Meet the women chefs bringing a quiet edge to global food culture

The culinary industry has never been static. It is constantly evolving with ingredient-led menus, the revival of ancient traditional techniques, and bold new experiments. And at the heart of this evolution are women chefs who are reshaping the conversation, bringing new energy—and edge—to kitchens around the world. 

These chefs are shifting the way we think about food. Some are breathing new life into forgotten food traditions, while others are rewriting the rules of fine dining altogether, but what they all have in common is a desire to make space, not just for themselves, but for others too. They’re challenging the status quo and sparking fresh conversations about what food can be.

Their craft says it all: bold, thoughtful, and never afraid to take a few risks. For them, excellence is not only about flawless technique, but also about having a strong point of view, trusting their gut, and being willing to shake things up in the name of something bigger.

Atiya Rakyan, chef and co-founder, Hello Sunshine, Goa

Atiya Rakyan is building something slower, smarter, and deeply rooted. From a sun-drenched spot in Anjuna, Hello Sunshine is her answer to Goa’s ever-churning café scene: local, thoughtful, and entirely her own. She’s not out to impress with foams or frills. Instead, you’ll find Turkish eggs that people pre-order, falafel wraps that sell out by noon, and crepes laced with honey and cinnamon—all served without a shred of pretence. The café runs on a simple rhythm: no single-use plastic, no imported nonsense, and a vegetarian menu that mirrors the beliefs of its founders. For Rakyan, food is about community. It’s avocado toast on house-baked bread, a boozy brunch with friends, a morning coffee in a space that feels like it’s always been there. While others jostle for seasonal traffic, Rakyan’s creating something that lasts. No gimmicks. No noise. Just quietly radical cooking in the Goan sun.

Anna Tobias, founder and chef, Cafe Deco, London 

While some of London’s food scene leans hard into hype, Anna Tobias is rewriting the rules from a little corner of Bloomsbury. Her journey started in the kitchens of Jeremy Lee and the River Café, where she picked up technique, reverence for ingredients, and the confidence to let simplicity lead. At Rochelle Canteen, she found her rhythm in food as care, not performance. Then, in the middle of lockdown, she opened Café Deco with the crew from 40 Maltby Street. No soft launch, no fanfare, just quietly excellent food served with purpose. It’s European-ish, seasonal, and instinctive. One week it’s a perfect plate of rabbit and beans, the next, the best asparagus of the season and berry panna cotta. No spectacle, no spin, just a chef doing her own thing, and doing it brilliantly.

Sarah Nicole Edwards, chef and founder, Copper and Cloves, Bengaluru

When Sarah Edwards moved to India, she rerouted her whole life. Swapping a career in international development for turmeric-stained chopping boards and smoothie bowls, she landed in Bengaluru and built something quietly radical: Copper + Cloves. Tucked into a sun-drenched spot in Indiranagar, the café doesn’t shout about being “healthy”; it just serves food that makes you feel good. Her menu reads like a global travelogue through a plant-based lens, Sri Lankan jackfruit curry, miso-caramel smoothie bowls, chai-spiced granola, all made with fresh, seasonal Indian produce and zero-waste principles. But it’s not just about what’s on the plate. Copper + Cloves is part café, part community hub, hosting yoga brunches, cooking classes, and conversations that spill over long after the dishes are cleared. Her mission isn’t clean eating, it’s connected living.

Amninder Sandhu, chef-patron, Palaash at Tipai, Maharashtra

At Palaash, nestled among flame-trees in the heart of Tipeshwar, Amninder Sandhu is creating something rare: an open-air kitchen led by women from nearby villages, serving a seven-course feast that’s as soulful as it is sophisticated. Forget the buzzwords—hyperlocal, sustainable, farm-to-table—this is the real thing. The chutneys, the rotis, the slow-cooked stews: they come from ancestral memory, coaxed into elegance under Sandhu’s quiet guidance. Her refusal to centre herself, letting her team of home cooks-turned-chefs take the spotlight, feels quietly radical. No gas, no refined oils—just fire, ghee, and generations of know-how. Each dish arrives with a story, a voice, a face. At Palaash, Sandhu is building a legacy, one meal, one village woman, one flame-lit evening at a time.

Megha Kohli, chef and partner, Mezze Mambo, Delhi 

Megha Kohli is quietly transforming Gurugram’s Mediterranean scene with Mezze Mambo, shaping menus grounded in the Silk Route’s legacy yet anchored in local produce and culinary integrity. Imagine traditional dhungar-smoked labneh, millet kibbeh stuffed with cheese, or hummus made using Madras beans—all delivered with precision, not pomp. Her summer menus have woven in seasonal gems like mango labneh and tropical salads, layering flavour with storytelling. And now she’s telling that story in print. Her debut cookbook, India in a Bowl, adapts the classic Indian thali into wholesome one-bowl meals—balanced, quick, and versatile, perfect for modern life. Drawing on 18 years of culinary experience (including heading Olive Beach and Lavaash by Saby), the book echoes her ethos: sustainability and soulful cooking. It is just Megha Kohli crafting bowls and menus with depth, rigour, and soul.

