Special AwardsNovember 2022

International Special Awards 2023

The International Special Awards 2023 recognize chefs, restaurants, and regions who are making waves in the industry through excellent cooking, innovation, sustainability, authenticity, and more.

Award of Honour

Recognizing the legacy of a chef or restaurateur

Michel Guérard

Michel GuérardLiving legend Michel Guérard is receiving a Special Award of Honour at La Liste 2023 recognizing his tremendous influence on the culinary world. Chef Guérard is most notably one of the founders of nouvelle cuisine, and the inventor of cuisine minceur. Chef Guérard was the first great chef to work with the food industry, one of the first great chefs to open a bistro, he launched in 1996 with his Ferme Thermale the wave of spas that has since spread to hotels all over Europe, he was one of the first chefs to buy a vineyard (Château de Bachen), opened a second discreet hotel on the Atlantic coast - and remained faithful to his slimming cuisine. If there's a recipe for success in Michel Guérard's life and cooking, it's that just when other colleagues are putting their feet up and basking in deserved glory, he goes back to the drawing board, questions what he's accomplished - and simply writes another act.

Top Pastry Chef Award

A pastry chef who creates and innovates in the world of pastry in restaurants

Sponsored by

International selection1

Chika Tillman

Chika TillmanChikalicious Dessert Bar · New York, USAFor La Liste, no-one dessert better than ChikaLicious, the outstanding and outrageously innovative pastry shop which serves New Yorkers a fully sweet menu from its East Village counter, described by chef and co-owner Chika Tillman as “American desserts, French presentation, and Japanese tasting portions”. Try yogurt panna cotta with pomegranate sorbet and brioche crouton, or white chocolate mousse and apple trifle with Calvados genoise and butter pecan. In addition to the dessert restaurant, ChikaLicious has ‘The Dessert Club’ pastry shop outlets in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Bangkok and Dubai - with more on the way - where you can try signature Dough’ssants and crepe cakes.

Local selection – France1

Pierre-Jean Quinonero

Pierre-Jean QuinoneroLe Burgundy Paris · Paris, FranceNot yet 30 and with just over a year at Le Burgundy Paris, Pierre-Jean Quinonero is today’s go-to pastry chef for Parisians with a sweet tooth. Take afternoon tea under Le Burgundy’s glass ceiling, or save space at the end of dinner at Le Baudelaire. At “tea time”, Quinonero offers exquisitely executed favorites such as Paris-Brest and apple and cinnamon tatin. At dinner, his creations become more theatrical, from hazelnut, saffron and lime to a chocolate dish with black cardamom and oabika, the little-used cocoa juice extracted from the pulp. Quinonero is from Auvergne and grew up in a food-loving family. He credits his French and Spanish grandmothers for inspiring his career, which he has honed at Chateau de Ferrieres and the Four Seasons George V.

New Destination Champion Award

A rising region that deserves a spot on the gastronomic map

International selection1

Mediterranean

MediterraneanYotam OttolenghiThe Mediterranean region includes at least twenty countries across southern Europe, north Africa and western Asia, and is as vast as it is diverse. Its cuisines include French, Spanish, Greek, and Italian to Turkish, Moroccan, and Lebanese, an astounding array of cultures, climates and culinary history. How to bring it all together? Jerusalem-born, London-based chef Yotam Ottolenghi has been working to do just that for decades exploring and translating the magic of the Med’s rich produce and incredible variety into millions of homes with his Mediterranean Feast TV series and nine cookbooks, including Plenty, Plenty More, Simple, and Flavour. It is 20 years since he opened his first Ottolenghi delicatessen in Notting Hill and he now has five, along with restaurants NOPI and ROVI. From these and his infamous Test Kitchen, he has trained and inspired scores of chefs and influenced our store cupboard, turning Mediterranean and Middle Eastern ingredients such as preserved lemons, za’atar, pomegranate molasses, and tahini into everyday staples.

Local selection – France1

Lyon

LyonJosph Viola · Tabata and Ludovic MeyLyon, the legendary food destination nestled between the Saône and the Rhône, is a city of old friends and new faces. The bouchons such as Daniel et Denise, the beating heart of Lyon’s food scene, rub shoulders with famous restaurants like La Mère Brazier and the Auberge du Pont de Collonges - best known as Paul Bocuse - along with the wine merchants of the old town, and the cheesemakers and butchers in the covered market. Alongside all this are a new generation of dining spots, both innovative and even meat-free, including Ludovic and Tabata Mey at Les Apothicaires, Maxime Laurenson at Rustique, Louis Fargeton of L’Établi, and Peruvian Miraflores. Culina Hortus is probably the best known vegetarian spot, then we have the new food court, Food Traboule, and the Lyon Street Food Festival, which celebrated its sixth year this summer. Together they deliver a gourmet destination fizzing with life, making Lyon, once more, the true capital of great eating.

