The People · Page 49
The artisans of taste.
Chef
Ben Champkin
Weymouth, United Kingdom
## Coming Up The work at The Botanical Rooms, The Newt in Somerset (2020–2023) sharpened the disciplined style associated with Ben Champkin. Head chef there, he built a reputation…
View →
Winemaker
Borja Eguizábal
Logroño, Spain
## The Climb Leadership and strategy start to matter early in wine when the work depends on continuity as much as output. At Pontifical University of Comillas, Borja Eguiz built…
View →
Chef
Brent Savage
Sydney, Australia
Good Food Guide Chef of the Year in 2005 marks a Modern Australian fine-dining practice built on precision, local and native ingredients, and controlled intensity; Brent Savage is…
View →
Chef
Chris Jung
Chicago, Illinois, United States
## Coming Up The line from classroom to line cook is clear in Chris Jung’s resume: University of Pittsburgh, then BlackSalt in Washington, D.C. Each step added another set of…
View →
James Beard Award winner
Cleophus Hethington
Miami, Florida, United States
Formation, not arrival, shapes Cleophus Hethington’s path. The American chef has since carried that lineage through African diaspora foodways, keeping Senegalese-inspired lamb…
View →
Chef
Daniel Puskas
Stanmore, Australia
Formation in fine dining often moves through discipline before authorship: the apprentice bench, the senior station, the small room where every choice is exposed, then a dining…
View →
Chef
Diane Moua
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Born and raised in Wisconsin, Diane Moua came up inside a Hmong community in central Wisconsin, and that background sits under the work: the flavors, rituals, and memory of home…
View →
Chef
Erling Wu-Bower
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Formation, for Erling Wu-Bower, begins as family lineage: the son of a Chinese immigrant and a Louisiana native became chef-partner at Maxwells Trading in Chicago in 2025. His…
View →
Chef
Greg Lutes
San Francisco, California, United States
## Today At Kendall College, then in the kitchens at Daniel in New York City and Everest in Chicago, Greg Lutes built the technical base that later carried into his own work. The…
View →
Chef
Kim Alter
San Francisco, California, United States
In Hayes Valley, San Francisco, Nightbird is built around pace, sequence, and control, with Kim Alter’s cooking giving the prix fixe tasting menu its shape. The room reads as…
View →
Chef
Mathias Dahlgren
Stockholm, Sweden
Associate professor at Umeå University School of Restaurant and Culinary Arts in Umeå since 2008, Mathias Dahlgren has worked across kitchen and classroom without treating them as…
View →
Chef
Neal Harden
New York City, New York, United States
## Coming Up Neal Harden describes the work from two fixed points: “The muse is really the Union Square Greenmarket.” and “I always think of things in terms of color.” Read…
View →
Chef
Yuki Motokura
Tokyo, Japan
Yuki Motokura, the chef at Pizza Marumo in Tokyo, comes from Saitama Prefecture, Japan, and talks about pizza in the terms of an exacting trade: one disc of dough can hold more…
View →
Chef
Zak Stern
Miami, Florida, United States
## Coming Up Europe apprenticeship gave Zak Stern a working base in breadmaking: the kind of early training that prioritizes repetition, standards, and line discipline over…
View →
Chef
Alex Garcia
Los Angeles, California, United States
Alex Garcia has been chef and co-founder of Evil Cooks in Los Angeles, a position that sits at the center of work shaped by formal study, restaurant movement, and media-facing…
View →Winemaker
Andy Strehn
Deutschkreutz, Austria
## The Climb Cellar work at Weingut Strehn in Deutschkreutz, Austria, has been Andy Strehn’s line of progression from the outset: he worked there first as winemaker, then moved…
View →
Winemaker
Antoine Paillard
Bouzy, France
