Cover Chef Julien Royer of Odette (Photo: Generation T)

Odette’s chef-owner is joined by other Asian heavyweights like Yoshihiro Narisawa and Daniel Calvert in the 5th edition of the awards event

Held at a live gala event in Amsterdam from September 13 to 15, the global Best Chef Awards has unveiled its list of the top 100 chefs from around the world. Featuring chefs from 29 countries, the fifth annual awards crowned Dabiz Muñoz, the Spanish chef-patron of Madrid’s three-Michelin-starred DiverXO, in first place. He is joined by Björn Frantzen in second place, and fellow Spaniard Adonis Luiz Aduriz in third place.

Among the entries from Asia-based chefs, Julien Royer, chef-owner of Singapore’s Odette, placed highest at #17 on the list. Odette, which was named Asia’s top restaurant by Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants both in 2019 and 2020, is known as a modern French temple of gastronomy, and takes ample inspiration from the cooking of Royer’s maternal grandmother. 

He is joined by ten other chefs based around Asia, including Gaggan Anand, Yoshihiro Narisawa, and ex-Belon chef Daniel Calvert, who now heads Sézanne in the Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo.

Of the 11 Asia-based chefs, Hong Kong had the largest showing outside of Japan. Vicky Lau of Tate Dining Room was ranked at #49 and is also the recipient of the Best Chef Food Art Award, which is dedicated to the chef with the most artistic sensibilities on the list. She is joined by other Hong Kong peers like Agustin Balbi of Ando, VEA’s Vicky Cheng, and Guillaume Gaillot at Caprice.

However, the absence of The Chairman’s chef de cuisine, Kwok Keung Tung, was made all the more conspicuous in light of the restaurant’s #1 ranking by Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2021.

Candidates for the Best Chef Awards are picked from a shortlist of 200 nominees, of whom 100 are from last year’s ranking, and another 100 “fresh faces” selected by a 100-strong panel of food journalists, critics, bloggers, photographers and other industry experts from around the world.

“We were looking for a group of chefs that can represent the present and future of gastronomy worldwide, and we think that these new 100 candidates, including several new great talents from the African continent, are a good testament to that,” says Best Chef Awards co-founder Cristian Gadeau. “[They are] hard working, talented, passionate, creative, socially conscious, diverse people that can lead by example and with a lot of knowledge to share.”

Keep scrolling to see which Asia-based chefs were honoured in the awards, and click here for the full global rankings.

Tatler Asia
Above An amuse bouche selection by Vicky Lau (Photo: Tate Dining Room)

17. Julien Royer, Odette (Singapore)

33. Gaggan Anand, Gaggan Anand (Bangkok, Thailand)

41. Yoshihiro Narisawa, Narisawa (Tokyo, Japan)

49. Vicky Lau, Tate Dining Room (Hong Kong, China)

55. Agustin Balbi, Ando (Hong Kong, China)

60. Vicky Cheng, VEA (Hong Kong, China)

63. Hiroyasu Kawate, Florilège (Tokyo, Japan)

75. Himanshu Saini, Trèsind Studio (Dubai, UAE)

79. Daniel Calvert, Sézanne (Tokyo, Japan)

82. Yusuke Takada, La Cime (Osaka, Japan)

91. Guillaume Gaillot, Caprice (Hong Kong, China)