New for this year, we've compiled a list using insight across the whole tfp team of our One's To Watch for 2022. Every year there are new and exciting people that are changing the way we eat and drink. We've highlighted some of the most interesting, innovative and influential people in food right now.
In no particular order, here's our top 22:
Brienne Allan - Brewer and Activist Brave Noise Beer (USA)
It started as a simple question on Brienne's IG story: "Have you ever experienced sexism in the beer industry?" but soon inspired a 'Bevolution' having sent shockwaves throughout the craft beer world. Brienne set up Brave Noise, a collective to honour those who have spoken out about their gender discrimination, racism, sexual assault and harassment in the beer industry and to bring further awareness to the issues that women, BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ individuals face in craft beer.
Amber Tamm Canty - Farmer and Social Reformer (USA)
Amber is a farmer, horticulturist and flower arranger who also works in farm education, permaculture, agroforestry and urban farming. She's working to establish a farm in Central Park as a way of promoting NYC's food sovereignty and bringing diversity to the area, as well as leading the food justice division of Dan Barber's Kitchen Farming Project
Marsia Taha - Chef, Gustu (Bolivia)
Marsia hit the headlines when featured on Netflix's Street Food: Latin America, and is now head chef of Gustu, taking Bolivian food to new heights whilst respecting her culinary traditions. Dishes such as raw alligator with green plantain crisp and citrus granita, or smoked llama with wild quinoa and huacataya have earned her a global reputation.
Lucy Timm - Chef at Restaurant Royale (UK)
After stints at Sager + Wild, Lucy cut her teeth at Michelin starred Leroy before taking her first head chef position at Royale in east London where she's cooking Provencal-style fare. Her food is all about simplicity done well rather than ultra-modern fine dining.
Helen Graham - Head Chef Bubala (UK)
Helen is another chef who took an untraditional route into professional cooking. Having studies art history, she found herself working as a food stylist and recipe developer for Yotam Ottolenghi. Helen eventually decided it was time to try her hand in restaurant kitchens and spent time at the Palomar Berber & Q, the Good Egg and Barbary before getting her first command at the Middle Eastern restaurant Bubala where she champions meat-free cooking.
Jason Liu - Chef at Ling Long (China)
Chef Liu has been quietly picking up awards in the last year. Named High-End International Restaurant of the Year & Chef of the Year in the Time Out Beijing Awards and Young Chef of the Year in the 2022 Beijing Michelin awards. Jason is head chef at Restaurant Ling Long and after just ten years of experience in professional kitchens, he has won a Michelin star.
Maya Leinenbach - Vegan Cook, Author and Content Creator (Germany)
In under two years, Maya Leinenbach has become the top vegan food creator in Germany and is poised to launch her own food brand. At the young age of just 17, the blogger has over 1.4m Instagram followers, a huge YouTube channel and TikTok following too.
@fitgreenmind.
Miriam Cruz & Astrid Sanchez Garbassi - Co-Founder Agni (USA)
Astrid and Miriam launched Agni to create foods that support women's health needs. From better periods and fertility to postpartum and menopause support. Working with a team of medical advisors and chefs, Agni currently sells cookies, teas and seasonings online.
Joshua Evans - Founder Novel Fermentations Research Group (Denmark)
Joushua is working to make the world a bit better through food and flavour. For his PhD research, carried out at Noma, Emirical and Amass, he investigated how chefs' pursuit of novel flavours through fermentation shapes microbial ecology and evolution.
Caroline Cotto - Co-Founder Renewal Mill (USA)
Caroline was already a big hit in the food world having helped with Michelle Obama's Let's Move campaign and the UN World Food Programme. Since then she has started to tackle food waste in a big way with her new project Renewal Mill. Their vegan pantry staples are all made from products left over from the food industry.
Max La Manna - Zero Waste Recipe Creator & Author (UK)
The NYC born chef is a sustainability advocate, environmentalist and author. He brings awareness and educates people about food waste and plastic pollution through books, YouTube, online classes and TV.
Ali Currey-Voumard & Campbel Burton - Public Wine Shop (Australia)
Ali and Campbell are serving some of the best wine and food matches in Melbourne just seven months after setting up Public Wine Shop, originally set up by Campbell, soon joined by Ali and her cooking.
Diego Prado - Head of R&D Restaurant Alchemist (Denmark)
Diego is a chef and researcher, and has always been stuck between science and cooking. His current focus is on sustainability, sensory analysis and arts. He leads an interdisciplinary and innovative team developing new building blocks for gastronomy with a holistic approach. Combining gastronomy, design, science and art with an open-source approach to research. Including research projects involving insects, by-products from the seafood and wine industries, food waste from restaurants , invasive species, sensory analysis, arts and alchemy.
Jonathan Tam - Jatak (Denmark)
Jonathan has actually been a culinary star for some time now, but something very, very special is happening in his kitchen at present from the reviews of his soft opening Jatak Beta. Trained at Noma and as former head chef at Christian Puglisi's Relae. These days he has set up Jatak which ran pop up residencies and is int he throws of going permanent.
Gabriella Cungo - Chocolatier (UK)
Gabriella's career to date is littered with time at some of the best chocolatiers in the world, and packed full of awards too. Her work has taken her all over the world but recently she announced that she has found a new home in which to produce her unique style of chocolates. She's also putting the finishing touches to a film that should be out in the coming months, teeing up an exciting year for Gabriella.
Esra Muslu - Chef Restaurant Zahter (UK)
Turkish chef Esra is making a hit on the London dining scene with her new restaurant Zahter. After training in Australia, she ran a series of restaurants in Istanbul before being recruited as head chef of Soho House in the city. From there she moved to a similar role at the company's outpost in London's Shoreditch and then to Ottolenghi in Spitalfields. Now with her first restaurant, the world is opening up for Esra.
George Lee - Chef, Blogger and Author (USA)
Taiwanese born, George Lee's first love was food and before enrolling to study Biochemistry at Berkley in California he decided to travel to Paris and enrolled in the famed Le Cordon Bleu. Today, his blog, called Chez Jorge, combined two of his passions - Taiwanese food culture and plant-based food. Next up is his very first cookbook.
Emily Mariko - TikTok Content Creator (USA)
Emily shared videos on TikTok that embody the wholesome and healthy living that Gen Z seems to love so much. It's safe to say she's one of the biggest things in food TikTok at the moment with over 9m followers to her name.
Julia Busuttil Nishimura - Cook, Author, Teacher (Australia)
Julia's food celebrates simple ingredients and seasonal produce and is influenced by her Maltese upbringing as well as her time living in Italy. Her first cookbook, Ostro, was shortlisted for the 2018 ABIA 'Illustrated Book of the Year', named in Gourmet Traveller's Best Food Books for 2017> her second, A Year of Simple Family Food, was published in 2020 and named Kinokuniya Cookbook of the Year 2020. She's got another coming in 2022!
Nokx Majozi - Sous Chef Holborn Dining Room (UK)
It's a long way from Durban, SA, to one of the best kitchens int he UK. Nkox now runs the famous pie room at the Holborn Dining Room and is second in command to the Executive Chef, Callum Franklin. More than just Chief Pie Maker, as envious a title as it is, there are very few black women in senior positions in kitchens in the capital, she has become a role model for those who are looking for a career in a professional kitchen.
This list forms part of a longer list of One's To Watch over on our trendhub. Subscribers can read the long list here. If you're interesting in finding out more about how to subscribe, contact us via the form below.