## Coming Up At Pierre Paillard in Bouzy, Champagne, France, Antoine Paillard works in the overlap between vineyard rhythm and cellar discipline. Since 2016, as co-manager and…
View →
Winemaker
Birgit Braunstein
Purbach, Austria
Birgit Braunstein has owned and made the wines at Weingut Birgit Braunstein in Purbach am Neusiedlersee, Austria, since 1995. The work is site-led first: each parcel is treated as…
View →
Chef
Dharshan Munidasa
Colombo, Sri Lanka
He has made that non-culinary education part of the record, saying: “I never attended culinary school.” The point is not biographical flourish. It explains a career built outside…
View →
Chef
Elvia Garcia
Los Angeles, California, United States
Elvia Garcia’s work at Evil Cooks is built on kitchen repetition, pressure, and practice. The line she gives for that training — “Our skills come from working in the kitchens.” —…
View →
Winemaker
Emmanuel Lassaigne
Montgueux, France
Emmanuel Lassaigne is a French winemaker who took over the family estate Champagne Jacques Lassaigne in Montgueux, Aube, Champagne in 1999 from his father Jacques, after leaving a…
View →
Chef
Erick Williams
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Erick Williams has made Virtue Restaurant & Bar in Chicago the center of his public work since 2018. The restaurant sits at the meeting point of ownership and cooking, and that…
View →
Winemaker
Felix Prinz zu Salm-Salm
Wallhausen, Germany
Felix Prinz zu Salm-Salm leads Weingut Prinz Salm in Wallhausen, Germany, with the vineyard setting the pace and Riesling setting the standard. The work is measured rather than…
View →
Chef
Gabriela Cámara
Mexico City, Mexico
## The Ascent Restaurant work grounded in Mexican seafood depends on sourcing, restraint, and a room built for repetition rather than novelty. Gabriela Cámara studied at…
View →
Winemaker
Gernot Kollmann
Enkirch, Germany
Slate, Riesling, and the steep grammar of the Mosel define Gernot Kollmann’s work in Enkirch, Germany. Since 2009, he has been Sole Winemaker and operator at Weingut…
View →
Chef
Henrik Yde Andersen
Copenhagen, Denmark
He is also co-founder and consulting chef of Sra Bua by Kiin Kiin in Bangkok, Thailand. ## The Path Time in Thailand, working as chef in restaurants there, gave Henrik Yde…
View →
Winemaker
Ingrid Groiss
Breitenwaida, Austria
In Breitenwaida, Austria, the work is framed by a simple rule: wine stays close to the earth, close to the hand, close to the place that made it. Ingrid Groiss states the point…
View →
Chef
Jack Chan
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
## The Climb In Hong Kong, kitchen reputation is built on pace, precision, and the ability to hold both under pressure. Jack Chan’s rise through that environment was defined by…
View →
Chef
Jake Howell
Nashville, Tennessee, United States
## The Climb At Peninsula, Jake Howell holds the dual title of chef and partner, and the work behind it reads as a tight, deliberate line rather than a loud arrival. The…
View →
World's 50 Best
Kumar Sangakkara
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Kumar Sangakkara’s hospitality identity is unusually cleanly drawn: co-founder of Ministry of Crab in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The title is exact, the place is exact, and together they…
View →
Winemaker
Leo Hillinger
Jois, Austria
Leo Hillinger is the winegrower at Weingut Leo Hillinger in Jois, Austria, a role that places him at the center of a family business carried by continuity, practical instinct, and…
View →
World's 50 Best
Mahela Jayawardena
Colombo, Sri Lanka
## Coming Up A founding post can do more than mark a date. In 2011, Mahela Jayawardena co-founded Ministry of Crab in Colombo, Sri Lanka, giving the project a fixed city, a fixed…
View →
Chef
Mike Reilly
New York City, New York, United States
