The People · Page 74
The artisans of taste.
Chef
Abraham Brandez Mendieta
València, Spain
Executive Chef Abraham Brandez Mendieta leads Gran Azul in València with the kind of steady authority that suggests a career shaped inside a single house, rather than assembled…
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Sommelier
Aviram Turgeman
New York City, New York, United States
Born in Jerusalem, Aviram Turgeman came to the United States in 2001 with restaurant and hospitality already in view, and with a home culture where cooking and wine sat in the…
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Chef
Benoit Witz
La Celle, France
## Today At Hostellerie de l'Abbaye de La Celle and Le Jardin Secret, Lou Calen, Benoit Witz cooks from place outward. The work is tied to season, setting, and the exchange…
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Chef
Brandon Bernal
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
## Coming Up Training at Kapiʻolani Community College gave Brandon Bernal the technical base before the line work started at Hy's Steak House, where he began as a baker. At Hy's…
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Brian Larson
Metairie, Louisiana, United States
His cooking is defined by Creole cuisine and a kind of beautifully low-key precision: a direct style that favors restraint, clarity, and the quiet confidence of a kitchen that…
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Chef
Cheryl Zuppardi Pearce
West Haven, Connecticut, United States
She started making pizzas at the shop when she was 10 years old, entering a New Haven-style apizza tradition built on fresh dough, brick-oven heat, and the slight char that gives…
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Chef
Christian Nedergaard
Copenhagen, Denmark
## Coming Up At Ved Stranden 10, the work is split between the pass and the room: Christian Nedergaard is executive chef, and also restaurateur and co-owner. The same dual role…
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Chef
Christian Page
Los Angeles, California, United States
## The Climb Burger work is a discipline of repetition, and Christian Page’s practice is built on it. The line from seam-butchered beef to ground meat to patty to broiler is one…
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Chef
Cindy Wolf
Baltimore, Maryland, United States
## The Climb Low-country cuisine, filtered through French technique, has been the throughline in Cindy Wolf’s work at Charleston (Baltimore). The cooking is precise rather than…
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Chef
Conor Beach
Macau, Macau
Conor Beach’s work at Grill 58 in Macau is built around the mechanics of heat: dry-aging, fire, charcoal grills, lychee wood and the Josper oven define the room as much as the…
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Daiki Tsukamoto
Bratislava, Slovakia
Daiki Tsukamoto’s work at Irin in Bratislava is defined by a narrow, legible focus: unagi. In kitchen terms, that kind of clarity matters. The chef’s name sits behind the…
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Chef
David Marcano
Madrid, Spain
David Marcano’s formation is read most clearly at Marcano in Madrid, Spain, where he is chef, and at Restaurante Marcano, where he is chef and owner. The line of influence is…
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Deborah Gagnon
Wiscasset, Maine, United States
She pairs restaurant leadership with a public commitment to less plastic waste at the restaurant. ## The Climb Training at Georgian College gave Deborah Gagnon the hospitality…
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Chef
Denis Groison
Paris, France
Paris sets the pace at Le Mazenay, where market cooking is measured against what arrives each morning. Under Denis Groison, the kitchen reads white asparagus, morels, farm eggs,…
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Chef
Dennis Panzeri
Alba, Italy
Dennis Panzeri is chef at La Piola in Alba, Italy, and he also held the title of executive chef there, a role aligned with the restaurant’s quiet seriousness and the disciplined…
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Chef
Eduardo Vuolo
Bucharest, Romania
The cooking reads Romanian Modern cuisine through a continental lens, with the room and menu carrying the expectations of a destination hotel dining culture. ## Coming Up A…
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Chef
Erik Cruz
The Adirondacks, New York, United States
## The Path Artisans Restaurant is the professional home where Erik Cruz’s work is read through the Adirondacks rather than beside them. In Lake Placid, NY, the Executive Chef’s…
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Chef
Fabio Haebel
Hamburg, Germany
## The Honours Recognition lands differently in a room built around fish. At XO Seafoodbar, Pasta Krabbe sits at the center of a menu shaped by freshness, seasonality, and seafood…
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Chef
Federico Rigoletti
Madrid, Spain
Federico Rigoletti’s route to founding Puntarena in Madrid is marked by a few hard pivots: ITAM first, then an intern / employee role at FIAT in Italy, mostly Turin, and then a…
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Chef
Gary Bimonte
New Haven, Connecticut, United States
## Coming Up Restaurant craft is often learned first through proximity to the work: the sink, the heat, the pace, and the daily repetition that keeps service moving. At Frank Pepe…
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Chef
