Who is The Best Chef in the World? If there is anything a professional chef dreams about, then it is a Michelin star. Getting one is a true testament to a chef’s skill and dedication. This is why the best chefs in the world work hard for years and years to get even a single one to improve their ranking.
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Michelin Star Chefs [Top 17 Rating]
While many talented chefs have earned their Michelin star, it’s a rare few who have achieved the distinction of receiving multiple stars. The culinary world understands that more Michelin stars equate to a higher level of cuisine – the kind of extraordinary dining experiences that justify going the extra mile and paying a premium.
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Now, shifting our focus back to the culinary realm, here is our Michelin star chef list with only the most highly decorated and creative pros to ever grace the restaurant business:
Joël Robuchon – 32 Stars
Introducing Joël Robuchon – the chef with the most Michelin stars. He holds the number one spot among the top 10 chefs in the world, which makes him the best chef in the world according to the Michelin star rating. Although he died with “only” 28 stars, at one point, Robuchon was the proud owner of 32. He was also named “Chef of the Century” on numerous occasions.
He specialized in French cuisine and owned 12 restaurants. Joël also liked to mentor young chefs. One of his former students was the now infamous Gordon Ramsay.
Nowadays, a chain of famous restaurants was named after French chef cook Joël Robuchon. Twelve restaurants in the world with delicious French cuisine have the name L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon. They located in big cities, namely Hong Kong, Paris, New York City, Shanghai, Taipei, Bangkok, Montreal, Tokyo, and Singapore. One of these outstanding restaurants is also located in the world-famous casino place Las Vegas, as reported by CasinoValley.
Chef Joël Robuchon, the owner of the restaurants, where French haute cuisine is served, used creativity while designing the places. That’s why the interior also deserves attention. Most of the tables are put in an unusual way so the visitors can see how the food is being prepared. The word “L’Atelier” can be translated as “workshop”. Actually, the word “atelier” itself refers to an artist’s workshop in the decorative or fine arts.
Alain Ducasse – 21 Stars
Among the top 17 chefs in the world, Alain Ducasse may easily be the most successful one. Here is what he achieved:
- Earned and kept his 21 Michelin stars during his entire career
- He is the proud owner of 3 restaurants with an amazing 3 Michelin Stars
- Opened around 34 restaurants worldwide
Alain Ducasse was born in France and, quite logically, he is famous for delivering the most delicious meals from French cuisine. Of all the best chefs in the world, only Ducasse’s meals were eaten in outer space. Yeah, in 2015, Ducasse’s food was served to astronauts in the ISS.
Gordon Ramsay – 17 Stars
Gordon Ramsay is one of the most well-known chefs globally, thanks to his popular TV shows like Hell’s Kitchen, MasterChef, and Kitchen Nightmares. He is famous for his strong personality and direct critiques, but he’s also highly skilled in creating top-quality dishes inspired by British and European cooking. Ramsay’s restaurants have earned 17 Michelin stars in total, with 8 stars currently active.
He has almost 20 restaurants worldwide, including in Dubai, Tokyo, and Las Vegas, but his most famous one is Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea, London. This restaurant has held 3 Michelin stars for over 20 years, making it one of the most respected dining spots in the city.
Yannick Alléno – 16 Stars
Yannick Alléno is a renowned French chef who operates one of the most historic and prestigious restaurants in Paris, Pavillon Ledoyen, which boasts three Michelin stars. Across his 17 restaurants worldwide, Alléno holds 16 Michelin stars, placing him among the world’s top chefs.
Alléno is celebrated for pioneering “modern cuisine,” an approach that reinterprets traditional French gastronomy with advanced techniques. His innovations include extraction, fermentation, and cryoconcentration, which capture intense, pure flavours in his sauces, earning comparisons to a perfumer’s precision. His group, founded in 2008, also operates standout locations like 1947 at Cheval Blanc Courchevel and Pavyllon in Monte-Carlo and London.
Pierre Gagnaire – 14 Stars
Pierre Gagnaire is one of the chefs who has devoted his life in part to winning Michelin stars. That’s not surprising! After all, he spent his entire childhood in his family’s kitchen, which also held such an award. So at the age of 26, he has already received his first Michelin star.
He hasn’t stopped since. His most famous restaurant, located in Paris, has held three stars for many years. All these thanks to the unusual approach to traditional French cuisine that is present in all 18 of Pierre Gagnaire’s restaurants.