## Coming Up Training at Saint Bonaventure University and the Culinary Institute of America gave Mike Reilly a foundation built on precision, consistency, and refinement. Those…
View →
Chef
Obdiel Luna
Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, United States
## Coming Up Training at Casanova gave Obdiel Luna the fundamentals that define a disciplined kitchen career: repetition, rhythm, precision, and the ability to carry service with…
View →
Winemaker
Petra Unger
Furth, Austria
Petra Unger has been the winemaker at Weingut Petra Unger in Furth bei Göttweig since 1999, and the work is tied directly to the estate that carries her name. Family ground has…
View →
Winemaker
Quentin Paillard
Bouzy, France
## Coming Up At Champagne Pierre Paillard in Bouzy, France, the winemaking is built around restraint, vineyard attention, and a clear reading of site. Since 2008, Quentin Paillard…
View →
Winemaker
Robert Keringer
Mönchhof, Austria
Robert Keringer works at Weingut Keringer in Mönchhof, Austria, where red wine sets the register. The cellar language is built around Zweigelt, St. Laurent and Blaufränkisch, and…
View →
Winemaker
Rodolfo Bastida
Haro, Spain
## The Climb Since 1999, Ramón Bilbao in Haro has been shaped by Rodolfo Bastida through a long run of cellar and vineyard work that has favored continuity over noise. As Chief…
View →
Winemaker
Roman Jäger
Weißenkirchen, Austria
## Coming Up Roman Jäger trained at Höhere Bundeslehranstalt Klosterneuburg, and that schooling supplied the technical base for his work at Weingut Jäger in Weißenkirchen in der…
View →
Chef
Saúl Sanz
Madrid, Spain
Saúl Sanz works as owner-cook of TreZe, and that role is the clearest frame for his practice. In a field that often rewards volume over control, his cooking reads as measured,…
View →
Chef
Stephan Pantel
Kyoto, Japan
Stephan Pantel’s cooking is built on French country technique, then sharpened by years of service in Kyoto, Japan. The line from Nice to Kyoto gives the work its shape: familiar…
View →Winemaker
Thomas Huber
Vienna, Austria
## Coming Up State-certified mountain and skiing guide has been Thomas Huber’s credential since 1992, and the title fits the same qualities his winemaking asks for: reading…
View →
Winemaker
Wolfgang Hamm
Klosterneuburg, Austria
## Coming Up Since 2020, Wolfgang Hamm has been Winery Director of Stift Klosterneuburg Winery, a role built on cellar discipline, continuity, and the day-to-day care that gives…
View →Chef
Akira Ogiwara
Tokyo, Japan
## The Climb Eel kaiseki is the narrow lane Akira Ogiwara has chosen at **Sangubashi Asaya** in Tokyo, Japan, and the restaurant’s identity is built around that constraint. The…
View →Chef
Gianfranco Massolino
Monforte d'Alba, Italy
## The Climb Restaurant management at Trattoria della Posta in Monforte d'Alba was the first step for Gianfranco Massolino in 1985, and it set the terms of the work that followed.…
View →
Winemaker
Gustavo Rearte
Luján de Cuyo, Argentina
## The Path At Achaval Ferrer in Mendoza, Argentina, the work under Gustavo Rearte starts in the vineyard and stays tied to conditions outside the cellar. Weather, season, and…
View →
Chef
Jamie Musgrave
Adelaide, Australia
His cooking is built from landscape, producer, memory and material: the ingredient is not garnish, but the starting point for the plate. Jamie Musgrave works with a measured eye,…
View →
Chef
Jason Vaughan
Houston, Texas, United States
## Coming Up Career range is the main story in Jason Vaughan’s path: Michael Mina in San Francisco set an early standard for pace and polish, followed by George Morrone in San…
View →
Chef
Juan José Cuevas
San Juan, Puerto Rico
## The Climb Training at the Culinary Institute of America set the base for Juan José Cuevas’s work: formal technique first, then repetition, then command. His early kitchen years…
View →
Chef
Masaki Sugisaki
London, United Kingdom