Cristina Quackenbush, chef and owner, Tatlo, New Orleans

Cristina Quackenbush opened Tatlo in September 2024—a moody, emerald-hued “witch bar” that conjures food. The restaurant is rooted in Quackenbush's Filipino heritage and New Orleans' deep spiritual traditions. Her early work with Milkfish, New Orleans’ first Filipino pop-up, set the tone: bold flavours, unapologetic storytelling, and a refusal to water anything down. With Tatlo, she’s gone even deeper. It's part bar, part altar—where every dish channels her Filipino roots and her fascination with New Orleans' spiritual undercurrent. Here, the menu reimagines small plates and cocktails as meditations on intention—think lemongrass BBQ ribs for strength, sinigang-inspired seafood soup for emotional clarity, and absinthe-fuelled drinks for release. She’s not cooking to impress, but to disarm. Her food is elemental and instinctive, all laced with intention. Quackenbush is a chef who knows exactly what she wants to say, and says it through spice, memory, and spellwork. 

Rosio Sánchez, founder and head chef, Sánchez, Copenhagen

At Sánchez in Copenhagen’s Vesterbro, Rosio Sánchez has created a space where Mexican food doesn’t need translating, toning down, or explanation. Her cooking is rooted in her Chicago-Mexican upbringing, but sharpened by years in some of the most exacting kitchens in the world. It’s personal, gutsy, and precise. She stone-grinds Oaxacan corn daily for masa that’s full of life, then builds bold, surprising plates—tacos al pastor with proper char, octopus in punchy salsa verde, or a silky avocado dip spiked with Nordic gooseberries. She folds in local ingredients not for novelty, but because they speak to where she is now. There’s no fusion for fusion’s sake. Just a chef with a clear point of view, a deep respect for her roots, and the technical range to make it all sing. Sánchez isn’t following anyone’s template—she’s setting her own.

Shoji Natsuko, chef and owner, Été, Tokyo

Natsuko Shoji is inarguably Tokyo’s most stylish and exacting chef. From her early years in the pastry kitchen at Florilège to being named Asia’s Best Pastry Chef (2020) by The World's 50 Best Restaurants and Best Female Chef (2022) by Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, Shoji has built a career on precision, poetry, and pure ambition. She opened Été at just 24, turning a quiet six-seat space (originally a four-seater until 2019) in Yoyogi Uehara into a cult destination, known less for spectacle, more for her steady, couture-like craft. Her signature mango “rose” cake—layered and sculpted to resemble a Chanel handbag—earned her a following, but her savoury cooking holds just as much finesse. Think tilefish with crab and white asparagus consommé, or Akagyu beef glazed in truffle jus. Shoji sources fruit—from Yuki Usagi strawberries to Shimizu peaches—as if it were caviar, treating each ingredient like a muse. She’s not loud, she’s not showy. But she’s sharp, focused, and quietly rewriting the rules of what it means to be a chef in Japan today.

Cheryl Koh, pastry chef and founder, Tarte by Cheryl Koh, Singapore

Cheryl Koh, pastry chef at Michelin‑three‑star Les Amis in Singapore and founder of Tarte by Cheryl Koh, won the Asia’s Best Pastry Chef award in 2016. Trained at Raffles Hotel, Lasserre (Paris), Burj Al Arab, Don Alfonso 1890, and Hong Kong’s Cepage, she brings refined French technique to local, seasonal produce. Her tarte shop is known for single‑flavour masterpieces—think perfectly ripe mango, passionfruit or pistachio—evoking terroir with every bite. At Les Amis, she complements Sebastien Lepinoy’s fine‑dining French cuisine with pastries that balance elegance, texture, and purity. Beyond her accolades, Cheryl mentors young pastry chefs and nurtures precision‑driven craftsmanship. Her career—spanning Asia, the Middle East and Europe—reflects her belief that dessert should be both precise and heartfelt. 

Tala Bashmi, chef patron, Fusions by Tala, Bahrain

Bahraini chef Tala Bashmi is a trailblazer: MENA’s Best Female Chef 2022, winner of the 2025 Estrella Damm N.A. Chefs’ Choice Award, and a former footballer-turned artist‑chef. At Fusions by Tala in Manama’s Gulf Hotel, she fuses childhood market‑inspired flavours with global techniques—highlight dishes include wagyu‑cheek bamia deconstruction and ghoozi‑style lamb tacos with ma’abooch aioli. Using local Bahraini ingredients like palm pollen kombucha or triny citrus, Tala elevates Gulf cuisine through performative tasting menus and artistry that honours tradition. As a UN Gastronomy Tourism Ambassador, she advocates sustainable food heritage and women’s empowerment. Having recently stepped away to embark on new projects, Tala’s impact resonates across and beyond the Gulf. 

Pam Pichaya Soontornyanakij, chef and owner, Potong, Bangkok 

Pichaya ‘Pam’ Soontornyanakij isn’t trying to fit in. At Potong, her fine-dining restaurant in Bangkok’s Chinatown, she serves food that’s layered, intentional, and unapologetically personal. Each course leans into Thai-Chinese heritage, guided by her five-element philosophy—salt, acid, spice, texture, Maillard—with technique honed under Jean-Georges and the Culinary Institute of America. The result? Aged duck with tamarind jus, crab roe milk buns, sugar sculptures that melt mid-meal—dishes that challenge and comfort all at once. Set in her family’s former shophouse, Potong isn’t just a restaurant, it’s a reclamation. She’s also using her platform to lift others. In 2024, she co-founded the Women for Women scholarship, co-created with the American Women's Club of Thailand, to mentor young female chefs from rural Thailand. And in 2025, she became the first Asian to be named The World’s Best Female Chef. 

Lead image credit: Copper and Cloves, By Chef Pam, Tarte
 

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