Gianluca Fusto
Milan, Italy
Gianluca Fusto is chef at Fusto Milano in Milan, Italy, where pastry is handled with precision and hospitality in equal measure. His work extends beyond the pass through Gianluca…
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Chef
Greg Vernick
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Greg Vernick’s cooking at Vernick Fish, where he has been Executive Chef Partner in Philadelphia since 2019, is built on restraint and clarity. Boston University and the Culinary…
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Chef
Hitoshi Isojima
Tokyo, Japan
En ENEKO Tokyo, la raíz vasca se mantiene reconocible sin quedar fija. La adaptación trabaja desde Tokyo: producto japonés, sensibilidad estacional japonesa y una atención precisa…
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Chef
Jesse Sandole
Charleston, South Carolina, United States
## The Climb At 167 Raw in Charleston, Jesse Sandole’s cooking is built around a tight set of rules: seafood handled cleanly, oysters given room to speak, and the raw bar treated…
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Chef
John Brescio
New York City, New York, United States
## The Making The work joined continuity to operation: bringing the name back required not nostalgia, but a working shop, an oven, staff, and service. Today, John is owner of…
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Chef
Joshua Dorcak
Ashland, Oregon, United States
## The Climb California Culinary Academy gave Joshua Dorcak the kind of base line many kitchens demand: discipline, repetition, and precision. Dorcak’s own framing is compact:…
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Chef
Lalo Zarcero
Madrid, Spain
Lalo Zarcero’s work in Madrid is built around serviceable, modern dining: clear cooking, a room that reads as warm rather than formal, and a standard that stays intact without…
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Lennard Hoffmann
Hamburg, Germany
The work at Klinker is built on a narrow set of decisions: regional dishes meant for sharing, a menu without starters, and a wine list whose core is biodynamic wines. Lennard…
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Chef
Luca Marin
Florence, Italy
Modern Tuscan cooking at Il Santo Bevitore works from season, produce, and the tavern grammar of Florence. Luca Marin, born in Treviso, brings a northern Veneto reference point…
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Chef
Luigi Ciciriello
Brussels, Belgium
Since 1988, La Truffe Noire in Brussels, Belgium has been shaped by Luigi Ciciriello’s steady hand as chef and owner. The restaurant’s identity has been built around restraint,…
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Chef
Luigi Frascella
Ieper, Belgium
Luigi Frascella cooks at Bacon in Ieper with the sort of control built by time in different service cultures. The throughline is kitchen discipline: work from Capital Club East…
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Chef
Magnus Ek
Stockholm, Sweden
## Coming Up On Oaxen in the Stockholm archipelago, the kitchen sits in direct conversation with its surroundings. For Magnus Ek, that meant working in a place where forest,…
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Chef
Mario Beabraut
Miami, Florida, United States
Mario Beabraut works as Executive Chef at Bourbon Steak in Aventura, Florida, with a background shaped by Florida training, resort-scale service, fine-dining systems, and MINA…
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Mark Andelbradt
Istanbul, Turkey
## The Climb Training at Kendall College gave Mark Andelbradt the base that later held up under the pace of high-output kitchens. The early part of his career moved through rooms…
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Chef
Pablo Sánchez Jiménez
Madrid, Spain
Pablo Sánchez Jiménez cooks at Marmitón Bistró in Madrid, where sustainability and creativity shape a modern Spanish bistro with a clear point of view. The work is built on…
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Chef
Raphaël Régo
Paris, France
## The Making Formal technique came first through École Ferrandi, where Raphaël Régo trained before taking a student job / apprenticeship in cooking at Relais & Châteaux in…
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Chef
Renato Bosco
San Martino Buon Albergo, Italy
His language for the work is spare and exact: “Pizza is my insatiable energy, bread is the simplicity of memories, passion is my best part.” Around that triad, Renato Bosco has…
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Chef
Ron Peskin
Los Angeles, California, United States
From teenage deli work around his uncles’ Linker’s in Sherman Oaks to chef of Brent’s Deli Northridge in Los Angeles, United States, Ron Peskin’s path runs through counters,…
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Chef
Ryan Cole
Cape Town, South Africa
## The Climb Formal training, London service, and a return to Cape Town define the route through the kitchen. At South African Chefs Academy, Ryan Cole picked up the base skills…
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Chef
Sebastian Kunkel
Nuremberg, Germany
The work at Zirbelstube is the anchor here: chef in the kitchen, a Michelin Guide-recognized house, and recipes that carry Sebastian Kunkel’s name. The measure is not flourish but…