## The Climb In the kaiseki line, precision is not decorative; it is the work. Masaki Sugisaki learned that early in his career while working in their parents’ traditional kaiseki…
View →
Chef
Nicolas Le Bec
Shanghai, China
His work sits squarely in the grammar of Classic French bistro cooking: butter handled with discipline, timing kept tight, and portions built to feel generous rather than ornate.…
View →
Chef
Paul Farag
Sydney, Australia
Egyptian family cooking in Sydney sits behind Paul Farag’s work, but the craft record was built in kitchens where repetition, pressure, storage, butchery and service discipline…
View →
Chef
Rene van der Weijden
Utrecht, Netherlands
As Executive Chef of Restaurant Hemel & Aarde, the kitchen practice around Rene van der Weijden is built on daily reading rather than fixed formula: the morning’s deliveries, the…
View →Chef
Sara Tabrizi
Istanbul, Turkey
Sara Tabrizi is chef of Aheste Pera in Istanbul, and her CV reads like a study in restaurant-side authorship: a founder-chef role, then a 2024 co-founder post. Those are not…
View →
Chef
Simone Lugoboni
Verona, Italy
"If it doesn't, it's not fresh." ## The Climb Freshness is the first rule in Simone Lugoboni’s kitchen, and everything else is judged against it. That standard shows up early, in…
View →
Chef
Susumu Shimizu
Tokyo, Japan
Executive Chef — DEN KUSHI FLORI in Tokyo — is the role that defines Susumu Shimizu’s current work. In a market where dining concepts often chase pace and novelty, his profile…
View →
Chef
Vikas Khanna
New York City, New York, United States
## Coming Up Training at Manipal Academy of Higher Education and the Culinary Institute of America set the framework for Vikas Khanna before he moved through a sequence of major…
View →
Chef
Adriana Lopez Vermut
London, United Kingdom
## Coming Up At the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Arts & Sciences, Adriana Lopez Vermut built the academic footing that later shaped how she reads food: not just as technique,…
View →
Chef
Alexis Ayala
Mexico City, Mexico
Contemporary Mexican cooking here is measured through corn work, seafood, salsa technique, and service format. In Alexis Ayala’s case, that format has run from a small sidewalk…
View →
Chef
Cedric Bosi
Ludlow, United Kingdom
## Today Pub work at this level starts with tempo and control, and Cedric Bosi learned both in busy London houses. As manager at The Fox and Grapes in Wimbledon, south-west London…
View →
Chef
Dominic Jack
Gullane, United Kingdom
From Gleneagles Hotel and The Kitchin to Castle Terrace in Edinburgh and now The Bonnie Badger in Gullane, Dominic Jack’s path has moved through exacting rooms, seasonal Scottish…
View →
Chef
Florian Lerche
Schwarzenberg, Austria
In that setting, the chef’s role reads less as performance than as maintenance of standards, with the daily discipline of the line doing most of the talking. ## Coming Up Gasthof…
View →
Chef
Ghulum Qureshi
New Delhi, India
Ghulum Qureshi is the Executive Chef of Dum Pukht in New Delhi, and the work attached to that title is Awadhi dum cooking: a style built on patience, perfume, and tight control…
View →Chef
Haruyuki Ogawa
Tokyo, Japan
Haruyuki Ogawa is the Executive Chef and owner-chef of Onarimon Haru in Tokyo, Japan. His work there is built on measured execution: discipline in the kitchen, control over pace,…
View →
Chef
Issam Rhachi
Marrakech, Morocco
# Issam Rhachi The old Medina of Marrakech is a working archive of scent, rhythm, and repetition, and that is the environment that shaped Issam Rhachi’s sense of kitchen craft.…
View →
Chef
Jose Avila
Denver, Colorado, United States
Jose Avila has been chef and owner of La Diabla Pozole y Mezcal in Denver since 2021, building a pozoleria from the discipline of kitchens that valued care over spectacle. Born in…
View →
Chef
Keisuke Kawada
Tokyo, Japan
