Neha Mishra

Neha Mishra is a self-taught chef whose Dubai restaurant, Kinoya, was named, after just 11 months in business, as the One To Watch as part of MENA’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022.

Indian-born Mishra, who grew up in Dubai, quit her day job as a film producer to focus on her passion for cooking. She started a ramen supper club called A Story of Food in her home, serving over 7000 guests before setting up her own restaurant, Kinoya.

Incredibly, Mishra is entirely self-taught and has never received any culinary training, either formally, or from a mentor of any sort. Instead, she has learned from books and frequent research trips to Japan, educating her own palate.

Mishra obsessively studies the Japanese art of ramen in order to find her own true interpretation of the dish. With regular visits to Japan to immerse herself in the culture of ramen, Mishra is constantly refining and perfecting her own take on the Japanese dish. It allows her to serve food that fits into the UAE’s restaurant scene, while being respectful of the tradition from which it comes.

A self-starter, Mishra has manifested her dream of owning a restaurant that is now lauded internationally. Not afraid to take risks, the chef's dedication, passion and skill has so far paid off. Watch this space.

People

Kamilla Seidler

Danish chef Kamilla Seidler opened her own restaurant, Lola, in Copenhagen in 2019, with a menu of globally influenced dishes based on organic Danish produce. Prior to that, Seidler made her name as head chef at restaurant Gustu in La Paz, Bolivia, taking over from Claus Meyer. There she was named the Best Female Chef by Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants in 2016. Social gastronomy and showcasing Bolivian cuisine was at the heart of the project, and continues to inform her culinary activism today. Seidler has dedicated most of her life to hospitality, as her driving passion. She first began working in restaurants, aged 15, before undergoing formal training at the Copenhagen Hospitality College aged 21. After graduating, she worked at several well-known restaurants such as Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons and Mugaritz.

People

Leonor Espinosa

Leonor Espinosa (full name Espinosa De La Ossa) is a self-taught chef and considered one of the leading culinary talents in the world. In 2022 she was named Best Female Chef in the World by the World's 50 Best Restaurants. Espinosa was born in 1963, in Cartago, Valle del Cauca, Colombia and studied economics and fine arts. Later, she embarked on a successful career in marketing and advertising before leaving it behind to follow her dream of becoming a professional chef. She opened her eponymous restaurant Leo in Bogotá in 2007, and gained international recognition for her use of ingredients sourced only in Colombia. Her cuisine represents Colombian native flavours, combining contemporary art with field research, anthropological insight and immersion in different geographical locations. She is an advocate for the social function of gastronomy and is a crucial figure in the rebirth of Colombian gastronomic culture. Espinosa founded her non-profit Funleo in 2008 with her daughter, Laura Hernández-Espinosa (Leo's chief sommelier). The organisation works to preserve traditional indigenous foodways, systems and ingredients, and disseminates knowledge and skills to support the economic development of local communities.  In 2021, she relocated her restaurant to the exclusive Chapinero district in Bogotá, where she has created an original tasting menu made entirely with local ingredients, with single courses that describe a journey to discover the gastronomic culture of her country.  Other awards to Espinosa's name include Latin America's Best Female Chef, The Basque Culinary World Prize and the Estrella Damm Chefs' Choice Award. 

People

Pim Techamuanvivit

Pim Techamuanvivit is a Thai chef and the owner of Nari, Kamin and Michelin-starred Kin Khao restaurant in San Francisco, as well as executive chef of Michelin-starred Nahm in Bangkok. Born and raised in Bangkok, Techamuanvivit arrived in the kitchen via an early detour into writing, teaching and making award-winning fruit jams. Since then the family-taught chef has been an unstoppable force for good, making it her mission to spread the world about real Thai food in the US. "Pim is now on a mission to liberate her beloved Thai cuisine from the tyranny of peanut sauce," her website reads. Kin Khao was Techamuanvivit's first restaurant project, which she opened in San Francisco in 2014, and earned her first Michelin star in 2015. In 2019 she opened a contemporary Thai sister-restaurant, Nari, in Japantown. In 2018, Techamuanvivit took charge of the kitchen at the one-Michelin-starred Nahm inside Bangkok’s Metropolitan hotel. She now spends her time between her home in San Francisco and Bangkok. In her latest project, Techamuanvivit opened Kamin, a counter-service venture at the Manufactory Food Hall inside the San Francisco International Airport.  Techamuanvivit was also a judge on the Grand Jury at S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2021.  