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Chef
Taylor Thornhill
Seattle, Washington, United States
## The Path Seattle kitchens, plus a 2009 apprenticeship with butchers in France and Spain, shaped Taylor Thornhill’s early discipline around anatomy, trim, and use. The sequence…
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Chef
Thomas Martin
Hamburg, Germany
Thomas Martin was in place in 1997, and the work since has been tied to Jacob’s Restaurant, Hotel Louis C. Jacob, where the head-chef role connects continuity with Michelin…
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Chef
Virginie Gelaude
Ieper, Belgium
## Coming Up At Bacon, the craft sits on two fronts at once: service and ownership. As co-owner and chef, Virginie Gelaude works inside the room and behind the structure that…
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Yuji Nomura
Taipei, Taiwan
Yuji Nomura is Executive Chef at Sushi Nomura in Taipei, where Edomae sushi omakase is framed with minimal ceremony and maximum attention to the work itself. The counter keeps the…
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Chef
JC Poirier
Vancouver, Canada
JC Poirier works Vancouver’s dining room circuit with a style built on exacting repetition and a clear point of view. At Ask For Luigi, that means the restaurant is run with the…
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Chef
José Kobos Cortés
Madrid, Spain
Chef leading Ebisu by Kobos in Madrid is the working title attached to José Kobos Cortés, but the craft reads more clearly through the format: Japanese cuisine served as omakase,…
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Chef
Lordfer Lalicon
Orlando, Florida, United States
The arc is compact but exacting: kitchen work, partnership, ownership, and then national recognition. Lordfer Lalicon’s path reads like a study in momentum, each step sharpening…
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Chef
Peter Schärer
Zürich, Switzerland
Mérite Culinaire Suisse, 2026, is the clearest public marker of Peter Sch’s work: a recognition earned through consistency, discipline, and long service rather than…
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Bartender / bar director
Renate Spurlock
Orlando, Florida, United States
## Coming Up Today, Renate Spurlock stands at the helm of Kaya in Orlando as the Bar Manager, a role that places her squarely at the center of the room’s rhythm and pace. ## Where…
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Chef
Steve Rhee
Miami, Florida, United States
Chef Steve Rhee has built his career around kitchens where timing, heat, and control have to line up on the plate. That discipline now sits at Kiki on the River in Miami, where…
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Chef
Tony Nguyen
Costa Mesa, California, United States
Tony Nguyen is Executive Chef at ANQI in Costa Mesa, California, with Vietnamese family roots running through a practice shaped by precision and a clear point of view. His work is…
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Chef
Adrián Quetglas
Palma, Spain
Buenos Aires supplies one point of origin; departure supplies another. In the cooking of Adrián Quetglas, place functions as training material rather than biography alone:…
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Chef
Alison Pray
Portland, Maine, United States
## Coming Up At Two Fat Cats, Alison Pray worked as co-owner in a formative stretch that shaped the working habits behind her later bakery life. The job demanded the daily…
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Chef
Arcangelo Dandini
Rome, Italy
## The Climb At L'Arcangelo Dandini holds a role that reads less as a finish line than as a worked-through position: the point where memory, repetition, and accumulated taste are…
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Chef
Burçak Kazdal
Istanbul, Turkey
Burçak Kazdal’s cooking at Apartıman Yeniköy in Istanbul is built around appetite, comfort, and memory rather than display. The work reads as quiet control: dishes meant to be…
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Chef
David McCarthy
London, United Kingdom
## The Climb At Scott's in London, United Kingdom, David McCarthy worked as Executive Chef in a room known for exacting service and controlled execution. The role sits at the…
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Chef
Eric Ivanidis
Ghent, Belgium
Sous-chef at Door73 in Ghent, Belgium until 2025, Eric Ivanidis worked in a contemporary European register where refinement was tied to clarity rather than ornament. The cooking…
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Chef
Fabrice Salvador
Luxembourg, Luxembourg
## Coming Up Training at Troisgros, Roanne, Les Trois Marches, Versailles, and Michel Guérard, Eugénie-les-Bains placed Fabrice Salvador inside kitchens where repetition, timing,…
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Chef
Hannes Reckziegel
Munich, Germany
Hannes Reckziegel has led GRETA OTO Munich as head chef since 2024, and the role marks the current point in a career built through named kitchens, steady progression, and a clear…
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Chef
Helen Graham
London, United Kingdom
## At a Glance Vegetable-led cooking sits at the centre of Helen Graham’s work, with a Middle Eastern influence shaping the way the menu is built and balanced. In her words, the…
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Iñaxio Valverde
