Judging Panel

Our cosmopolitan, multicultural, globetrotting, gender-balanced panel of restaurant experts includes 37 different nationalities. We've brought together star chefs and restaurateurs; influential figures in old and new media; book publishers, filmmakers, food system scientists, activists and campaigners.  

      

Filter Judges by:

Freya Orley-Simmons

Zaiyu Hasagawa

Chef Japan

Zaiyu’s interest in cooking sprouted from the bento which his mother would bring back from the ryōtei (high-end Japanese restaurant) where she worked as a geisha when he was a young. After gaining experience working in various restaurants, Zaiyu launched Den in Jimbocho, Tokyo. While appreciating the value of Japanese tradition of paying homage to excellent ingredients and the four seasons, Den also introduced a new form of Japanese cuisine and was awarded two Michelin stars three years after opening.

Yoshihiro Narisawa

Chef Japan

Yoshihiro Narisawa is the chef-owner of the two-Michelin star restaurant Les Créations de Narisawa in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Restaurant Narisawa was ranked #20 on The World's 50 Best Restaurants list in 2009, and has consistently ranked in the top 30 since.

Virgilio Martinez

Chef Peru

Virgilio chooses to approach the diversity of our ingredients in a manner similar to that used by the peoples of the Andes in pre-Hispanic times: through vertical ecological monitoring. According to this alternative way of understanding the geography, land is perceived not as a horizontal plane but rather vertically, so that it takes advantage of all that the flora and fauna are able to deliver according to the particularities of each ecological system. Virgilio is chef-owner of Central restaurante and MIL Cusco, and director of Mater Iniciativa research and interpretation centre in Lima, Peru.

Vincent Carry

Entrepreneur France

Originally a musician in the independent music industry, Vincent Carry became a film, culture and political journalist in 1997. He became director of Arty Farty in 2002 and created the Nuits Sonores festival in 2003. In 2015, Vincent launched We are Europe, a cooperative project supported by the European Union that brings together eight festivals and forums in a three-year exchange and co-creation program, led by Arty Farty. He is currently working on the project Hotel 71, creative hub that will open its doors in 2019.

Tom Parker Bowles

Media United Kingdom

Tom is a food critic and broadcaster, Food Editor at Esquire and restaurant critic for The Mail on Sunday. He is the author of seven books on food, his most recent being Fortnum and Mason-Christmas and Other WInter Feasts. He is also a regular judge on UK Masterchef, and a judge of Channel 9's Family Food Fight in Australia.

Romy Gill MBE

Chef United Kingdom

Chef Romy Hardeep Gill MBE is a British/Indian chef, presenter and food writer based in Thornbury, South Gloucestershire. She is the owner and head chef at Romy's Kitchen, which opened in September 2013 on Castle Street, Thornbury. She was the first Indian female chef/owner on the UK restaurant scene, and was appointed an MBE in the Queen's 90th birthday honours list in 2016. Romy contributes regularly to food publications and is a regular on TV and Radio. Romy went to Mad Symposium in Copenhagen as a speaker and is now working on her first cookbook.

Lotta Jörgensen

Media Sweden

Lotta Jorgensen is one of the Founders of Fool Magazine and Fool Agency. She is a graphic designer and a conceptual curator working with clients all over the world. One of her missions in life is to never stop an keep on being curious.

Tara Stevens

Media Spain

Tara Stevens is a food writer and cook who splits her time between Spain and Morocco. She travels extensively in search of delicious things to eat and drink, and enjoys back-alley street carts as much as any fine dining experience. She has a passion for regional home cooking and is currently working on a book about modern Moroccan cookery based on her culinary adventures from her little cooking school in the Fez Medina.

Sven Elverfeld

Chef Germany

Born in Hanau, Germany, Sven first trained as a confectioner at Stadtbäckerei Schadeberg, Bruchköbel, before rising through the ranks at various restaurants across Europe before becoming Chef de Cuisine Restaurant La Baie at The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai in 1988. He is currently Chef de Cuisine at Restaurant AQUA, The Ritz-Carlton, Wolfsburg, where he has been since 2000.

Sophie Brissaud

Media France

Sophie is a food writer, journalist, reviewer and photographer. She has been fiddling with food-related books, editing and publishing since 1989, and has been an active writing and editing force in gazillions of chef books. She lives in Paris and tends to avoid cheffiness unless it's really delicious, fun and exciting. She clearly prefers cucine povere/cuisines de pauvre, family cooking, street stalls, West African maquis, and anglers’ soups, and is proud to have learned the art of gombo in the Republic of Benin.

Sophie Cornibert

Restaurant Industry France

Sophie is the co-creator of Fulgurances. An editorial platform hosting events and restaurants in residence dedicated to contemporary cuisines, Sophie sees herself as a mediator open to the world.

Rosio Sanchez

Chef Denmark

Rosio is a Mexican-American Chef born and raised in the South Side of Chicago. She worked with some of America’s most respected chefs before moving to Copenhagen to spend more than half a decade working under René Redzepi at Noma. In March 2015, Rosio left Noma to reconnect with her Mexican roots and try to apply her skills to the food she identifies with most. She dreamt of transporting the Mexican dishes she remembered to Copenhagen, and began developing recipes, using the highest quality ingredients she could find. She has since opened two Hija de Sanchez taquerias in Copenhagen and her first restaurant Sanchez opened in November 2017.

Justyna Adamczyk

Media Poland

Justyna Adamczyk is the CEO and Editor-in-Chief of the Polish edition of Gault&Millau. A taste hunter travelling and visiting more than 300 restaurants a year all over the world, Justyna coordinates international projects with chefs and sets business strategies for hospitality, luxury goods and the food industry. She is also a co-organizer and participant of the Polish edition of Cook It Raw, a panellist at top international food congresses and conferences, and a member of the jury at culinary and spirits contests.