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Most of us would be familiar with the Michelin Guide, which maps out outstanding restaurants and eateries in the country. A lesser-known ranking system in the culinary world is The Best Chef Awards, which assesses individual chefs based on their technical skills.
Instead of stars, chefs from across the world vie for coveted ‘Knives’. According to The Best Chef Awards' website, One Knife (Excellent) denotes a high standard of culinary skill, Two Knives (World Class) indicates internationally-recognised excellence, and the prestigious Three Knives (The Best) reflects top-tier culinary mastery.
As we know, Singapore has no shortage of talented chefs. So it’s no surprise that in the guide’s most recent ceremony held on October 1 in Milan, Italy, 19 Singapore-based chefs walked away with new awards to add to their growing repertoires.
Picking up the highest achievements of the evening were chefs Julien Royer from French fine-dining restaurant Odette, and Mano Thevar, who runs his eponymous South Indian restaurant in River Valley. Both were awarded Three Knives. Royer was also the winner of The Best Food Art Award in 2024, a nod to the exceptional visual presentation and artistic plating that he champions at Odette.
A total of 10 chefs representing Singapore were bestowed Two Knives that night, including Kevin Wong from Seroja, Kirk Westaway from Jaan, LG Han from Labyrinth, Martin Öfner from Zén, Sebastien Lepinoy from Les Amis, Dave Pynt from Burnt Ends, Emmanuel Stroobant from Saint Pierre, Ivan Brehm from Nouri, Sun Kim from Meta, and Zor Tan from Born. All are recognisable names in the industry and frequent awardees on similar gastronomic guides such as The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Meanwhile, the One Knife award was given to seven Singapore-based chefs: Cheung Siu Kong and Edward Chong from Chinese restaurants Summer Pavilion and Peach Blossoms respectively, Francisco Araya from Araya, Johanne Siy from Lolla, Mirko Febbrille from Somma, Nishida Kazumina from Shoukouwa, and Rishi Naleendra from Cloudstreet.
While the 783 chefs at the ceremony are already widely regarded as the cream of the crop in the culinary scene, only three among them would emerge as the world’s very best. Standing at the top of the podium for the second year in a row was Rasmus Munk, the legendary Danish chef behind the multi-storey experiential Alchemist in Copenhagen. Coming in second was Ana Roš of Hiša Franko in Kobarid, Slovenia, followed by Himanshu Saini from the modern Indian restaurant Trèsind Studio in Dubai, UAE.
Here's the full list of Singapore-based chefs recognised by The Best Chef Awards in 2025:
- Julien Royer, Odette (Three Knives)
- Mano Thevar, Thevar (Three Knives)
- Kevin Wong, Seroja (Two Knives)
- Kirk Westaway, Jaan (Two Knives)
- LG (Li Guang) Han, Labyrinth (Two Knives)
- Martin Öfner, Zén (Two Knives)
- Sebastien Lepinoy, Les Amis (Two Knives)
- Dave Pynt, Burnt Ends (Two Knives)
- Emmanuel Stroobant, Saint Pierre (Two Knives)
- Ivan Brehm, Nouri (Two Knives)
- Sun Kim, Meta (Two Knives)
- Zor Tan, Born (Two Knives)
- Cheung Siu Kong, Summer Pavilion (One Knife)
- Edward Chong, Peach Blossoms (One Knife)
- Francisco Araya, Araya (One Knife)
- Johanne Siy, Lolla (One Knife)
- Mirko Febbrile, Somma (One Knife)
- Nishida Kazumina, Shoukouwa (One Knife)
- Rishi Naleendra, Cloudstreet (One Knife)
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