Innovation Award

An innovative chef or restaurateur who has pivoted to new and creative business ideas

Sponsored by

Game Changer Award

An exceptional chef or restaurateur who has campaigned to change kitchen and industry culture

Sponsored by

Josh And Julie Niland

Josh And Julie NilandAustraliaAustralian chef Josh Niland, whose wife Julie runs his ever evolving Sydney business, has changed the way chefs use fish all over the world with his zero-waste “fish butchery” approach. His methods seemed radical when he started talking about them, but make sense - use the whole fish, from fin-to-gill, as we do nose-to-tail with animals. Age and cure fish. Don’t forget the offal. As many chefs lack the knowledge to do this, he shares his ideas in two cookbooks, The Whole Fish and Take One Fish. Niland enjoys tremendous global acclaim for a chef who only opened his first restaurant, Saint Peter, in 2016. Today he also has the infamous Fish Butchery fishmonger, where cuts are displayed like fine jewels, and his interpretation of a fish ‘n’ chip shop, Charcoal Fish.

Community Spirit Award

A chef or restaurateur showing an outstanding commitment to supporting their community or cause

Association Antoine Alléno

Association Antoine AllénoYannick Alléno · FranceThe Alléno family lost their 24-year-old son, Antoine, on the night of May 8, 2022, the victim of a terrible crime with tragic consequences. Yannick Alléno, an incredibly popular chef and restaurateur known for reworking classic sauces, has been profoundly changed by the grief of his son’s death. In September he set up the Association Antoine Alléno to help victims of crime under the age of 25 and their families.

Ethical & Sustainability Award

A chef or restaurateur demonstrating exemplary dedication to ethical practices, sustainability and social responsability within the workplace, industry and wider community

International selection1

Manu

ManuManoella Buffara · Curitiba, BrazilChef-owner Manoella Buffara elevates regional ingredients into elegant fine dining in her Curitiba restaurant in the Brazilian state of Paraná, home to the Iguazu Falls, and is widely considered one of the best chefs in Latin America. But even more commendable than her cooking is her commitment to reconnecting the people of Curitiba with food, and improving the food system of her home. She started with bees - placing hives around the city, which quickly became talking points, and works to create urban farms and educate others to grow and cook through her Instituto Manu Buffara. She has over eighty gardeners growing for her across the city, and scores of children visit her own vegetable garden each week. The five-table, tasting menu-only restaurant is 60% plant-based. Manu uses local meat and fish but has eschewed beef, the cause of so much destruction in the Amazon, since 2019. She has just opened Ella in New York and launched a one year pop-up in the Maldives, translating her precise and authentic approach to local and seasonal cuisine for the Soneva Fushi resort.

Local selection – France1

Assiette Champenoise

Assiette ChampenoiseArnaud Lallement · Reims, FranceWe hear plenty of good things about Arnaud Lallement's cooking, but few customers know that this unshowy chef is in the process of transforming his restaurant to meet high environmental standards - perhaps because he’s not the type to shout about saving the world with a handful of fine dining covers. Just outside of Reims, L’Assiette’s gardener Benoit Deloffre has spent several years working on his vegetable garden, which now produces edible flowers, vegetables, and herbs. Lallement has his own beehives and cooks with produce that is either certified organic or produced along organic lines. The kitchen has gone fully electric and waste is composted. All in all it feels like a sustainable step-by-step evolution of a fine dining restaurant compared to the approaches of more radical chefs.

Digital Influencer Award

A chef or restaurateur who is doing innovative activities online

Chefs In Africa

Chefs In AfricaDieuveil Malonga · Kigali, Rwanda31-year-old Dieuveil Malonga is committed to giving a voice to African food around the world. In addition to restaurant Meza Malonga in Kigali, Rwanda, where he nurtures the continent’s food culture by training scores of young chefs, his Chefs in Africa platform provides a space for thousands more to meet and share ideas. Over 4,000 chefs, 75% in Africa, are using the digital tool, which connects professional chefs and students with businesses, training programmes and government schemes, working with them to uproot obstacles such as discrimination and poor training or access to employment. Born in Congo-Brazzaville and raised in Belgium, Malonga trained in Germany’s best restaurants before taking part in France’s Top Chef. His fusion cuisine at Meza Malonga mixes local flavors and high-end techniques, and he hopes to expand in 2023.

New Arrivals of the Year

Restaurants that have successfully opened and deserve to be commended.

Hidden Gems Award

Restaurants worth going an extra mile for

Sponsored by

Artisan & Authenticity Award

Restaurants promoting the culinary heritage of its region or country through skill, produce and sourcing

Sponsored by

New Talents of the Year

Most promising chefs of the year.

Sponsored by

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