The Spanish-American chef who brought tapas to America and then decided feeding the world was more important than Michelin stars. José Andrés is a James Beard Award-winning restaurateur and the founder of World Central Kitchen, a non-profit that shows up with hot meals wherever disaster strikes. Named one of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People" twice and awarded the National Humanities Medal, he's proved that a chef can change policy, feed millions, and still run an empire of restaurants.

The only chef in America to hold two simultaneous three-Michelin-star restaurants, Thomas Keller transformed a 19th-century Napa Valley laundry into The French Laundry—one of the world's most coveted reservations. Self-taught and relentlessly precise, he's the rare culinary mind who made French fine dining feel essential rather than stuffy. Beyond his restaurant empire (Per Se, Bouchon, Ad Hoc), he's been knighted by France, launched cult-favorite product lines.

Born in the Ivory Coast and raised in low-income housing in Paris with 19 siblings, Mawa McQueen built Aspen's only Black-owned restaurant—and it's Michelin Guide Recommended. A James Beard Award semifinalist and two-time Colorado Governor's Minority Business Award winner, she's the force behind a growing culinary empire that includes Mawa's Kitchen, Crepe Therapy Cafe, and a grain-free granola line.