The People · Page 81
The artisans of taste.
Chef
Mari Rubio
Barcelona, Spain
## The Climb Pastry work rewards control, and Mari Rubio’s practice is built around it. Johnson & Wales University in North Miami gave her the technical base in 2012, and that…
View →
Chef
Rob Mendoza
Paris, France
## The Path Precision, restraint, and a light hand with flavor are the constants running through Rob Mendoza’s work. At Verjus in Paris, France, he worked as chef in a setting…
View →
Chef
Ryan Hardy
New York City, New York, United States
Chef-ownership in New York rewards a narrow kind of clarity: cooking that can carry appetite, pace, and point of view service after service. In the case of Ryan Hardy, that work…
View →
Chef
Shinya Hayashi
Tokyo, Japan
In Chūō, Tokyo, La Pioche is built around wine as agricultural work rather than cellar ornament. The bottles are read through soil, season, farming choice, cellar decision, and…
View →
Chef
Takao Inazawa
Paris, France
The work attached to Takao Inazawa’s name sits in Japanese-leaning bistro cooking and French-Japanese neo-bistro technique, with Paris as the fixed point. Since 2014, Le Verre…
View →
Chef
Thomas Zacharias
Zürich, Switzerland
Before Thomas Zacharias became chef and founder of The Locavore in 2022, the work had already taken shape in Kerala, India, in his grandmother’s kitchen. That early setting…
View →Chef
Vicky Ratnani
Zürich, Switzerland
Vicky Ratnani is executive chef at Haus Hiltl in Zürich, Switzerland, a post that places a broad, travel-hardened kitchen vocabulary inside one of the city’s most established…
View →
Restaurateur / hotelier
Alex Burch
Nashville, Tennessee, United States
## Coming Up Wine has been the governing craft in Alex Burch’s work from the start, with Bastion (2016–2019) setting the pace. As Wine Director, Alex brought a disciplined,…
View →
Chef
Ali Borer
London, United Kingdom
## Coming Up The kitchen voice sharpened at Smoking Goat in Shoreditch, London, where Ali Borer led the pass as Head Chef from 2017 to 2019. Spicy, affordable, sharing-style food…
View →
Chef
Ana Lobato
Quito, Ecuador
Of Spanish origin and trained at Basque Culinary Center, Ana Lobato’s public record is short on noise and heavy on structure. The line runs from study to authorship, with…
View →
Chef
Ángel De Sousa
Quito, Ecuador
Ángel De Sousa’s work at Clara in Quito has been described in terms of precision and restraint: food that is exact without turning rigid, and dishes that land with clarity, a…
View →
Chef
Anna Köpke
Aerzen, Germany
## Coming Up Technique and hierarchy were built early at Landesberufsschule für Gastronomie, where Anna Köpke trained for service inside a professional kitchen structure. From…
View →
Chef
Ayo Adeyemi
Rijkhoven, Belgium
## The Path A career built in stages shows up first in the kitchen line: Ayo Adeyemi started as a part-time chef at a small fine dining restaurant in Birmingham, where service…
View →
Chef
Bastien Salvatge
Cuq-Toulza, France
Bastien Salvatge’s work sits at the point where classical training meets the less tidy discipline of ownership. Since 2024, he has been chef-owner and co-manager of Cuq en…
View →
Chef
Benjamín Nast
Santiago, Chile
## The Climb Benjamín Nast’s career is mapped through Santiago kitchens, where each move added pressure, repetition, and a wider command of service. At De Patio Restaurante in…
View →
Chef
Bhavin Chhatwani
Raleigh, North Carolina, United States
"I gravitate toward Herons — those experiences stay with me." For Bhavin Chhatwani, food starts with recall: what lingers, what is built with care, and what freshness can do when…
View →
Chef
Brad Wise
San Diego, California, United States
His résumé moves from Executive Chef posts at JRDN and Belmont Park into the buildout of Trust Restaurant Group, with a public standard that is plain enough to quote: “It’s not…
