The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards has released debuted a new unranked list that celebrates hospitality professionals shaping the future of gastronomy.
50 Next is an unranked list of food and drink figures aged between 20 and 35 years old.
The program is divided into seven categories: game-changing producers, tech disruptors, empowering educators, entrepreneurial creatives, science innovators, hospitality pioneers and trailblazing activists.
Aussie chefs Josh Niland, Jo Barrett and Matt Stone all made the cut, with farmer and environmentalist Josh Gilbert also making the list.
Niland joins other game-changing producers including Jennifer Rodriguez from Colombia and Mark Emil Hermansen from Denmark.
Barrett and Stone were named as hospitality pioneers alongside six others including David Zilber from Denmark and Marsia Taha from Bolivia.
Gilbert forms part of the empowering educators list, with Maureen Muketha from Kenya and Cherrie Atilano from the Philippines also named.
“By bringing together this truly diverse list of young people with the support of the Basque Culinary Center, the Biscay region and the wider 50 Best family, we pledge to nurture, uplift and provide a platform for those fighting for a brighter future for gastronomy, says Director of Content for 50 Best William Drew.
“50 Next allows us to connect today’s leaders with the next generation.”
A total of 700 candidates were considered for the top 50, with all finalists interviewed before selection.
The program aims to hold a live event in Bilbao, Basque Country, in 2022.
Full list:
Game-changing 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, 33 and Ion Zapiain, 30 – 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 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 - 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
Image credit: Rob Palmer