Martin Berasategui – 12 Stars
For 44 years, I’ve been dedicated, body and soul, to doing what I like the most in this world, cooking.
MARTIN BERASATEGUI
So far, Martin has collected 12 Michelin stars, which makes him the best Spanish chef in the world. Among 10 restaurants that he owns, two are triple Michelin starred hotels. One of them is the famous Restaurante Martin Berasategui.
Berasategui specializes in Basque cuisine. His cooking is a kind of art, and he definitely knows how to serve meals.
Enrico Bartolini – 12 Stars
Enrico Bartolini is one of Italy’s most celebrated chefs, with 12 Michelin stars to his name, making him the country’s most awarded chef. Known for transforming traditional Italian cuisine with a modern twist, he brings together classic flavors with inventive techniques in his restaurants. Bartolini’s career began in his family’s trattoria, and he later trained with top chefs in Paris and London before returning to Italy to establish his unique style.
He opened Ristorante Enrico Bartolini at MUDEC in Milan in 2010, which quickly gained attention for its fresh approach to Italian cuisine. Today, he runs several acclaimed restaurants across Italy, including Locanda del Sant’Uffizio in Asti and Poggio Rosso in Chianti, which earned a Green Star for its sustainable practices. Dedicated to local and seasonal ingredients, Bartolini also supports community projects like Orto Felice, which helps disabled youth and the elderly through gardening activities.
Anne-Sophie Pic – 10 Stars
Named the Best Female Chef by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2011, Anne-Sophie Pic is a celebrated chef with a total of 10 Michelin stars, making her one of the most awarded female chefs in the world. Surprisingly, she had no formal culinary training when she took over Maison Pic, her family’s restaurant, after her father passed away.
In 2007, she achieved three Michelin stars for Maison Pic in Valence, becoming only the fourth woman to earn this honor. Following this success, she opened her second restaurant, Restaurant Anne-Sophie Pic, in Switzerland, which holds two Michelin stars. Pic continued to expand her culinary empire with La Dame de Pic in Paris in 2012, and later opened additional La Dame de Pic locations in London, Singapore, and Megève, all of which have earned Michelin stars.
Andreas Caminada – 9 Stars
“Every meal is a journey of sensations” – this is Andreas Caminada’s motto, a chef known for creating unique flavors by mixing traditional European ingredients with new cooking ideas. His main restaurant is in the historic Schauenstein Castle in the small Swiss town of Fürstenau, famous as the smallest town in the world. This special setting gives Caminada access to fresh ingredients grown in the castle’s garden, including over 20 types of apples, mushrooms, and artichokes, which he uses in simple but imaginative ways.
Caminada’s style is all about blending familiar ingredients in surprising ways. He often cooks the same ingredient in different methods for extra depth, like pairing pike-perch with red buttermilk onions and radishes. His restaurant, Schloss Schauenstein, has earned three Michelin stars and has been ranked in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants since 2012. His IGNIV restaurants in Switzerland have five more stars between them, while his vegetarian restaurant, Oz, has earned one Michelin star, bringing his total to nine stars.
Caminada also supports young chefs through his magazine, Caminada Documenta, and his Fundaziun Uccelinfoundation, which provides career guidance and training for new culinary talents. Starting his business with just four team members at age 20, he now leads a group of over 40, continuing to shape Swiss and European cuisine with his fresh approach.
Carme Ruscalleda – 7 Stars
Carme Ruscalleda is the only lady to be considered one of the best chefs in the world that have been awarded 7 Michelin stars so far. She is the chef with most Michelin stars among female chefs.
Ruscalleda grew up on a Spanish farm. Maybe this is why she favors traditional Catalan recipes and seasonal products. She is the owner of three restaurants on two opposite ends of the world. Moments and Balnc restaurants are in Barcelona, while Sant Pau de Tòquio is in Tokyo.
Yoshihiro Murata – 7 Stars
Think of a perfect blend of tradition and delicate presentation of meals and Yoshihiro Murata comes to mind. Best known for his famous kaiseki dish, this legendary chef started his career by traveling to France to learn how to make French dishes, but he says he had a change of heart and decided to focus on bringing the world’s attention to the Japanese cuisine. Judging from his level of success, we can say he has successfully managed to do so. Murata is one of the best chefs in the world when it comes to Japanese cuisine. He mentored Heston Blumenthal, another Michelin star chef on the top list.
He uses local ingredients to prepare his dishes which are deeply inspired by nature. He now owns four restaurants, one of which is Tokimeite in London, UK.
