Food is super important to the average human being, and it’s a known fact that the quickest way to a man’s heart is to serve a well cooked meal. As such, the world has seen an array of talented chefs, chefs that take the culinary industry a notch higher, and chefs that have carved out unique niches in their chosen fields.
These chefs didn’t just conform to the regular; they went around the box and created industries out of their ingenuity. A lot has been said about the three chefs we have before us, some true, some not so true, but here we’ll be giving you a specific disclosure.
Here, we will be showing you three of the greatest chefs ever to step foot into a kitchen. We will be giving brief descriptions of how they got to the pinnacles of their careers, their specific backgrounds, some of their most famous restaurants, and a few of their most memorable meals.
We are here to unearth the myths behind some of the culinary industry’s legends, and we will give you a clear picture as to how they attained such remarkable heights. So without further ado, let’s get to cooking with the best to ever “chef it”!
Top 3 Chefs in the World
The Chefs
Nobu Matsuhisa
Chef Nobu is one of the most renowned chefs to grace the culinary industry, and he has made a name for himself worldwide as one of the most delicate restaurant owners ever to grace the planet Earth. He was born in a small village in Japan in the year 1949 to a family of five. Nobu didn’t always have it so good, as his father died when he was just eight years old, and that left his mom to raise him and his brothers alone.
He got a job as a dishwasher in a notable local restaurant at the age of fifteen. In that restaurant, he started his culinary journey, as he was trained to be a Sushi master, learning the ropes with due diligence and remarkable humility.
After a couple of years, he pitched his tent in Peru. Cooking in Peru wasn’t an easy feat, but it sowed the seed for things to come for the master chef, as he was forced to improvise no thanks to the lack of Japanese ingredients in the South American nation. The Peru experience came to an end after three years, and he pitched his tent in numerous locations, achieving varying degrees of success and failures.
In the year 1987, he finally made headway in the culinary industry, as he opened a restaurant by the name “Matsuhisa” in Los Angeles, CA. He met the movie star Robert De Niro, who encouraged him to take his talents to New York, and as they say, the rest is history.
Chef Nobu opened the culinary industry masterpiece “Nobu” in New York in a joint venture between Robert De Niro, Drew Nieporent, Meir Teper, and himself. This finally gave Nobu Matsuhisa the chance to head a thriving restaurant, as Nobu became one of the great celebrity hotbeds, a venue filled with class, eloquence, and delicacies aplenty. The restaurant caters to a particular type of guest, as it is only accessible via reservation, and the meals are affordable to only the upper class.
Nobu has earned plaudits for its Japanese-inspired cuisine, the scenery it presents, and the superb customer service on the show. This excellent restaurant has made Chef Nobu the 1995 James Beard Foundation Award, among other awards for his expertise over the years. The restaurant has also birthed over a dozen hotels worldwide, in choice places such as London, Los Angeles, New York, Barcelona, and Malibu, amongst others.
Gordon Ramsay
The man Gordon Ramsay doesn’t need any introductions, but we’ll give one anyway. The great Gordon Ramsay is one of the best chefs that the world has ever seen, and his efforts have been rewarded with nothing less than 16 Michelin stars and a host of other accolades.
He has been the man behind one of the most incredible cook shows of all time. He has been at the helm of affairs in one of the finest restaurants that man has ever seen. He has retained an enviable standing in the ever-changing culinary industry. So let’s take a look at some of the things that make Gordon Ramsay so unique, starting with his background.
Gordon Ramsay was born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, to a hardworking British family that was more into soccer than anything else. He was brought into the culinary industry by accident (in his own words), as he was enrolled to study hotel management at North Oxfordshire Technical College, sponsored by the Rotarians.
He worked his way up while still in school and hot a job as a commis chef at the Wroxton House Hotel; it was there that his sense of discipline was birthed, as he was entrusted with more responsibilities than most rookie chefs in the United Kingdom. Following this experience, he moved to the more forward-leaning London, where he got a job to work and learn under the great but troubled Marco Pierre White at Harvey’s.
Ramsey worked with Chef White for a little under three years, after which he took up a recommended job to work with Albert Roux, rising the ranks once more to become the acclaimed chef’s number two. Ramsey worked with Albert Roux for a while, learning the french cuisine and the intricacies of managing an establishment, before he moved to Paris to complete his french education under the Michelin starred masters Guy Savoy Joël Robuchon. Ramsay then completed his associate chef training on an Italian yacht, learning the Italian cuisine on the sail.
