chef
Ayesha Nurdjaja
New York City, New York, United States
## The Climb Eastern Mediterranean cooking is the frame, but the work at Shuka goes wider than that. Under Ayesha Nurdjaja, the menu leans on seasonal fruits and vegetables, local…
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Chef
Brian Howard
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Brian Howard has run Sparrow + Wolf in Las Vegas since 2017, and the work there reads as the kind of cooking he has long favored: direct, personal, and stripped of excess. A…
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Chef
Carles Gaig
Barcelona, Spain
Carles Gaig works from the overlap of family recipe, restaurant discipline, and professional recognition. At Petit Comitè in Barcelona, Spain, the Catalan line stays active in the…
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Chef
Erchen Chang
London, United Kingdom
Slade School of Fine Art sits at the start of Erchen Chang’s record, and the art-school discipline still shows in the way the work is composed. Fine-art training becomes useful in…
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Chef
Henry Onesemo
Auckland, New Zealand
Henry Onesemo is Executive Chef and co-owner of Tala in Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand, and head chef at Tala in Auckland, New Zealand. The throughline in his work is not a…
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Chef
Jesse Ito
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
In Queen Village, Philadelphia, the work is measured in sequence. At Royal Sushi & Izakaya, a nightly 17-course omakase is served to eight seats, and the room is organized around…
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Chef
Roberto Davanzo
Montepaone Lido, Italy
"It was by pure chance." Roberto Davanzo, co-founder and chef of BOB Alchimia a Spicchi in Montepaone Lido, Italy, speaks of a path that began almost accidentally and became…
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Chef
Salam Daqqaq
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Memory operates here as prep logic: not decoration after service, but the system that organizes family-style Middle Eastern cooking, Palestinian and Levantine flavors, and…
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Chef
Sasà Martucci
Caserta, Italy
## Coming Up At I Masanielli – Sasà Martucci, the work sits in the overlap between pizzaiolo and chef: dough handling, kitchen coordination, and the daily discipline required to…
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Chef
Takenori Noguchi
Macau, Macau
The Tenmasa name is carried here through tempura: batter mixed by eye, oil managed by feel, and ingredients handled with the restraint the form requires. ## Coming Up Tempura…
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Chef
Andy Oliver
London, United Kingdom
## The Path A career that moved between food and media left Andy Oliver with a public voice before the kitchen became the main work. The early credits were varied: member at Rip…
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Chef
Antonio Pappalardo
Rezzato, Italy
## Career - **titolare (owner)** — La Cascina dei Sapori, Rezzato (Brescia), Italy (2007–present) - **Mastro Pizzaiolo** — La Cascina dei Sapori, Rezzato (Brescia), Italy -…
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Chef
Carlos Orta
Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Spain
Carlos Orta is the chef/owner of Villa Más in Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Spain, and the kitchen there is organized around product, timing, and restraint. Fish is bought by Carlos Orta…
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Chef
Carmine Candito
Miami, Florida, United States
“It’s what gives us wings to transform simplicity into excellence.” At O Munaciello in Miami, United States, that line reads less like branding than method. In Carmine Candito’s…
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Chef
Eduardo Ortiz
São Paulo, Brazil
## The Path In a single kitchen, repetition becomes method and method becomes authorship. Eduardo Ortiz built his early practice at Metzi in São Paulo, Brazil, where the daily…
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Chef
Javier Abascal
Seville, Spain
Javier Abascal is chef of Lalola de Javi Abascal in Seville, Spain. The relationship between chef and house is explicit: the restaurant carries his name, and the work is presented…
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Co-Owner, Clover Club
Julie Reiner
New York City, New York, United States
Julie Reiner is a bartender, restaurateur and co-owner of Clover Club in Brooklyn. She also co-founded Leyenda, which opened in 2015 and held its final service on 29 March 2025.