Murata has earned himself seven stars.
Thomas Keller – 7 Stars
Thomas Keller, an American chef, has seven stars 6 of which he has constantly held. His restaurant The French Laundry has been ranked the best in the world twice. This is what earns him a spot on our list of the top 17 chefs in the world. He is also the first American to ever be bestowed with three concurrent Michelin stars twice for different restaurants.
Apart from his stars and restaurants, he is also an accomplished cookbook writer with his cookbook “Bouchon Bakery” being on the “The New York Times” best sellers list for almost two months in the year 2012.
Heston Blumenthal – 6 Stars
Next up on our list is the British Heston Blumenthal. He is best known for his innovative cooking style. His famous dish is the triple cooked chips.
His Fat Duck restaurant was listed the best in the world in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants back in 2005. Blumenthal more than the other chefs in the Michelin star chef list has always been fascinated by the science behind food making. So much, so that he became a fellow of The Royal Society of Chemistry. He takes a keen interest in the chemical makeup of different ingredients, and that is how to combine them in the best way possible.
He has 6 Michelin stars.
Masahiro Yoshitake – 6 Stars
The six-Michelin-star winner, like all children, helped his mother in the kitchen from an early age. However, unlike you and me, his interest in the art of cooking developed to the highest level. Even inexperienced Masahiro Yoshitake, on his father’s advice, preserves and actively implements the culinary traditions of Japan in his work.
And after following a thorny and creative path to the top, Yoshitake opens his restaurant, where he turns the craft of cooking sushi into an art. Yoshitake-san became world-famous for his signature Edo-style sushi, where he adds generous portions of rice, which he then covers with fish.
Although, in his works of art, the chef uses light brown rice, the preparation of which differs from the rolls we’re used to, what can we say about taste?
Yoshitake-san shares the conventional wisdom that sushi is traditional Japanese food. However, the master encourages his restaurant guests to enjoy the taste and feel the difference in the dishes. In trying to grasp the essence of Japanese cuisine, guests miss out on subtle facets of taste.
Quique Dacosta – 6 Stars
Quique Dacosta entered the culinary world by chance, starting at age 15 as a dishwasher in a Denia pizzeria. By 17, he joined El Poblet restaurant, a modest spot serving rice and seafood. Over the years, Dacosta transformed it into a renowned avant-garde restaurant, eventually renamed Quique Dacosta Restaurante. Today, it holds 3 Michelin stars and is known for groundbreaking dishes like edible veils, papers, and creative landscapes, including the famous Guggenheim Bilbao Oysters and Animated Forest.
Dacosta’s influence extends beyond his main restaurant. He also leads Deessa at the Mandarin Oriental Ritz in Madrid (2 stars) and El Poblet in Valencia (1 star), bringing his total to six Michelin stars. Known for his innovative work with rice, he published Arroces Contemporáneos, exploring the art of rice cooking. His dishes celebrate Mediterranean flavors with local ingredients like vegetables, seafood, and even aloe, all while drawing inspiration from the landscapes of the Mediterranean and Montgó Natural Park.
Jordi Cruz – 5 Stars
At the age of 24, Jordi Cruz received a Michelin star, making him the youngest chef in Spain and the second to receive this award. The young culinary genius’s entire cuisine rests on three pillars: tradition, food and a touch of modernity.
Cruz is now a happy winner of five Michelin stars, and ABaC owes his worldwide fame to his restaurant. After much trial and error, the guests are served works of art. Jordi Cruz has put all his skills and experience into six cookbooks, and under his watchful eye, new cooking stars are born in Masterchef Spain.
Heinz Bek – 5 Stars
There are chefs whose careers are built on innovations. But Chef Heinz Bek is rightly recognized as a master of the Mediterranean tradition. At his abode in Rome, La Pergola restaurant, the famous creator has received three Michelin stars. So far, he has five in total.
Heinz Bek does not create alone – for more than 15 years; he has been translating the latest scientific research in healthy eating into his dishes. Have you heard of the Order of the Knights of Italian Cooking?
No, it’s not Dan Brown’s new book. The fact is that Heinz and ten other chefs in Italy have united not only for the ideals of haute cuisine but also in the name of healthy food that can surprise.
These are 17 top Michelin star chefs. Their restaurants are where you can eat the most delicious food with magnificent texture. So, it is definitely worth your time and money to try the food at a restaurant run by chefs with most Michelin stars at least once in a lifetime.
Check out TOP 5 chef recipes that you can easily cook at home.