Gordon Ramsay has always been one of the most ambitious chefs in the game, and he furthered that reputation by becoming the head chef at the Three-Michelin-starred La Tante Claire in Chelsea in the year 1994. He worked there for a while, improving their stature, and ensuring that they maintain their high standing in the culinary industry. He then took up the head chef role at Aubergine, where he earned the restaurant’s first Michelin Star in just under fifteen months, with the second Michelin Star coming less than two years after.
He left Aubergine after good years, as he wanted to own his restaurant and not merely serve as the head chef under a co-owned establishment. His dreams came through in 1998, as he opened his restaurant, which went by the name “Restaurant Gordon Ramsay.” he achieved this thanks to the backing of his father-in-law, Chris Hutcheson, and some of his former colleagues at Aubergine. Restaurant Gordon Ramsay grew remarkably in structure, and it was a three Michelin Star restaurant by the year 2001, and as they say, the rest is history!
Gordon Ramsay isn’t merely a restaurant owner; he is also a splendid chef, the author of several best-selling cookbooks. He was the host of the primetime special, Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. Ramsey’s efforts have earned him awards such as Officer of the British Empire (OBE), sixteen Michelin Stars for his culinary excellence, three Catey awards, two Guinness World Records, and numerous other awards and accolades for his excellence in various industries.
Alan Wong
The Hawaiian cuisine would be so different if not for Alan Wong, and it only fits that we would talk the wealthiest chef in history about in such high terms. Alan Wong was born in Tokyo; he didn’t stay in his birthplace for too long, as he was almost immediately moved to Hawaii by his Japanese mother and half-Hawaiian, half-Chinese father. He grew up around plantain plantations, partaking actively in the family business and making valuable contributions to the family upkeep.
He then attended Kapiolani Community College, and worked at several restaurants in Hawaii and Japan. In these restaurants, the ever-inquisitive and intelligent Alan Wong learned about Hawaiian dishes and how to incorporate them into his daily cooking. Wong saw that Japan’s opportunities weren’t so bright, so he moved to the United States of America in the late 1970s to show off his skill set and hopefully make a name for himself.
It was there that he “opened the Canoe House in the late 1980s and, six years later, opened his eponymous restaurant in Honolulu”. Mr. Wong’s self-named restaurant has gathered plaudits worldwide, as people have come from far and wide to taste his delectable Hawaiian Cuisine.
Alan Wong has made quite a name for himself, and he has amassed a fortune along the line. From the proceeds of his self-named restaurant, he opened numerous branches in Hawaii and one in Japan. Chef Wong is now known as the wealthiest chef in modern history, and he’s still doing more for his brand than the rest.
Alan Wong also spread his tentacles to the mainstream media, as he “cooked a luau at the White House for President Obama at the annual White House Congressional picnic for Congress members and their families.” Thus, becoming the first non-American to cater to a sitting president, he subsequently broke a record.
Alan Wong has also appeared on television, “making an appearance as a guest judge on the television cooking competition Top Chef,” after which he catered for the contestants at his private residence. He is also known to be a keen literary enthusiast, publishing numerous cookbooks that show the world some of his most extraordinary recipes to culinary success.
He has won multiple awards for his culinary excellence, prizes such as Robert Mondavi Winery Star Chef (1994), James Beard Award for Best Chef: Pacific Northwest (1996), Chef of the Year by Santé Magazine (2007), among other awards. He has amassed a fortune of over one billion US Dollars and a respectable social media following. This proves that there’s little that Mr. Wong can’t achieve once he sets his mind to it.
Final Thoughts
The three chefs you just saw are amongst the top 20 celebrity chefs globally; in fact, they took the mantle a notch higher. These chefs might all come from different backgrounds, but the common denominator is that they have made names for themselves through hard work, perseverance, and persistence.
Nobu Matsuhisa, Gordon Ramsay, and Alan Wong are among the best in their peers, and they are still striving for perfection, not letting themselves lapse into mediocrity. There are many ways to become a top chef, but the tricky part is remaining at the top of the culinary industry; these three chefs have done both, and we’ll no doubt be hearing about them more often in the long run!