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Chef
Luana Sabino
São Paulo, Brazil
Luana Sabino is chef at Metzi in São Paulo, a role that sits on top of training, service discipline, and a clear line of technique carried from one kitchen to the next. ## The…
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Chef
Mark Dobbie
London, United Kingdom
## The Climb Thai kitchen work set the line for Mark Dobbie’s later output: Nahm in London in 2009, Bo.lan in Bangkok, and Pok Pok. Those rooms inform the way his cooking reads…
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Chef
Massimiliano Prete
Turin, Italy
Chef/pizzaiolo work here is built from dough practice, pastry method, fermentation research and regional topping work. In Massimiliano Prete’s case, that line runs through…
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Chef
Pascal Lombard
Seville, Spain
## The Climb Pascal Lombard’s work is built on long repetition rather than display: the steady accumulation of practice, and the discipline that comes from refining technique over…
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Chef
Pierre Sang
Paris, France
Pierre Sang works at the point where French technique meets Korean flavor, and the interest is in how those two languages hold their shape beside each other. In Pierre Sang in…
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Ryota Yamagai
Niigata, Japan
Ryota Yamagai is Executive Chef at Shintaku in Murakami, Niigata, Japan, where the kitchen is built around locality rather than display. The work starts with the landscape and…
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Chef
Sam Lomas
Bruton, United Kingdom
The cooking is set by West Country seasonality: produce close to hand, weather as a constraint, ripeness as the brief. In Sam Lomas’s work at the restaurant, the fixed menu gives…
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Shinsuke Yamagai
Niigata, Japan
Shinsuke Yamagai runs Shintaku in Murakami, Niigata, as owner-chef, and the restaurant’s identity is now bound to its setting. The kitchen’s work is built around creative Japanese…
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Chef
Valentina Borgogni
Miami, Florida, United States
## The Path Valentina Borgogni is Executive Chef of ‘O Munaciello, where Neapolitan tradition sets the terms for the work: timing, repetition, and respect for process. ## The Work…
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Chef
Valentina Borgogni - Carmine Candito
Miami, Florida, United States
In Miami, flour, time, imported Italian ingredients, and fire set the terms of the work. With 48-hour leavened dough and a wood-fired oven, the method for Authentic Neapolitan…
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Chef
Benjamin Wan
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
"Honestly? It’s the soul, the vibe of COYA; from the food, authentic and contemporary beverages at the bar and the music." In COYA’s Middle East kitchens, the brief is not only…
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Chef
Daniel Castillo
San Juan Capistrano, California, United States
At Heritage Barbecue in San Juan Capistrano, California, Daniel Castillo works from a narrow set of principles: simple seasoning, intentional cooking, and the slow authority of…
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Chef
Hideto Tashiro
Tokyo, Japan
## The Climb Disciplined timing and texture define the cooking at Suzutashiki in Tokyo, where Hideto Tashiro works as chef-owner. The line from Omotesando to Ginza to Nishiazabu…
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Chef
Hugo Ortega
Houston, Texas, United States
His cooking has long made room for range, and that openness sits close to the center of Hugo Ortega’s practice. “Recently, I was introduced to Indian and Pakistani cuisine, and I…
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Chef
Ian Kittichai
Bangkok, Thailand
Chef and founding partner at Issaya Siamese Club in Bangkok, Thailand, Ian Kittichai works in a register shaped by Thai flavor, hotel discipline, international restaurant…
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Chef
Kasper Klitten Byrsing
Humlebæk, Denmark
Kasper Klitten Byrsing has led the kitchen at Restaurant Sletten in Humlebæk, Denmark, since 2017. The role sits on a career built through kitchens where repetition, timing, and…
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World's 50 Best Bars
Max Venning
London, United Kingdom
## Career - **Co-Founder** — Three Sheets Dalston, London (2016–present) - **Co-Founder** — Three Sheets Soho, London ## The Climb The opening of Three Sheets in Dalston in 2016…
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Mitsushiro Okada
Osaka, Japan
Mitsushiro Okada’s cooking at Gessen in Osaka sits in the space between discipline and surprise. The restaurant is defined as Avant-garde Chinese cuisine, and the daily-changing…
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Chef
Norimitsu Nanbara
Tokyo, Japan
Chef-owner Norimitsu Nanbara runs Jumbo Hanare in Tokyo, where the work reads as disciplined yakiniku rather than display. His clearest marker is Noharayaki: Paper-thin A5 sirloin…
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Otto Nijenhuis
Merano, Italy
His cooking stays within the frame of classic dishes, but the standards behind Otto Nijenhuis’s work have never been casual. Early in his career, he moved through kitchens in…
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Chef
Sam Bowser
Kingham, United Kingdom
## The Climb Precision kitchens are where Sam Bowser’s method was formed: rooms where standards are set before service starts and then held through the pass. The early years were…
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Chef
Shinji Ishida
Tokyo, Japan
Shinji Ishida’s cooking at LA BONNE TABLE in Tokyo is anchored in Traditional Japanese cuisine and in a plain, disciplined focus on the main ingredient. The plate is built to read…