View →
Chef
Charles Guillou
Capbreton, France
## The Climb Kitchen progression is the thread through Charles Guillou’s record: commis de cuisine at L’Absinthe in Paris from 2012, then chef de partie at Mas de Pierre in…
View →
Chef
Charline Mage
Cuq-Toulza, France
Charline Mage has been chef of Cuq en Terrasses in Cuq-Toulza, France since 2024. The role sits at the point where classical training, kitchen discipline, and a sense of place…
View →
Chef
Christof Schernthaner
Kaprun, Austria
Since 2010, Christof Schernthaner has been Executive Chef at FinESSEN in Kaprun, while also serving as Executive Chef at TAUERN SPA Zell am See-Kaprun. The work is grounded in…
View →
Chef
Christophe Mauduit
Jumièges, France
Since 2011, Christophe Mauduit has held the line at Auberge des Ruines in Jumièges, France, shaping a kitchen language built on restraint, precision, and close attention. The work…
View →
Chef
Civan Er
Ettlingen, Germany
Born in Istanbul, Civan Er’s work is shaped by kitchens rather than slogans: discipline, repetition, family memory and the slow building of taste. The movement in his career…
View →
Pastry chef
Cyril Lignac
Paris, France
Cyril Lignac’s work sits between restaurant cooking, pastry, and media, with a career that moves from Aveyron to Paris without breaking from the core discipline of the kitchen.…
View →
Chef
Dahon Huang
Taipei, Taiwan
His public record is compact, but it is legible in the way many kitchen careers are: training, current post, and one dish that points to the line of work. The facts do not ask for…
View →
Chef
Dante Bassi
Salvador, Brazil
In Salvador, Brazil, Manga has been Dante Bassi’s workshop since 2017: a restaurant built around seasonal cooking, local products, bold flavor, visual force, and the measured work…
View →
Chef and Culinary Consultant, Guest Driven Hospitality
David Breeden
Nashville, Tennessee, United States
East Tennessee native David Breeden is a chef and culinary consultant with Guest Driven Hospitality. He spent 13 years leading The French Laundry's kitchen, sustaining three…
View →Chef
David Honeysett
New York City, New York, United States
## The Essentials Kitchen leadership at the New York City restaurant is where David Honeysett’s work shows its shape: steady hands, clear judgment, and the discipline to make…
View →
Chef
Davide del Duca
Rome, Italy
Davide del Del’s work at Osteria Fernanda in Rome, Italy places the kitchen on the side of precision rather than display, where restraint and control carry the plate as much as…
View →
Chef
Dung "Junior" Vo
Nashville, Tennessee, United States
In Nashville, the work centers on compact, deliberate assemblies: yellowtail under Charred Shishito Pepper Salsa; chutoro sharpened by Pickled Wasabi Stems; salmon set with…
View →
Chef
Eduard Ros
Barcelona, Spain
Since 2018, Bisavis in Barcelona has been the working center of Eduard Ros’s practice. The route there ran through law and food writing before settling in the kitchen, and that…
View →
Chef
Eugenio Uribe
Brownsville, Texas, United States
His cooking is rooted in Mexican culture, and the signature burger has become a calling card that travels beyond the dining room. In Eugenio Uribe’s work, heritage is not treated…
View →
Chef
Felipe Salas
Quito, Ecuador
## The Climb At Laboratorio Gastronómico, the work began in chef-driven service discipline, where Felipe Salas built the base of his style in a controlled kitchen rhythm. He then…
View →
Chef
Fernando Bouzan
São Paulo, Brazil
Fernando Bouzan’s work reads as kitchen discipline turned into practice: measured, refined, and built through repetition. At Blaise in São Paulo, Brazil, the cooking carries a…
View →
Chef
Flavia Amad Di Leo
Mendoza, Argentina