Since 2023, Keisuke Kawada has been owner-chef of Kappo Kawada in Tokyo, bringing a long, unevenly built practice into a single room. The route into cooking was shaped at home by…
View →
Chef
Laurence Jossel
San Francisco, California, United States
His career reads as accumulation rather than rupture: a sequence of kitchens that gave Laurence Jossel a working method built on seasonality, locality, sustainability, and the…
View →
Chef
Mario Lohninger
Frankfurt on the Main, Germany
There are two constants in the kitchen line: family and indulgence. For Mario Lohninger, chef of Lohninger in Frankfurt on the Main since 2010, that idea reads less like a slogan…
View →
Chef
Melissa Rodriguez
New York City, New York, United States
## The Climb Training at The University of Texas at Austin set the base before Melissa Rodriguez moved into kitchen leadership, first as head chef at Al Coro until 2023 and then,…
View →Chef
Mike
Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, United States
## Coming Up Training at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale in 2006 set the base for Mike’s work: disciplined line cooking, menu execution, and the kind of repetition that still…
View →Founder and Chef, Em Sherif
Mireille Hayek
Beirut, Lebanon
Mireille Hayek is a Lebanese self-taught chef and restaurateur who founded Em Sherif in Beirut in 2011. Named for her son, the flagship translates her family cooking into an…
View →
Chef
Mitsuru Tamura
New York City, New York, United States
Classical sushi, in its purist form, is the working frame for Mitsuru Tamura’s cooking. The register is restraint rather than embellishment: rice handled for clarity, knife work…
View →
Chef
Rasmus Lund Jonasson
Copenhagen, Denmark
Executive Chef at Frank in Copenhagen, Rasmus Lund Jonasson is a Danish chef whose profile is built from self-started work, time in Italy and New York, and a return to the west…
View →Chef
Shotaro Hara
Tokyo, Japan
## Coming Up Kaiseki training at an Osaka restaurant in Osaka and later a Tokyo restaurant in Tokyo gave Shotaro Hara the core habits that still shape Haramasa: control,…
View →
Chef
Simon Horwitz
Paris, France
## The Climb At Ecole Ferrandi, Simon Horwitz picked up the kitchen language that matters most in trade: precision, repetition, and standards that do not bend. That training set…
View →Chef
Taishi Yamashita
Fukuoka, Japan
Taishi Yamashita works the executive-chef line at TTOAHISU in Fukuoka, Japan, where the kitchen is described as French-leaning and the restaurant has held a steady place in…
View →
Chef
Takashi Imai
Tokyo, Japan
The Tabelog Bronze Award in 2026 for Grill Ukai in Tokyo sits alongside Tabelog 100 #81 recognition in 2025 for Yakitori Imai, the Jingumae restaurant Takashi Imai opened in 2006.…
View →Chef
Tatsuya Imoto
Fukuoka, Japan
## The Path Since 2015, the kitchen at Imoto in Fukuoka has been shaped by a chef’s consistency rather than by churn. Tatsuya Imoto has held the post through those years, and the…
View →
Chef
Thomas Nerlich
Taichung, Taiwan
Thomas Nerlich has led HYGGE Brasserie & Bar in Hamburg as Head Chef / Culinary Director since 2021. ## Coming Up The line work behind Thomas Nerlich’s career is mapped through…
View →Chef
Tim Ziegler
Buenos Aires, Argentina
## The Path Formal training in both discipline and discernment sits at the base of Tim Ziegler’s work: Oregon State University and Western Culinary Institute. Those studies read…
View →
Chef
Tom Watts-Jones
Aberthin, United Kingdom
Since 2015, Tom Watts-Jones has held the Head Chef Patron role at Hare & Hounds in Aberthin, a post that keeps kitchen control tied to place, season and the day-to-day discipline…
View →Chef
Travis Brust
Williamsburg, Virginia, United States
## The Work Today Since 2004 at Williamsburg Inn in Williamsburg, United States, the work has been built on classic kitchen discipline and a clear sense of place. Travis Brust’s…
View →
Executive Chef, Em Sherif Group