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Chef
Taka Sakaeda
New York City, New York, United States
Taka Sakaeda’s name is now attached to a service style at Nami Nori in New York City that reads as controlled, fast, and exact. As Chef/Owner of the restaurant, and formerly…
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Chef
Tim Butler
Bangkok, Thailand
## Coming Up At the Culinary Institute of America, Tim Butler got the kind of base that shows up later as control: timing, structure, and a working vocabulary for pastry. The next…
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Walter Soto
Los Angeles, California, United States
Walter Soto moves through Los Angeles cuisine with a dual identity that feels both grounded and distinctly his own: chef and taco cart proprietor of El Ruso. In a city where food…
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Andrew Garrison
Greenough, Montana, United States
## Coming Up Technique starts with the schoolwork: Andrew Garrison trained at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, where classic culinary discipline set the baseline for later…
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Chef
Brandon Cunningham
Greenough, Montana, United States
## Coming Up Portland kitchens shaped Brandon Cunningham’s early practice at the line, with time at Ned Ludd and Renata building the habits that hold service together: precision,…
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Winemaker
Christian Stahl
Simmershofen, Germany
## At a Glance Christian Stahl’s dining is built with cellar logic: nine courses, paced around his own wines, so the meal reads as a sequence rather than a string of plates. Wine…
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Chef
Darrel Truett
Denver, Colorado, United States
Executive chef at Barolo Grill in Denver, Darrel Truett works in the language of Northern Italian cuisine with a modern, refined hand, drawing on the soulful traditions of…
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Chef
Dustin Valette
Healdsburg, California, United States
## Coming Up Early in his career, Dustin Valette built experience one kitchen at a time, learning speed, pressure, and precision inside high-level hospitality. The sequence…
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Chef
Iván Domínguez
A Coruña, Spain
Iván Domínguez’s work is built around restraint: a kitchen that can run calmly, at reasonable prices, and still hold its seriousness. The line he uses to frame that aim is plain —…
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Jan Bretschneider
Southbourne, United Kingdom
Jan Bretschneider is the chef-owner of Restaurant Roots in Southbourne, Bournemouth. He and Stacey Bretschneider founded and own the intimate tasting-menu restaurant, which opened…
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Chef
Kang Yang
Xiamen, China
Kang Yang came to Xiamen from Jiangsu in 2018, bringing a disciplined approach that found a clear outlet at Xia. ## The Climb Training at Xia gave Kang Yang a working base in…
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Chef
Katy Millard
Portland, Oregon, United States
“I think they’re really beautifully designed.” In that line, Katy Millard is talking as much about construction as about flavor: plates built with structure, balance, and the kind…
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Chef
Kenta Kayama
Hyogo, Japan
Executive chef of Margotto group is the shorthand, but the craft sits in the details: tight control, patience, and a close-read of flavor. Kenta Kayama cooks in a register that…
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Chef
Kristin Butterworth
Laurel Highlands, Pennsylvania, United States
Kristin Butterworth’s work at Lautrec at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington, Pennsylvania, is built on restraint, precision and a controlled sense of play. As Executive…
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Chef
Manuelle Ferraz
Simmershofen, Germany
## Coming Up Brazilian inland cooking shows up in Manuelle Ferraz’s work as a discipline of value: scarcity makes certain ingredients, combinations, and methods matter more. At A…
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Chef
Paul Qui
Miami, Florida, United States
Le Cordon Bleu, Austin, is the clearest verified marker in Paul Qui’s formation, the place that frames the work that followed. The result is a practice shaped by school, then…
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Chef
Raúl Sierra
Granada, Spain
Raúl Sierra is Chef de Cuisine at Atelier Casa de Comidas in Granada, Spain, where the work is built around seasonal produce, periodic menu changes, and tasting menus paced to the…
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Chef
Raz Rahav
Tel Aviv, Israel
Co-owner and head chef Raz Rahav came into wider view through a single, decisive opening: OCD Restaurant in Tel Aviv, which opened in 2016. From there, his name became linked not…
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Chef
Santiago Pedraza
Madrid, Spain
## The Path The founding role defines the line of work here: Santiago Pedraza has led Taberna Pedraza in Madrid since 2014, with the co-founder credit tied to the kitchen as a…
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Stacey Bretschneider
Southbourne, United Kingdom
Stacey Bretschneider is the co-owner of Restaurant Roots in Southbourne, Bournemouth. She and Jan Bretschneider founded and own the intimate tasting-menu restaurant, which opened…
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Chef
Enrique Caballero Baños
Seville, Spain
His cooking starts with sourcing, and for Enrique Caballero Baños that work is part of the recipe, not a separate step. Before a pan heats or a sauce comes together, he is…
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Chef
Francesco Calò
Rome, Italy
## Coming Up Avenida Calò, in the role held since 2024 by Francesco Cal as founder, Managing Director, and patron, is built around the basic trade of keeping standards visible day…
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Winemaker