Flavia Amad Di Leo moves through kitchens with the quiet authority of someone whose work is built on precision, restraint, and a palate that listens closely to place. Bamboo…
View →
Chef
François Pelletier
La Bussière-sur-Ouche, France
François Pelletier’s cooking record was built through institutions where mise en place, hierarchy, protocol, and product discipline carried as much weight as the finished plate:…
View →
Chef
Frédéric Delormes
Menthon-Saint-Bernard, France
Frédéric Delormes took the Head Chef role at Le Palace de Menthon-Saint-Bernard, France, in 2026, bringing continuity to a house whose identity he had already helped shape from…
View →
Chef
Frédéric Vardon
Paris, France
The line Frédéric Vardon offers is plain and demanding: “My style is Classic French cuisine focusing on regions, local areas and produce.” That is the frame for the work. Classic…
View →
Chef
Giuseppe Pezzella
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
## Coming Up Group Executive Chef work at Chic Nonna in Dubai sits near the top of Giuseppe Pezzella’s record, but the broader line is one of steady kitchen advancement. In Dubai,…
View →
Chef
Gracia Navarro
San Salvador, El Salvador
Gracia Navarro’s cooking at El Xolo in San Salvador works from a defined Salvadoran base: indigenous Criollo corn, ingredients sourced from local communities, and the living…
View →Chef
Hadrien Franchoo
Ixelles, Belgium
Hadrien Franchoo has built his reputation inside one kitchen: Amen in Ixelles, Belgium. As Executive Chef, he shapes the restaurant’s Modern European, farm-to-table cooking with a…
View →
Chef
Hansjörg Ladurner
Lenzerheide, Switzerland
## Coming Up Since 2007, the kitchen at Restaurant Scalottas Terroir in Lenzerheide, Switzerland has been shaped by Hansjörg Ladurner’s long tenure. The work there reads as…
View →
Chef
Hiroyuki Takeshita
Osaka, Japan
The work starts with a narrow but forceful brief: wagyu, charcoal, aging, and a background shaped by cattle and meat. In Hiroyuki Takeshita’s case, those parts are not separate…
View →
Chef
Huibrecht Berends
Antwerp, Belgium
Antwerp’s BÚN Bar & Restaurant works from the pull between Vietnam and the Low Countries: bánh xèo pancakes with Obsiblue prawns and Kempisch pork, pho lifted by aromatics, and…
View →
Chef
Javier Aviles
Santiago, Chile
Javier Aviles is the cook and founder of Pulpería Santa Elvira in Santiago. Born in Antofagasta, he came to the kitchen after studying architecture, bringing with him a way of…
View →
Chef
Jean-Georges Vongerichten
Leogang, Austria
## The Climb Classic French kitchens set the base line for Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s early training: an apprenticeship at Auberge de l'Ill in Alsace, France, then work as chef…
View →
Winemaker
Jean-Marc Boillot
Pommard, France
## The Path At Olivier Leflaive from 1984 to 1988, the work was already about precision under pressure: learning Burgundy’s discipline, reading the region closely, and building…
View →
Chef
Josh Marcus
Surfside, Florida, United States
## Coming Up Josh Marcus is chef-owner of Josh's Deli, and since 2015 he has been running the kitchen of The Bar. “I like being the underdog.” Josh has said. ## Where They Are Now…
View →
Chef
Juan Cabrera
Mexico City, Mexico
Before Juan Cabrera reached the role of Executive Chef and partner at Fonda Fina in Mexico City, the work had already been shaped by classroom study, pastry training, and kitchen…
View →Chef
Juan José Molina
Paris, France
## The Climb Training at Duoc UC gave Juan José Molina the technical base for a career built on discipline, exactitude, and control. The useful part of that foundation is…
View →
Owner
Julio Bermejo
San Francisco, California, United States
Agave is the fixed point in this bar program: the spirit is selected, poured, explained, and served through a house style of hospitality that favors direct exchange over…
