19 Singapore-based chefs awarded at The Best Chef Awards 2025 in Milan

Nineteen Singapore-based chefs have done our little red dot proud at the Best Chef Awards 2025. 

The ceremony, which was held in Milan on Oct 1 and 2, saw a record 783 chefs from 69 countries receiving awards, shared a press release on Friday (Oct 3). 

In place of traditional numerical rankings, The Best Chef Awards uses a tiered recognition system comprising three levels of classification to indicate a chef's level of excellence: Three Knives (the best); Two Knives (world class); and One Knife (excellent).

The Knife recognition system is based off votes and this year saw the number of voters almost double compared to last year, reaching a total of 972, including 572 chefs from 64 countries and 400 industry professionals.

Overall, 126 chefs received the highest tier of Three Knives, achieving 80 per cent or more of the maximum points. 

This is followed by 236 chefs who earned Two Knives, which means they had received 40 per cent or more points, representing world-class expertise.

And 421 chefs attained a One Knife - which indicates that these chefs attained 20 per cent or more of the maximum points, underscoring their contributions to the field. 

Seven Singapore-based chefs were awarded One Knife: Cheung Siu Kong from Summer Pavilion, Edward Chong from Peach Blossoms, Francisco Araya from Araya, Johanne Siy from Lolla, Mirko Febbrile from Somma, Nishida Kazumine from Shoukouwa and Rishi Naleendra from Cloudstreet. 

Ten Singapore-based chefs received Two Knives: Dave Pynt from Burnt Ends, Emmanuel Stroobant from Saint Pierre, Ivan Brehm from Nouri, Kevin Wong from Seroja, Kirk Westaway from Jaan, Li Guang Han from Labyrinth, Martin Ofner from Zen, Sebastien Lepinoy from Les Amis, Sun Kim from Meta and Zor Tan from Born. 

Only two Singapore-based chefs received Three Knives: Julien Royer from Odette and Mano Thevar from Thevar. 

The Best Chef Awards 2025 also crowned three chefs at the top of the list. 

In first place there is Rasmus Munk from Alchemist in Denmark, at second place is Ana Ros from Hisa Franko in Slovenia and finally, at third, there is Himanshu Saini from Tresind Studio in UAE. 

Apart from the Knives ranking system, the Best Chef Awards 2025 also celebrated chefs who made extraordinary contributions in specific areas. 

For instance, The Best Creativity Award went to Jason Liu from Ling Long, who is based in Shanghai. 

The Best Pastry Award went to Pia Salazar from Nuema in Ecuador and The Best Food Art Award was received by Quique Dacosta from Quique Dacosta in Spain. 

There was also The Best Humanity award, which was given to the Chefs of World Central Kitchen, which was founded by Chef Jose Andres, as well as The Best Visionary Award which went to Massimo Bottura from Osteria Francescana in Italy. 

Now in its ninth edition, the Best Chef Awards aims to offer a "comprehensive, inclusive view of culinary excellence" and is designed to honour chefs based on impact and skill. 

According to its website, The Best Chef describes itself as "a platform that is a point of reference" for food lovers and "a place to exchange knowledge and experiences, to discuss current topics and to debate on universal topics from the world of fine dining".

Cristian Gadau, its co-founder and CEO, said: "Our mission has always been to create a platform that honours chefs not only for their skill, but also for their vision and impact, while making this world of creativity accessible to everyone who loves food. 

"Each edition of The Best Chef awards aims to create a more inclusive list for everyone, regardless of their background or income, making it less elitist and more inclusive for all humanity." 

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melissateo@asiaone.com