Mexican-born Adriana grew up in Mexico City and often visited her grandparents in a small village called San Felipe Ixtacuixtla where food is an integral part of day-to-day life - fresh produce such as corn, tomatoes and avocados are staples of the region. Brought into this world of food from a young age - Adriana was inspired to enter the industry by her Grandma who owned a street food business selling Antojitos Mexicanos. Her first role in cookery came at the age of 17 as an apprentice at Nicos in Mexico City. Here, she honed her skills on the bakery section before moving on to her first full-time paid job at Pujol - currently ranked at #13 in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants - at just 19. She also worked alongside Ferran Adria as Chef de Partie at El Bulli in 2011 and later with Eduardo Garcia at Lalo!. These restaurants are famed for their ongoing revolutionary approach to Mexican cooking, which Adriana cites as key in shaping her approach to food. Adriana moved to the UK and her debut restaurant Cavita opened in May 2022 to a host of outstanding reviews. Her first cookbook ‘Cocina Mexicana: Fresh, vibrant recipes for authentic Mexican food’ was released in 2023.

Whole Beast is a live fire, nose to tail concept that has ‘A Plan’ for every animal that comes into the building and by doing cool shit with the parts of the animal most aren’t as fussed with. The Aged Cheeseburger won National Burger Awards Champion of Champions and being awarded Best Burger in London by TimeOut THAT burger has become its own beast.

Ellen Parr has been honing her culinary skills for 20 years. Her passion for cooking over coals was quickly realised at Moro, the first kitchen she cooked in. From there she moved into other prestigious kitchens, Rochelle's Canteen and 6 Portland Rd before finding a love for Chinese cooking whilst travelling through far reaching provinces of China. Returning after stages in Ho Lee Fook and Duddell's in Hong Kong, Ellen started her own venture, Lucky and Joy, a regional Chinese inspired restaurant in Hackney, East London. Known for big and bold flavours, barbecue and wok cooking, Lucky and Joy is now in it's 5th year and a stalwart of the East London restaurant scene.

Elliot Hashtroudi's French regional restaurant Camille is a produce led restaurant with a focus on offal and sustainability. Working with British regenerative farmers his zero waste approach to French cuisine is steeped rich in tradition and technique.

Chef Isabel Coss is a Mexico City native best known as a FOOD & WINE ""Best New Chef in America"" Class of 2023, a 2025 James Beard Foundation ""Best Chef Mid-Atlantic"" semifinalist, and one of “100 Latino Leaders in the United States.” She moved to Washington, DC in 2020, and is currently the Executive Chef of Pascual and Executive Pastry Chef of Lutèce. She has shaped two of DC’s most celebrated restaurants, the Mexican hearth-focused restaurant Pascual and the French neo-bistro Lutèce where Coss is in charge of the Pastry program. Pascual, the Mexican concept she opened alongside spouse Chef Matt Conroy and is now one of Eater's “Best New Restaurant in America in 2024,” a 2024 New York Time's “America's Best Restaurants,” The Washington Post's #1 Best New Restaurant 2024. The hearth-focused restaurant takes inspiration from Coss’s upbringing in Mexico and the pair’s combined leadership at the best Mexican globally including Cosme, Empellón, & Pujol.

Khadim Mbamba is the owner and head-chef of Little Baobab, a Senegalese restaurant based in London. Khadim has experience cooking a variety of cuisines, but found his passion in bringing Senegalese food, music and culture to London. For the past 7 years, Khadim with Little Baobab has been making waves in London’s African dining scene, from his popular East London pop-ups and catering stints across the city, to trading at UK festivals Glastonbury, WOMAD and We Out Here. Little Baobab has recently opened a restaurant at the Africa Centre in Southwark, bringing a modern take on authentic Senegalese cuisine. Little Baobab also operates 5 days a week from Peckham Levels. Khadim is famous for his jollof rice, has worked with a number of high profile customers and events, and has been featured in BBC World Service, Forbes Africa and National Geographic's Food Magazine.

Liam Barker is freelance chef specializing in Caribbean food cooked over fire. He quit a career in fine dining to discover his Caribbean heritage. His signature style infuses live fire and smoke into ancient Caribbean methods and recipes. He found connection and inspiration in the way the native people of the Caribbean cooked. His food has heavy influences from Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, and the Caribbean Colombian coast.

Marie Mitchell is a chef, writer and author of the much-acclaimed narrative Caribbean cookbook, Kin: Caribbean Recipes for the Modern Kitchen. A lover of all things Caribbean – food, culture, energy, her cooking explores her Caribbean heritage through the lens of having grown up in London. She develops recipes and curate’s events and pop ups around driving Caribbean culture and understanding forward. Marie loves to explore the many layers that feature in Caribbean food, through its vast influences – treating her food as both a historical experience and an education, just one where you leave sated. Fresh, deeply flavoured and complex is what Marie loves to bring to the table and with live fire cooking woven into the Caribbean experience, those flavours sing when married with a little smoke and fire. Marie has written for Observer Food Monthly, Guardian Feast, Borough Market, Waitrose Food and Resy London. She’s spoken live at the DO Lectures, featured on Sunday Brunch, Broadcasting House, BBC Radio 4, and Jamie Oliver’s Meat Free Meals. Her first cookbook, Kin, a collection of recipes from the Caribbean and its diaspora, was published in 2024 by Particular Books, and published in North America in 2025 by WW Norton.