San Sebastián, Spain
Iñaxio Valverde works at Bodegón Alejandro in San Sebastián in a register shaped by the city’s daily market rhythm, the control of the plancha, and dishes that rely on exact…
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Chef
Jeff Cruff
South Kingstown, Rhode Island, United States
Executive Chef at Matunuck Oyster Bar in South Kingstown is the working title attached to Jeff Cruff’s seafood practice. The craft is coastal and direct: oysters, clams, mussels,…
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Chef
Jirawut Sapkiree
Bangkok, Thailand
The point of the cooking is continuity, not revision for its own sake: Thai dishes held in classical technique, familiar formats, and tighter execution than the mid-range category…
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Chef
Johann Landersdorfer
Munich, Germany
Johann Landersdorfer is chef-patron of Landersdorfer & Innerhofer in Munich, Germany, a room whose pace still reads like the city around it: measured, lively, and alert to the…
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Josep Nicolau
Barcelona, Spain
His cooking is built on market-sourced ingredients and a philosophy of minimum intervention. The plate is shaped less by embellishment than by exacting timing, a steady hand, and…
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Chef
Joshua Smookler
New York City, New York, United States
## The Path Joshua Smookler’s career was built in kitchens that prize pace, control, and repetition. At Bouley and then Per Se in New York City, he worked inside two rooms known…
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Chef
Leonel Pereira
Faro, Portugal
## Coming Up Classical formation gives contemporary cooking its working grammar: repetition, knife control, sauce logic, station discipline, and the ability to edit before a plate…
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Chef
Luis Aguilar
Tulum, Mexico
Luis Aguilar is the Executive Chef at Nü Tulum, and that role defines the working terms of his cooking: direct, ingredient-led, and attentive to place. In his own words, he sets…
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Chef
Lyle Kaku
Woodinville, Washington, United States
## The Climb Formal training at University of Hawaii at West Hawaii gave Lyle Kaku a base built on discipline and pace, and that structure carried straight into the line. Early…
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Chef
Marco Dandrea
Verona, Italy
Marco Dandrea has been chef and owner of Trattoria al Pompiere in Verona, a position built on regional cooking, technical discipline, and in-house production. The work is clear in…
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Chef
Masako Morishita
Washington DC, Washington DC, United States
## The Path Training at Kobe College gave Masako Morishita a formal base before she moved into a very different discipline: the Washington Redskins cheerleading squad at…
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Maurizio Rossi
Alba, Italy
## The Training This is practical Piedmontese training: a kitchen built around local ingredients, seasonality, and the discipline of preparing traditional and authentic…
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Maxim Vadnais
Montréal, Canada
His work sits in Montréal’s house-restaurant register: measured service, stable pace, and a kitchen style built on consistency rather than noise. At Leméac, where the dining room…
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Chef
Meherwan Irani
Asheville, North Carolina, United States
## The Path Indian street food, in Meherwan Irani’s hands, is treated as a cuisine with range, speed, and a clear point of view. At Chai Pani Asheville, it is not presented as a…
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Chef
Neil Campbell
London, United Kingdom
## The Climb Neil Campbell’s career has been shaped in the pressure of service, where rhythm, precision, and stamina are all tested at once. As Head Chef at ROVI in London…
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Olivier Belzile
Montréal, Canada
Olivier Belzile has led Leméac in Montréal since 2016, working in a French-bistro register where craft is judged by control rather than display: sauces reduced to the right…
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Chef
Sean Feeney
Mérida, Mexico
His work also includes Grovehouse, after study at the University of Virginia. ## The Climb At the University of Virginia, the study came first; from there, Sean Feeney’s career…
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Chef
Tomoharu Shono
San Francisco, California, United States
Tomoharu Shono’s work is built around ramen as a disciplined form, not a trend. As founder of MENSHO TOKYO in San Francisco, he has kept returning to the same demands: depth,…
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Chef
Yasu Okazaki
Montréal, Canada
Yasu Okazaki’s work at Le Filet in Montréal is defined by quiet force and tight control. The kitchen language here is not about display; it is about line, timing, and the kind of…
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Chef
Andrea Mura
Torbole, Italy
Executive Chef at Aqua in Torbole, Andrea Mura works in a register built from repetition, discipline, and incremental gain. The food side of his biography is not framed as…
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Chef