View →
Chef
Justin Jennings
Nantes, France
Australian-Asian fusion at Downunder by Justin Jennings in Lisbon is built on a clear supply-and-technique equation: Portuguese produce as the local base, Australian coastal…
View →
Chef
Kafe Bassi
Salvador, Brazil
## Coming Up Early work in hotel and restaurant kitchens can set a standard for the rest of a cook’s practice, and Kafe Bassi’s path moves through Hilton in Munich, Steinheuers…
View →
Chef
Karen Keygnaert
Bruges, Belgium
After 20 years in star-rewarded kitchens, Karen Keygnaert’s move to Bruges reads less like a retreat than a tightening of focus. The work there is about refinement without…
View →
James Beard Award winner
Karim Raoul
New York City, New York, United States
## At a Glance Owner and proprietor Karim Raoul has kept Raoul’s in SoHo, Manhattan, New York City oriented around consistency rather than the city’s hype cycle. The point, as…
View →
Chef
Kate Lasky
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Kate Lasky has been co-owner and co-chef of Apteka in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, since 2016, and the work reads as accumulation rather than interruption. At Apteka, her role has…
View →
Chef
Kayline Johnson
La Louvière, Belgium
Her work links restaurant leadership in Belgium with pastry production in Reno, Nevada, and a signature pink champagne cake finished with a pink chocolate “button.” In Kayline…
View →Chef
Kenichi Yamamoto
Saumur, France
Kenichi Yamamoto spent ten years in Japan before moving to France, bringing one culinary framework into contact with another. That crossing shows up in the cooking: Japanese…
View →Chef
Kentaro Nakayama
Tokyo, Japan
## The Path Apprenticeship in the 1980s and the move to Italy in 1992 as a first-generation ICIF student shaped the basis of Kentaro Nakayama’s work. The training gave him an…
View →
Chef
Koji Takahashi
Goult, France
His career links Provence to a precise Japanese form. In 2020, Koji Takahashi led the kaiseki program at Sushi Ii in Newport Beach, California, United States. The work reads in…
View →
Chef
Kseniia Amber
Kyiv, Ukraine
## The Climb Formal training in the United States and long service in Odessa set the frame for Kseniia Amber’s work. The throughline is kitchen discipline: repeated Head Chef…
View →
Chef
Lam Kok Weng
Singapore, Singapore
## Coming Up Hotel Chinese kitchens are where Lam Kok Weng built his discipline. Starting at Carlton Hotel Singapore from 1989, he learned the pace, repetition, and standards that…
View →
Chef
Laurent Audiot
Paris, France
Laurent Audiot’s path runs from hotel school in Blois to Marius et Janette in Paris, where he served as chef de cuisine and where the restaurant earned one Michelin Guide star in…
View →
Chef
Liew Choy
Singapore, Singapore
Chinese-Singaporean zi char and seafood cooking at Keng Eng Kee Seafood in Singapore is built for immediacy: wok heat, sauce, shared plates, and dishes understood before they are…
View →
Chef
Luis Gaspar
Lisbon, Portugal
## The Path Escola Profissional de Leiria is where the groundwork for Luis Gaspar’s career was set, with training that led into a sequence of kitchen appointments and a steady…
View →
Chef
Luis Ochoa
Monterrey, Mexico
Luis Ochoa is Executive Chef at Holsteins in Monterrey, Mexico, where his cooking gives uncommon clarity to the details that often disappear between butcher’s counter and plate.…
View →
Bocuse d'Or laureate
Marcelo Hisaki
Tecate, Mexico
Marcelo Hisaki has spent more than a decade building Restaurante Amores as a kitchen where technique, memory, and place are worked into the same line. Since 2013, he has been…
View →
Chef
Marcin Sołtys
Kraków, Poland
