100 Best Chefs in the World (and Their Recipes)

100 Best Chefs in the World (and Their Recipes)

By Lissa Poirot, updated on March 22, 2021

Maison Lameloise

We know travel plans are impacted right now. But to fulfill your wanderlust, we'll continue to share stories that can inspire your next adventure.

Every year, Le Chef interviews Michelin three- and two-star chefs from around the world to find out who they believe are the world's top chefs. They rate one another on the exceptional cuisine they create and restaurant experiences they offer, resulting in a list of the 100 best chefs in the world.

It's no surprise that France leads the 2020 list, with not only 30 chefs in the top 100 but six that entered the top 10 — all hailing from the country renowned for its cooking schools. Spain and Japan follow, each with 11 of the best chefs.

Here, we provide a look at the best chefs in the world as well as their restaurants, sample signature dishes and some haute cuisine recipes you can recreate at home.

100: Hajme Yoneda, Japan

Guru Navi

Restaurant: Hajime Restaurant Gastronomique

Where You'll Find Him: Osaka, Japan

Signature Dish: Chikyu (shown), "Planet Earth" in Japanese, includes 110 different ingredients to represent land and sea 

Born in Osaka, Japan, in 1972, Hajme Yoneda actually began his career as an engineer, working to save money to attend Osaka's culinary academy.

Training at restaurants in his home city and Kobe, he earned his first Michelin stars (three of them!) in 2010, helming a French-style restaurant. When he chose to ditch the French cuisine and cook his own style, he lost two Michelin stars. But he persevered and, in 2018, once again received the coveted three stars.

Check out Yoneda's recipes here.

 

99: Joachim Wissler, Germany

Vendome

Restaurant: Vendome

Where You'll Find Him: Cologne, Germany

Sample Dish: Lech Valley Lake trout with horseradish lemon butter (shown) 

Growing up on a farm in the mountains of Bavaria, German-born Joachim Wissler learned early about farm-to-table cuisine.

Wissler began his career at Traube Tonbach in the Black Forest, where he learned to cook on site. He eventually received his first Michelin star as head chef of Reinhartshausen Castle, outside of Frankfurt. 

Moving to Vendome at the Grandhotel Schloss Bensberg in Cologne in 2000, Wissler was awarded a Michelin star his first year, a second star in 2002 and then a third star in 2004. He stills leads the restaurant today.

Check out Wissler's recipes here.

98: Mathieu Viannay, France

The Fork

Restaurant: La Mere Brazier

Where You'll Find Him: Lyon, France

Sample Dish: Pike mousse and lobster with vegetables (shown)

Mathieu Viannay, born in Versailles in 1967, began his cooking career in 1998 at Les Oliviers before being named Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF) in 2004. This title is bestowed upon the best of French chefs, and Viannay bested 199 others for the honor.

That year, he opened his first restaurant, named for himself, and earned his first Michelin star in 2005. Then, he set his sights on La Mere Brazier, a darling of Lyon's gastronomic scene.

La Mere Brazier, which originally opened in 1921, was an iconic French restaurant where the first woman to be awarded three Michelin stars twice paved the way for future chefs. Viannay purchased the restaurant in 2008, restoring it to its heyday, and reopened it to bring back Michelin-star quality cuisine — he's received two stars for his dishes here.

Check out Viannay's recipes here.

97: Yusuke Takada, Japan

50 Best

Restaurant: La Cime

Where You'll Find Him: Osaka, Japan

Signature Dish: Boudin dog (shown), looks like a black rock but is actually a batter-fried hot dog of sorts made with edible bamboo charcoal

Studying at the Tsuji Culinary Institute, Yusuke Takada moved to France to train at Taillevent and Le Meurice before he opened his first restaurant, La Cime.

Born on the island of Amami Oshima in Japan, Takada is inspired by the dishes he grew up with and creates new takes on recipes once prepared by his grandmother.

La Cime, which means "peak" in French, earned the chef his Michelin stars, first awarded in 2011, just a year after he opened, and then two stars again in 2017.

96: Ciccio Sultano, Italy

Great Italian Chefs

Restaurant: Duomo

Where You'll Find Him: Ragusa, Italy

Sample Dish: Pigeon with carrots (shown)

On the island of Sicily, Ciccio Sultano grew up with Italian foods that had Mediterranean and Arabic influences — all of which shaped his passion for food. That love started early enough that he began working in a pastry shop at the age of 13.

By 20, Sultano began working in restaurants and discovered his passion for flavor was a hit around town. To learn more, Sultano went to Germany and New York City to cook in restaurants of foreign countries. He took what he learned back to Sicily in 2000, opening his first restaurant: Duomo.

By 2004, Sultano was awarded with his first Michelin star, and he earned another in 2006. His key to success? Using the freshest ingredients.

Check out Sultano's recipes here.

95: Andreas Senn, Austria

Bora

Restaurant: SENNS.Restaurant

Where You'll Find Him: Gusswerk, Austria

Sample Dish: Steamed red turnip ravioli with sheep’s milk pots, quinoa and cranberries (shown)

Andreas Senn dreamt of opening his own restaurant when he was still a teenager in Austria. Working at local restaurants, Senn began learning the craft, and by his 20s, he spent five years working at Heimatliebe in Kitzbuhel, Austria, which gained him attention and steam.

Trying his luck at his own restaurant, Senn opened a pop-up restaurant in Gusswerk, just outside of Salzburg, under the same name. It did so well that he was ready to open his own place full time.

When Senn opened his first restaurant under his own name in 2014, it took just a few months to earn his first Michelin star. The following year, he did it again, and the restaurant continues to maintain its two-star standing.

Check out Senn's recipes here.

94: Carme Ruscalleda, Spain

Luxury Defined

Restaurant: Cuina Estudi

Where You'll Find Her: Sant Pol de Mar, Spain

Signature Dish: Prawns with saffron, celery and peas (shown)

Living on the Mediterranean shore of Spain, Carme Ruscalleda grew up in a Catalonian family that enjoyed its small-town recipes and foods. Surrounded by farmland and with the fresh catches from the sea, Ruscalleda's Sant Pol de Mar was an ideal community to learn how to cook.

Taking over her family's food store, Ruscalleda and her partner expanded with a deli and by selling items they grew on their farm. The love continued, and in 1988, she opened Sant Pau and began providing home-cooked meals. She began to learn from European chefs and practiced new dishes as the store grew.

Nearly 20 years later, Ruscalleda received three Michelin stars, one of only four women to hold the honor. The original restaurant closed in 2018, and Ruscalleda infused new life into the town with a new restaurant: Cuina Estudi.