The people behind the craft

Tadao Ando

Architecture

A self-taught former boxer who mastered board-formed concrete and light, exemplified by the Church of the Light.

Thomas Edison

Invention / Electrical — historical

Developed the first commercially practical incandescent light bulb and the systems to power it, electrifying everyday life.

Tim Raue

Chef-patron

Chef-patron of Restaurant Tim Raue, Berlin (No.58, World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025). Opened his eponymous restaurant in 2010, serving a fusion drawn from Japan, Thailand and China.

Tim Wendelboe

Coffee Roasting

2004 World Barista Champion whose Oslo micro-roastery pioneered ultra-light Nordic roasting and direct farm sourcing.

Timothy Barrett

Papermaking

MacArthur 'genius' papermaker and scholar who revived Japanese washi and historical European hand-papermaking techniques.

Tomoya Kawada

Executive Chef

Executive Chef of Sazenka, a Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant in Minato, Tokyo. Sazenka earned three Michelin stars in the 2020 Tokyo guide. Sazenka's philosophy: "The true taste is found in simplicity."

Toshiko Takaezu

Ceramics — historical

Hawaiian-American ceramicist who pioneered the closed, sculptural 'moon' form, sealing rattling clay beads inside her pots.

Trevor Horn

Producer

Produced the maximalist studio sound of the 1980s, from 'Video Killed the Radio Star' to Frankie Goes to Hollywood and ABC.

Ub Iwerks

Animation / Engineering — historical

Animated the first Mickey Mouse cartoons and later engineered the optical printing and effects techniques that transformed film compositing.

Vicente Flores

Sous Chef

Culinary knowledge gained from experiences across Mexico, including working with renowned chefs and learning traditional techniques in Oaxacan villages.

Virgilio Martinez

Founder

Founder of Mil in Cusco (No.75, World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025), sited 3,600m above sea level near the Incan ruins at Moray; an Andean microcosm of his Lima restaurant Central.

Walt Disney

Animation — historical

Produced the first full-length animated feature, Snow White, and drove the multiplane camera and synchronized sound in animation.

Warren MacKenzie

Ceramics — historical

Leach- and Hamada-trained potter who championed affordable, everyday functional 'mingei' pottery across America.

William Kentridge

Drawing / Animation

South African artist known for hand-drawn charcoal animations made by erasing and redrawing a single sheet, filmed frame by frame.

Yoann Amado

Chef

Chef who crafts a cuisine freely inspired by the products of South Gironde.

Yohji Yamamoto

Fashion Design

Built a poetic, oversized, predominantly black aesthetic that rejected body-conscious fashion and redefined draping.

Yves Behar

Industrial Design

Designed the One Laptop Per Child XO and Jawbone products, fusing social mission with consumer industrial design.

Zaha Hadid

Architecture — historical

The first woman to win the Pritzker Prize, she pioneered parametric, fluid forms once dismissed as unbuildable.

Zuzana Licko

Type Design

Co-founded Emigre and designed pioneering digital typefaces that legitimized the coarse Macintosh screen as a design tool.

Founder of Masque, Mumbai (No.68, World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025). A self-taught cook and entrepreneur; opened Masque in 2016.

Chef and brainchild of Oteque in Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro (No.81, World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025). Of Japanese and German roots; trained in Japan and in London with Tom Aikens and Gordon Ramsay.

Chef at Nuema, Quito (No.61, World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025), cooking avant-garde dishes built on endemic Ecuadorian ingredients.

Chef-patron of Hisa Franko in Kobarid, Slovenia (No.69, World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025). Also ages local Tolminc cheese and keeps a biodynamic wine cellar.

Fisherman-chef and chef-patron of Aponiente, El Puerto de Santa Maria (No.84, World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025). Tasting menus of up to 15 courses championing overlooked ocean produce.

Third-generation head of Poilane bakery in Paris, guardian of the wood-fired two-kilo sourdough miche shipped worldwide.

Chef at Fyn, Cape Town (No.82, World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025), telling African stories with a Japanese accent from the fifth floor of a 19th-century silk factory.

Executive Chef of Tantris, the landmark Munich restaurant opened in 1971 and regarded as one of Germany's finest. Formerly ranked 44th best in the world by Restaurant Magazine's Top 50.

Maitre d' of Uliassi, Senigallia (No.43, World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025), and sister of head chef Mauro Uliassi.

Opened Cesar in Manhattan in 2024 (No.98, World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025). Born in Mexico, raised in Chicago, moved to New York in 1998; worked with David Bouley at Danube and Bouley, and at Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare.

Co-founder of Tartine Bakery in San Francisco whose country loaf and book Tartine Bread reset the global naturally-leavened standard.

Chef behind Vyn in Skillinge (No.47, World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025). 'Vyn' means 'view' in Swedish; the restaurant sits in his homeland of Skane overlooking the Baltic Sea.