Dublin born chef, Mark O’ Brien has spent the last ten years working his way through some of the best restaurants in London. Stints at Barbecoa, The Dairy, and Birch (Zebra Riding Club) have all given him a grounding in modern cooking, whole animal butchery and live fire. He is chef owner of Snake Oil Barbecue, an American Barbecue Restaurant with Whole Animal Butchery at its heart. Based on the Kentish coast, all meat comes from high quality, local farmers who we have a strong direct connection with. Pulling from many different styles of barbecue to bring out the best in each individual cut we aim to bring a delicious selection of the bounty of the South to all of our customers.

Maureen Tyne is a chef and owner of Maureen's Brixton Kitchen in Brixton. A stalwart of the local food scene, Maureen has become a star chef thanks to massive attention on social media, drawing massive queues for her brilliant food. She has been serving the community her Jamaican food for more than 20 years, becoming one of the standout food businesses in London.

Melissa Thompson is a barbecue chef who specialises in live-fire cooking. She writes recipes for Good Food magazine, Waitrose magazine, The Financial Times Weekend and many more. She is the author of Motherland: A Jamaican Cookbook, published by Bloomsbury and is an expert on jerk.

Born and raised in the Caribbean isles of Trinidad and Tobago, he migrated to the US at the age of 20 to hone his culinary talents and pursue his passion for cuisine. Now, with almost 20 years’ experience in the Food industry, Osei is one of the most sought-after West Indian Chefs in New York City. He has cooked in kitchens across the US including for the Mayor of NYC at his home and a dinner at the United Nations at the NYC office. Osei is the Owner of Picky Eaters Restaurant, Ariapita Restaurant, and Chef Picky Events & Catering.

Paddy Maher is the head chef at Pearly Queen in Shoreditch, where he showcases his passion for seafood through innovative and flavourful dishes. With a culinary style rooted in sustainability and freshness, Paddy draws inspiration from the vibrant coastal cuisines of the UK and his home country Ireland . At Pearly Queen, Paddy continues to push the boundaries of seafood cuisine, blending traditional techniques with modern flavours to create a dining experience that is both memorable and delicious.

Eat good, live good. That’s the mantra. Rajen has been channelling this through his culinary journey from the beginning. Starting off in the kitchens of pizzerias, pubs & restaurants building upon his skills and knowledge to run his own brand, The Homie's Kitchen. For the past 5 years he's hosted supper clubs, pop-ups & chef collabs all across London. And now more gratefully, a Meatopia Alumni. Being a 1st generation British born Indian, his food draws inspiration from both long standing family food traditions & the culture he grew up around Big on bold spices & cooking techniques that require care, time & patience. The Homie's Kitchen is a brand that stands for family style cooking, made for everyone to gather around a table or fire to share.

Rasheed Philips, affectionately known as The Gentleman SmokerTM, is a culinary artisan who brings the rich flavors and traditions of his Jamaican heritage to the world of barbecue. Featured on networks such as Netflix, A&E and more. Rasheed's dishes are characterized by their distinctive use of spices, marinades, and open-fire grilling, which impart a unique depth of flavor and a touch of his homeland in every bite. As a prominent figure in the barbecue community, Rasheed has participated in numerous BBQ events and showcases across the country, earning a dedicated following among barbecue enthusiasts and food lovers alike. Beyond cooking, he is a sought-after mentor and speaker at various barbecue competitions, where he shares his knowledge and passion for the craft. Rasheed's journey as The Gentleman SmokerTM is a testament to his commitment to excellence and his love for bringing people together through the universal language of food.

Ruben Dawnay rose from the lockdown ashes by setting out to smoke meats and home-cured fish from the garden of his parents' Brixton abode. Paying homage to his Polish-Jewish heritage, Ruben’s Reubens was born. Since then, Ruben has been recognised by CODE Hospitality as one of their 30 under 30 rising stars to watch, dominated several pop-ups across the city, mastered the meal kits trend and slung tacos at Meatopia 2022 and for Delli.Market.

Whole Beast is a live fire, nose to tail concept that has ‘A Plan’ for every animal that comes into the building and by doing cool shit with the parts of the animal most aren’t as fussed with. The Aged Cheeseburger won National Burger Awards Champion of Champions and being awarded Best Burger in London by TimeOut THAT burger has become its own beast.

Swilipino is a food and identity project run by Tintin Jonsson, a chef currently based in London who mostly cooks Filipino inspired food through the lens of her dual heritage as a Swedish Filipino. She often turns to the cuisine of southern Philippines where her mom has roots and fusing Filipino dishes with Swedish nostalgia, branding it “frankenfood”. She’s also heading the development at cult east London restaurant My Neighbours the Dumplings, conjuring up new dumplings and dishes.

Valerie Chang is the chef and co-owner of Maty’s, a Peruvian restaurant in Miami’s Midtown neighborhood that opened in March 2023. She has garnered acclaim for her modern take on comida criolla, the traditional food of her upbringing in Chiclayo, Peru. At Maty’s, Val won the James Beard Foundation Award for “Best Chef: South” (2024) and, alongside her brother Nando, was named to Food & Wine’s “Best New Chefs” class of 2023. Maty’s has been named to Bon Appetit’s “Best New Restaurants,” the New York Times’ “Restaurant List,” and Condé Nast Traveler’s “Hot List.” Part of a multigenerational family of chefs, Val moved to the U.S. at ten, learning from her father Fernando. Since then, the Changs have opened Itamae, B-Side, Maty's, and Itamae AO. Maty’s marked Val’s solo debut, inspired by cooking alongside her grandmother. She also earned a StarChefs Rising Star award and participates in the James Beard Foundation’s Chef Boot Camp for Policy and Change. She lives in Miami with her two dogs, Mero and Sashimi.