Marcin Sołtys’s kitchen instincts were shaped first by observation: watching his father at work. That early exposure did the quieter work of apprenticeship — teaching attention,…
View →Chef
Marco Garcia
Tokyo, Japan
## Coming Up Los Tacos Azules in Monterrey, Mexico, was the first long-form test of Marco Garcia’s approach: owner and chef from 2011 to 2018, working the restaurant from the…
View →
Chef
Martin Foo
Singapore, Singapore
## Career Today, Martin Foo holds two posts at Crystal Jade in Singapore: executive chef of Crystal Jade Golden Palace and group executive chef of Crystal Jade Group. The pairing…
View →
Chef
Mathieu Sagardoytho
Chablis, France
## Coming Up Paris kitchens trained Mathieu Sagardoytho in the basics that matter when service is real: pace, repetition, and the ability to hold precision under pressure. As cook…
View →
Chef
Michel Verdu
Bonne, France
Michel Verdu’s cooking is built on proximity: to the market, to the season, and to the people who supply the kitchen. At Hôtel Restaurant BAUD in Annemasse, France, where he is…
View →
Chef
Mikey Adams
Etterbeek, Belgium
## Today In San Francisco, the pace and polish of the dining room sharpened Mikey Adams’s approach. From 2022–2024, he served as Head Chef at The St. Regis San Francisco in San…
View →
Chef
Natalia Cocoma
Bogotá, Colombia
## Coming Up Natalia Cocoma’s training is built on formal study first, then kitchen progression. At the National University of Colombia, the foundation of her technique took shape…
View →
Chef
Nicolas Adamopulos
Angers, France
## The Climb CAP training gave Nicolas Adamopulos the base language of the trade before the work of kitchen service refined it. He began as commis at Hôtel du Crillon in Paris,…
View →
Chef
Nicolas Solanilla Leguizamón
Guatemala City, Guatemala
## The Path Training at Ana gave Nicolas Solanilla Leguizamón the same room that later became his point of reference as a leader. Born in Bogotá, the Colombian chef is now…
View →
Chef
Oliver Röder
Euskirchen, Germany
## The Climb Technique is built early, in repetition and service, and Oliver Röder’s formation follows that pattern. Training at Parkhotel Egerner Hof set the base, then work as…
View →
Chef
Paolo Pollice
Sint-Truiden, Belgium
Before Paolo Pollice took over as Executive Chef at De Stadt van Luijck in Sint-Truiden, Belgium, his route passed through Hof van Cleve, Hertog Jan, and De Kristalijn. The…
View →
Chef
Patrick Charvet
Paris, France
## Coming Up Since 2018, Brasserie Lutetia in Paris has been the place where Patrick Charvet’s executive-chef work is seen most clearly. In a house that asks for pace, repetition,…
View →Chef
Pedro Peña
Buenos Aires, Argentina
## Coming Up Pedro Peña’s timeline at Niño Gordo shows a kitchen built on continuity rather than a single announcement. Since 2017, he has held the post of head chef and co-owner…
View →
Chef
Philippe Le Bigot
Brest, France
His work at Lycée hôtelier de Tregunc and in chef posts in Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy shows a career shaped by repetition, mobility, and the demands of island service. The…
View →
Chef
Pieter-Jan Rombaux
Sint-Kruis, Belgium
Pieter-Jan Rombaux works from Bistro Rombaux in Sint-Kruis, Belgium, a kitchen that carries his name and the expectations that come with it. The record is lean: Ter Groene Poorte…
View →
Chef
Sandro Nardone
Newport Beach, California, United States
Sandro Nardone works in a tight lane: Italian cooking built on ingredient quality and controlled technique, with the result carrying more weight than ornament. That line shows up…
View →
Chef
Satoshi Horiuchi
Paris, France
Chef Satoshi Horiuchi leads Passionné in Paris, where Refined French cuisine is filtered through Japanese finesse. The work is rooted in two culinary registers: a maternal…
View →
Chef
Sebastian Rabe
