50 Next: The Young People Shaping the Future of Gastronomy

The World’s 50 Best Restaurants has today unveiled its new listing of young people from 34 countries across six continents, identified as next-generation leaders in food and drink.

The list includes 24 women and 19 men, scouted by the organisation’s academic partner the Basque Culinary Center, and a 50 Next event will follow in Bilbao in early 2022. The list is not a ranking, and it has no number one spot, so all the people who appear on the list are recognised equally.

The list is divided into seven categories: Gamechanging Producers, Tech Disruptors, Empowering Educators, Entrepreneurial Creatives, Science Innovators, Hospitality Pioneers (supported  by S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy) and Trailblazing Activists. Each category is unranked and comprises a broad spectrum of professions, with those on the list recognised for their overall contribution to the gastronomic ecosystem, as well as their ongoing potential to drive significant positive change.

FDL's 2020 Visionaries: Meet the Year's Food Innovators

The S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy will work as a supporting partner of the new project by involving a selection of candidates from the 50 Next Hospitality Pioneers in its 2021/22 educational program as lecturers. Working alongside the most renowned figures in the world of gastronomy, who are already contributing to the Academy, they will have the opportunity to inspire, share their experience and connect with hundreds of passionate young chefs.

50 Next: Class of 2021

Where the person’s country of origin differs from their country of residence, this is denoted in brackets.

Gamechanging Producers

• Manuel Choqque, 33 – Cusco, Peru
• Clara Diez, 29 – Madrid, Spain
• Marianne Eaves, 34 – Lexington, USA
• Mark Emil Hermansen, 35 – Copenhagen, Denmark           
• Louise Mabulo, 22 – San Fernando, Philippines
• Josh Niland, 32 – Sydney, Australia
• Jennifer Rodriguez, 34 – Mesitas del Colegio, Colombia
• Gian Marco Viano, 34 – Carema, Italy
• Mikel Zapiain, 30 and Ion Zapiain, 33 – San Sebastian, Basque Country, Spain

Tech Disruptors               

• Katerina Axelsson, 29 – San Luis Obispo, USA (from Russia)
• Matias Muchnick, 32 – New York, USA (from Chile)
• Jonathan Ng, 30 – Singapore
• Solveiga Pakštaitė, 28 – London, UK (from Lithuania)
• Abby Rose, 33 – London, UK, and Chile
• Isaac Sesi, 28 – Kumasi, Ghana

Empowering Educators

• Mariana Aleixo, 33 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil  
• Cherrie Atilano, 35 – Makati City, Philippines          
• Josh Gilbert, 29 – Gloucester, Australia
• Siddhi Karnani, 30 and Anurag Agarwal, 34 – Siliguri, India
• Ievgen Klopotenko, 34 – Kiev, Ukraine
• Dieuveil Malonga, 29 – Kigali, Rwanda (from DR Congo)
• Maureen Muketha, 25 – Nairobi, Kenya
• Edward Mukiibi, 34 – Mukono Town, Uganda
• Ted Rosner, 33 and Max Dubiel, 33 – London, UK (from UK and Germany, respectively)

Entrepreneurial Creatives          

• Ata Cengiz, 28 – Istanbul, Turkey
• Jon Gray, 35 – New York, USA
• Sana Javeri Kaori, 27 – Oakland, USA (from India)
• Adelaide Lala Tam, 27 – Rotterdam, Netherlands (from Hong Kong)
• Divya Mohan, 29 – Lund, Sweden (from India)
• Natsuko Shoji, 31 – Tokyo, Japan
• Thiago Vinícius De Paula Da Silva, 32 – São Paulo, Brazil    

Science Innovators

• Maitane Alonso Monasterio, 20 – Sodupe, Basque Country, Spain
• Leah Bessa, 30 – Cape Town,             South Africa
• Kisum Chan, 22 (from Hong Kong) and Lincoln Lee, 23 (from Malaysia) – London, UK – and Zheyi Chia, 22, and Jonathan Ong, 24 – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Marc Coloma, 29 – Barcelona, Spain
• Kiara Nirghin, 21 – Stanford, USA (from South Africa)
• Leo Wezelius, 23, Angelo Demeter, 28 and Fredrik Åkerman, 24 – Stockholm, Sweden (from Sweden, Romania and Sweden, respectively)

Hospitality Pioneers, supported by S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy

• Jo Barrett, 32, and Matt Stone, 34 – Melbourne, Australia
• Ashtin Berry, 33 – Chicago, USA
• Douglas McMaster, 34 – London, UK
• Diego Prado, 35 – Copenhagen, Denmark (from Chile)
• Claudia Albertina Ruiz, 33 – San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico
• Marsia Taha, 32 – La Paz, Bolivia (from Bulgaria)
• David Zilber, 35 – Copenhagen, Denmark (from Canada)

Trailblazing Activists

• Jamie Crummie, 29 and Lucie Basch, 29 – London, UK and New York, USA (from London and Paris, respectively)
• Friederike Gaedke, 29 – Berlin, Germany
• Bibi La Luz Gonzalez, 33 – Guatemala City, Guatemala
• Matt Jozwiak, 33 – New York, USA
• Maya Terro, 34 – Beirut, Lebanon (born in Ukraine)
• Jhannel Tomlinson, 29 – Kingston, Jamaica