Danny Yip is the chef and co-owner of The Chairman, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Hong Kong renowned for its refined Cantonese cuisine. The restaurant has been recognized by the Michelin Guide and Asia's 50 Best Restaurants.

Chef at the helm of Burnt Ends, Singapore (No.93, World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025), where nearly every dish is cooked over flame.

Meilleur Ouvrier de France sommelier who curates a diverse wine selection.

Award-winning fine binder and conservator known for design bindings and for teaching hand bookbinding internationally.

Elena Reygadas Castillo is a Mexican chef. She is the owner of the eateries Rosetta, Panadería Rosetta, Salón Rosetta, Bella Aurora and Lardo, all found in Mexico City. In 2023, she was named The World's Best Female Chef by The World's 50 Best Restaurants. Rosetta has been awarded one Michelin star and has been listed within The World's 50 Best Restaurants list.

Enrique Olvera (born January 29, 1976, Mexico City) is a Mexican chef and the owner and head chef of Pujol, a two-Michelin-starred restaurant in Polanco, Mexico City, ranked 9th in The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2021. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America (1997, 1999), Olvera is credited with elevating Mexican haute cuisine onto the global stage, blending indigenous ingredients with molecular gastronomy techniques. He has authored books including Mexico from the Inside Out and appeared on Netflix's Chef's Table. In addition to Pujol, his restaurant group includes Eno, Manta, Cosme, Moxi, Teo, Atla, and Damian.

Chef and co-founder of Jordnaer, Copenhagen (No.56, World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025). A caviar specialist who selects the roe for each dish.

Co-leads the kitchen at Onjium, Seoul (No.57, World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025), an institute-backed restaurant reconstructing centuries-old Korean recipe books.

Chef-patron of Alcalde in Guadalajara (No.51, World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025). Entered Latin America's 50 Best via the One To Watch Award in 2016; cooks a 'frank' Mexican style.

Renowned chef known for his innovative approach to Indian cuisine.

Tenth-generation head of Kyoto's 285-year-old Kondaya Genbei, reviving rare silk and obi-weaving techniques for the modern kimono.

Vancouver chef credited with inventing the inside-out 'BC roll' and the format that seeded the California roll for Western diners.

Ginza bartender behind Bar High Five, global ambassador of the Japanese hard shake and hand-cut diamond ice.

Founder of Visvim, fusing Japanese natural-indigo dyeing and traditional craft with cult-status handmade footwear and denim.

Opened Florilège in 2009. French-Japanese cuisine restaurant in Tokyo. Currently ranked No.36 on World's 50 Best Restaurants. Ranked No.2 in Asia's 50 Best Restaurant 2024. Two Michelin Stars.

Chef-patron of The Clove Club, London (No.86, World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025), in the historic Shoreditch Town Hall; a 'modern British' seasonal tasting menu.

Chef of Tuju, Sao Paulo (No.70, World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025). A 10-course menu paying homage to Brazil's distinct seasons.

Chef of Mayta, Lima (No.39, World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025). Refined Peruvian cuisine built on a nine-course Mayta Experience tasting menu.

Chef of Celele, Cartagena (No.48, World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025; Sustainable Restaurant Award 2025). Spent years documenting at-risk recipes along Colombia's Caribbean coast with former partner Sebastian Pinzon.

Executive Chef of La Colombe, consistently ranked among Africa's finest restaurants and awarded Best Restaurant in Africa by The World's 50 Best. Known for theatrical, produce-driven cuisine in Constantia, Cape Town.

Chef of Jan in Munich (No.50, World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025), his first solo venture. Redefines German haute cuisine with tasting menus honouring regional ingredients.

Canadian chef leading Al Gatto Verde, Modena (No.92, World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025), in the grounds of Massimo Bottura and Lara Gilmore's Casa Maria Luigia. Joined Osteria Francescana in 2013.

Opened Quintonil to emphasize Mexican ingredients and traditional techniques in a contemporary context. Works with regional producers to ensure quality and positive impact.

Born Madrid 1979, raised in Usera district by grandparents. Grandmother introduced him to cooking as a child. Drawn to Japanese culture since adolescence, traveled to Japan, where his culinary style was shaped. Currently the itamae (sushi chef) at Tora in Madrid, preparing the omakase at the counter.

Experimental textile designer who fused metallic yarns with computerized jacquard looms, supplying Issey Miyake and Rei Kawakubo.

Co-owner of SingleThread, Healdsburg (No.80, World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025). Runs the couple's nearby 24-acre farm, which supplies most of the restaurant's produce.

One of Japan's last swordsmiths, spending 40 years trying to resurrect the lost 'Koto' method of the legendary Masamune.

Chef-patron of Koan, Copenhagen (No.91, World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025). Dishes showcase his Danish upbringing and Korean technique and heritage.

Head of Kyoto's Kuroda lacquer studio, producing hand-applied urushi wares built from dozens of layered coats of natural tree lacquer.