Andrew Pern
York, United Kingdom
## Coming Up Yorkshire is the useful frame for Andrew Pern’s early career: education, service, and progression all sit inside it. Scarborough College and Scarborough Tech (now…
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Chef
Austin Sumrall
Biloxi, Mississippi, United States
The cooking reads as regional by design: Austin Sumrall has said he made a variation of shrimp and grits for the first round, and the dish appears daily and at brunch. ## The…
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Chef
Avishar Barua
Columbus, Ohio, United States
## Coming Up Training at The Ohio State University in 2009 set the baseline, but the real shaping happened on the floor and the line. At Eight on High Street, Avishar Barua moved…
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Chef
Chef Ping
Singapore, Singapore
Chef Ping is the head chef at Bistecca Tuscan Steakhouse, where the tempo of service and the demands of the kitchen are met with steady control. His work is rooted in formal…
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Chef
Corey Costelloe
Sydney, Australia
Corey Costelloe is the Australian chef and owner of 20 Chapel in Sydney, Australia, a position that marks the point where years in disciplined brigade kitchens convert into…
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Eddy Seys
Samnaun, Switzerland
Eddy Seys is Executive Chef at La Miranda Gourmet Stübli in Samnaun, Switzerland, and the work there is built on restraint, precision, and a close reading of season and product.…
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Chef
Fabricio Lemos
Salvador, Brazil
Since 2016, Fabricio Lemos has been chef at Origem in Salvador, Brazil, and the role reads as an accumulation of practice rather than a sudden arrival. The work is rooted in an…
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Chef
Fernando Gonzalez
Riverdale, Maryland, United States
Fernando Gonzalez co-founded 2Fifty Texas BBQ in Riverdale, MD, where the work is measured by smoke, timing, and pit discipline. Texas barbecue is the frame, but his own account…
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Chef
George Dingle
San Francisco, California, United States
## The Climb Training at University College Birmingham gave George Dingle a base before he moved into kitchens where repetition, pressure, and exacting standards were part of the…
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Chef
Jordan Keao
Singapore, Singapore
## The Path Early in his career, Jordan Keao trained under Roy Yamaguchi at Roy Yamaguchi, where Hawaiian cuisine was learned as working language rather than fixed doctrine. He…
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Chef
Lisiane Arouca
Salvador, Brazil
## Coming Up Lisiane Arouca has served as chef confeiteira of Origem since 2016, a position that puts confectionery at the center of the restaurant’s structure rather than at the…
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Chef
Marcia Taha
La Paz, Bolivia
Marcia Taha is head of kitchen at Arami in La Paz, Bolivia, and the work reads as place-based cooking with discipline behind it: food, technique, and landscape are treated as…
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Mario Pappa
Zürich, Switzerland
Mario Pappa is chefmetzger at Williams Butchers Table in Zürich, where the counter functions as a working surface and a place of encounter. The role is not only about cutting…
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Chef
Matthias Speybrouck
Kortrijk, Belgium
## The Climb Technique in this profile is built kitchen by kitchen: Le Lutin Gourmand, Oud Sluis, In de Wulf, then De Vitrine in Ghent, Belgium. For Matthias Speybrouck, each…
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Chef
Mickaël Berthiaud
Leuvenum, Netherlands
## Coming Up A five-star Relais & Châteaux kitchen asks for polish without excess: clean execution, controlled pacing, and a plate language that can carry ceremony without…
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Chef
Mohammad Zeeshan
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Executive Chef of Trèsind Dubai since 2017, Mohammad Zeeshan leads a kitchen focused on Innovative Indian cuisine. His standard is plain and exacting: “Attention to detail,…
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Chef
Nicolas Pasquier
Geneva, Switzerland
## Coming Up The current brief at De la Cigogne is market-led cooking, and Nicolas Pasquier is chef there today. In Geneva, the work starts with what the season allows and what…
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Chef
Nuno Mendez
London, United Kingdom
Nuno Mendes, Executive Chef of Lisboeta in London, works in a line of kitchens where technique is passed station to station, through repetition, pressure and exact timing. His…
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Pod Jessada
Yala, Sri Lanka
Pod Jessada holds a narrow brief at Thaulle Beach Restaurant in Yala: Executive Chef, responsible for a Southeast Asian tasting menu that defines the kitchen’s line of work. The…
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Chef
Santiago Aristizabal
Sydney, Australia
Santiago Aristizabal works the grill from a base of restraint, precision, and heat. At The Cut Bar & Grill in Sydney, that means product is handled seriously, ageing is treated as…
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