Franco Allegrini
Fumane, Italy
Franco Allegrini’s work was built on long attention to place: the kind of winemaking that comes from staying with a site, a season, and a set of grapes across decades. Born in…
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Chef
María José San Román
Alicante, Spain
## The Path At GRUPO GOURMET, the work sits at the junction of kitchen discipline and business oversight. As co-owner and Executive Chef, María José San Román holds both the…
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Chef
Raphael Duntoye
Seoul, South Korea
## Coming Up Back-kitchen work teaches sequence before polish: washing pans and pots, taking weekend shifts, and learning how pressure moves through a room before a cook is…
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Chef
Thierry Paludetto
Monte Carlo, Monaco
Thierry Paludetto’s work sits in the executive tier of Monte Carlo dining, where Beefbar operates under close scrutiny and little room for drift. The standard there is built…
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Chef
Yosuke Imada
Tokyo, Japan
Yosuke Imada’s work sits inside one of Tokyo’s most exacting sushi houses, and the measure of that craft is consistency. Born in March 1945, he moved through restaurant service by…
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Chef
Angelo Rumolo
Caggiano, Italy
Angelo Rumolo has worked as chef and pizzaiolo at Le Grotticelle in Caggiano, Italy, since 2018, with a practice shaped by place, memory, and the pace of rural life. His specialty…
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Chef
Cormac McCreary
Bizau, Austria
Head Chef at Sheen Falls is the defining line in Cormac McCreary’s career arc. The Irish chef moved through senior kitchens in London, Ireland, and County Wicklow. ## The Path The…
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Chef
Giovanni Gagliardi
Miami, Florida, United States
His authority sits in a narrow, exacting craft: Traditional Neapolitan pizza, built on direct dough, imported quality ingredients, and a thick, airy crust that makes restraint…
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Cocktail Service Professional
Kate Gerwin
Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
Kate Gerwin, co-founder, owner, and bartender of Happy Accidents in Albuquerque since 2021, came up through the trade as a native of the Bay Area. The work reads as shaped by…
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Chef
Ker Yang Hao
George Town, Malaysia
## The Path Ker Yang Hao’s role as chef-owner of Firewood Restaurant Penang makes ownership part of the craft, not separate from it. In George Town, the restaurant works from a…
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Chef
Luca Pezzetta
Fiumicino, Italy
## Coming Up The work of a pizzaiolo is shaped early by the room, the dough, and the tempo of service. In Fiumicino, Italy, Luca Pezzetta began as cuoco at ristoranti di famiglia,…
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Chef
Manuel Maiorano
Pistoia, Italy
## Career At La Fenice Pizzeria Contemporanea in Pistoia, the role has been continuous and defining: Manuel Maiorano has been chef and co-owner there since 2019, after serving as…
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Chef
Massimo Giovannini
Pietrasanta, Italy
The work at Apogeo in Pietrasanta, Italy, is organized around dough as a technical field: flour selection, timed leavening, controlled handling of raw materials, and a service…
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Matt Alba
Napa, California, United States
His cooking there is built on serious technique in a casual setting: precision without display, comfort without slackness. The food lands as considered and generous, with enough…
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Chef
Matthew Accarrino
San Francisco, California, United States
"I've always loved food and always loved cooking, as far back as I can remember." ## Career Training at the Culinary Institute of America gave Matthew Accarrino the technical base…
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Chef
Maurizio Crescenzo
Córdoba, Spain
## The Climb Place-led cooking at Terra Olea is built less on display than on control: a defined pantry, a tight relationship to season, and enough restraint to keep the product…
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Chef-owner, Macchialina
Michael Pirolo
Miami, Florida, United States
Chef-owner of Macchialina in Miami Beach.
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Chef
Naoyuki Aoyama
Nagoya, Japan
## The Estate Small-restaurant cooking makes scale a working constraint. In Naoyuki Aoyama’s restaurant, the compact address puts technique close to the guest: gesture, finish,…
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Chef
Salvatore Lioniello
Succivo, Italy
Salvatore Lioniello’s work centers on Pizzeria Da Lioniello in Succivo, the address where his pizza is defined in public. There, the idea of pie is carried through a style he…
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Chef
Simone De Gregorio
Caserta, Italy
Simone De Gregorio is Chief Pizzaiolo Manager at La Bolla in Caserta, Italy, where the work is defined by daily control of dough, oven, topping structure, and service rhythm. The…
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Chef
Suthiporn Sungkamee
Los Angeles, California, United States
Suthiporn Sungkamee is the Executive Chef of Jitlada Restaurant in Los Angeles, United States, where the kitchen is built around the layered traditions of Southern Thai cuisine.…
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Tata
Aspen, Colorado, United States
Tata’s story at French Alpine Bistro in Aspen, United States, is one of quiet precision and unmistakable conviction. Originally from Thailand, she has brought with her a direct…
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