Muri, Switzerland
Sebastian Rabe held the executive-chef role at Ochsen 1596 in Muri, Switzerland, from 2021 to 2025, a period that placed his work inside one of the region’s closely followed…
View →
Chef
Sébastien Gravé
Paris, France
Chef Sébastien Grav moves through his career with the kind of quiet confidence that comes from knowing exactly where his culinary language belongs. Basque by origin, he did not…
View →
Chef
Sébastien Oger
Rijkhoven, Belgium
Before Sébastien Oger took the chef role at Akko in Rijkhoven in 2020, the line ran through Namur twice: as birthplace, and as the base of his training. That route gives its…
View →
Chef
Sébastien Trincaz
Châtel, France
## The Climb Mountain cooking at Fleur de Neige is practiced as house craft rather than scenery. In Châtel, France, Sébastien Trincaz works as chef from a Savoyard setting, with…
View →
Chef
Sylvain Delaunay
Saint Malo, France
Sylvain Delaunay has been shaping the kitchen at Le Bistrot du Rocher in Saint-Malo since 2013, working from a Breton pantry built on fresh local products and, whenever possible,…
View →
Chef
Sylvain Fernandes
Sainte-Cécile-les-Vignes, France
Sylvain Fernandes is the French chef of Campagne, Vignes et Gourmandises in Sainte-Cécile-les-Vignes, and the work there reads as a kitchen built around place, cadence, and…
View →
Chef
Szulló Szabina
Budapest, Hungary
## The Path A brigade-built career sits behind the kitchen at Stand25 Bisztró. Szulló Szabina’s route through commis chef, demi chef, chef de partie, sous chef, and head chef…
View →
Chef
Terry Chabeaux
Luxembourg, Luxembourg
In Luxembourg, seasonal cooking is a working rule rather than a slogan. At Amélys, Terry Chabeaux has been applying that rule since 2022, where Modern French brasserie cooking is…
View →
Chef
Tom Westerland
Reit im Winkl, Germany
## The Climb Technique and repetition sit at the base of Tom Westerland’s training. At CAVC (Cardiff and Vale College), the work was grounded in the sort of kitchen discipline…
View →
Chef
Tommy Heaney
Kilconquhar, United Kingdom
“I enjoy creating.” The line reads as working shorthand for a kitchen career built on repetition, pace and problem-solving. In Tommy Heaney’s case, it points to a practical habit…
View →
Chef
Tony Luk
Richmond, Canada
Executive Chef at Jade Seafood Restaurant in Richmond, Canada, Tony Luk is a specialist in Chinese seafood. His path to the city began after he was invited to cook for a few years…
View →
Chef
Toshiyuki Yoshida
València, Spain
From the Tokyo address of Hayato to the market-driven tables of Toshi in València, Toshiyuki Yoshida’s arc moves through Chinese cuisine with a cook’s sense of motion: a brine…
View →Chef
Tyler Kineman
Gdańsk, Poland
His path into the kitchen at Tygle was shaped by formal training at the Culinary Institute of Virginia and by the momentum built at Knife & Spoon in Orlando, Florida, United…
View →
Chef
Violet Oon
Singapore, Singapore
## Coming Up Culinary Curator & Chef at Violet Oon Singapore is one of the clearest expressions of Violet Oon’s long work with Nyonya food: not just as cuisine, but as memory,…
View →
Chef
Wudand Swordsma
Singapore, Singapore
The defining public fact is the role itself: a kitchen position tied to a named Chinese dining room, with no need for ornament or résumé inflation. ## The Essentials - Current…
View →
Chef
Xavier Souffront
Arnage, France
Training in the French hotel-school system put technique before personality. Xavier Souffront trained at Lycée Hôtelier Dinard and the École hôtelière de Dinard, France, before…
View →
Chef
Alex Astranti
Dallas, Texas, United States
Alex Astranti’s cooking record sits between formal training, dining-room service, and contemporary Japanese kitchen practice. The foundation includes El Centro College Food &…
View →