Yasmina Hayek
Beirut, Lebanon
## The Climb Technique, discipline and formal training sit at the base of Yasmina Hayek’s work. Institut Lyfe (formerly Institut Paul Bocuse) and Milan gave her the framework; the…
View →
Chef
Yia Vang
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Yia Vang’s kitchen work reads as a study in practical lineage: memory handled through repetition, regional reference, and the discipline of service. Since 2024, Vinai in…
View →
Chef
Clinton Mciver
Melbourne, Australia
## Coming Up That training shows up in pacing, structure and detail: a kitchen built on precision, consistency and continual refinement rather than volume. Native Australian…
View →
Chef
Diego Vitagliano
Naples, Italy
Diego Vitagliano works pizza as a local craft in Naples, where dough, fire, and daily habit sit close together. Born in 1985, he has built his career in that pressure field, with…
View →
Chef
Hans Christian
Jakarta, Indonesia
The work is built around local flavors and ingredients, but not as a localism exercise. In Hans Christian’s kitchen, the point is structure: how study, systems, and repetition…
View →Chef
Johan Bjorklund
Beaune, France
## The Climb Bistro de l'Hôtel runs on timing, repetition, and a line that stays calm under pressure; as Executive Chef, Johan Bjorklund is the one responsible for keeping that…
View →
Chef
Joseph Lenn
Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
"I have always loved the Southeast, and growing up in this region inspires a lot of things that I do." In Joseph Lenn, that line reads less like branding than method: the…
View →
Chef
Lorenzo Vecchia
Bologna, Italy
Lorenzo Vecchia’s work is identified first by role: chef of Ahimè in Bologna, Italy. That position is the key fact, because it places his practice inside a specific kitchen, a…
View →
Winemaker
Maria Serpa Pimentel
Lamego, Portugal
Maria Serpa Pimentel has been winemaker at Quinta da Pacheca in Lamego since 2003, working in a Douro Valley shaped by steep slopes, patient seasons, and a long memory of wine as…
View →
Chef
Matheus Ramos
São Paulo, Brazil
## The Path Since 2019, Matheus Ramos has held co-founder, owner, and pizzaiolo roles at QT Pizza Bar, São Paulo, Brazil. That combination points to a maker who is present at both…
View →Chef
Michele Puzio
Providencia, Chile
Executive Chef Michele Puzio leads Allería in Providencia, Chile, the restaurant he founded. The room reads as intentionally compact: the work is centered, not spread thin across…
View →
Chef
Per Thøstesen
Copenhagen, Denmark
Owner and Head Chef at Bistro Boheme in Copenhagen, Denmark, is a role built around recognizable cooking: Traditional French and Danish food, familiar flavours, careful craft, and…
View →
Chef
Simone Lombardi
Puteaux, France
Simone Lombardi is Director of IMperfetto in Puteaux, France, and Owner of IMperfetto Pizzeria Napoletana in Paris, France. The work is built around bespoke pizzas that do more…
View →
Chef
Stephen Gillanders
Chicago, Illinois, United States
"This is really more my style." In Stephen Gillanders’s work, the line functions as a working position: a preference for rooms, tempos, and formats that leave room for range. At…
View →
Chef
Stephen Treadwell
Toronto, Canada
## Coming Up Early on, Stephen Treadwell built his kitchen reputation in two head chef posts that asked for pace, precision, and control at the pass: Auberge du Pommier in Toronto…
View →
Chef
Tonino Cogliano
Puteaux, France
## Coming Up At Pizzaiuoli Napoletani – APN, Tonino Cogliano was trained in the essentials that define Neapolitan pizza: dough, heat, timing, and the discipline to keep all three…
View →
Chef
Tonino Cogliano - Simone Lombardi
Puteaux, France
## The Path At IMperfetto in Puteaux, France, the brief is narrow by design: Executive Chef Tonino Cogliano - Simone Lombardi is identified with Neapolitan pizza, and with the…
View →