Julie Lin:
Beginning her culinary career by reaching the quarterfinals of Masterchef in 2014, Julie Lin is a half Scottish, half Malaysian chef who brought Malaysian street food to the streets of Glasgow when she opened her first restaurant, Julie's Kopitiam, in 2017. Following the success of this first venture, Julie teamed up with the owners of The Thornwood pub to open GaGa, which serves a broader menu of south-eastern Asian dishes.
Erchen Chang:
Growing up in Taiwan, Erchen Chang frequented the night markets. When she attended UCL, her path crossed with Shing Tat Chung whose parents ran a Cantonese restaurant in Nottingham. Alongside Tat Chung's sister, they opened Bao, a street food stand, in 2012 under KERB which was a London based street food collective. The success led to a semi-permanent fixture in Hackney's Netil Market then a permanent location in Soho. Chang went on to open a second permanent Bao location in Fitzrovia and her own restaurant Xu, named after her grandfather.
Cherish Finden:
Born in Singapore, Cherish Finden is an accomplished pastry chef who serves as a judge on Bake Off: The Professionals. At age sixteen, Finden joined Shatec Institutes and enrolled on a pastry-making course. In 2000, she won, leading a team, the IKA Culinary Olympics. Her long tenure as executive pastry chef at the Langham Hotel won her many awards including "Dessert of the Year" in her first year. She was appointed creative development chef at Godiva, a luxury chocolatier, and made the world's most expensive easter egg priced at £10,000.
Ifeyinwa Frederick:
Partnered with her brother, Ifeyinwa Frederick co-founded Chuku's in 2016, the world's first Nigerian tapas restaurant. Her first venture into entrepreneurship was at 16 starting her own dance school. Frederick has gone on to win the 2019 Young British Foodie Awards and feature as one of Forbes' top 100 female founders in Europe and one of Elle's star female entrepreneurs under 20. On her website, Frederick lists her mission as "to positively rewrite the narrative surrounding Nigerian culture in the UK and build a community centred around good food and good vibes".
Minal Patel:
Born in Gujarat, Minal Patel always knew that cooking would be core part of her life, roleplaying as Head Chef with friends as a child. Coming to England in 2004 with her husband Bobby, Minal had to learn a new language and culture while working in her family business which was a traditional Indian mithai shop. Since working at Prashad, Minal has attained two rossettes and Michelin Bib.
Nina Matsunaga:
Born to Japanese parents in Germany, Nina Matsunaga studied Culinary Arts Management in London at 18. At 21, Nina was helping in a friend's bakery back in Germany and heading up a cookery school. When visiting Manchester, Nina discovered the street food scene and met her husband to be. Moving to Manchester permanently, she set up a street food and event catering business called The Moocher with her husband. In 2014 they moved to Sedbergh and opened The Three Hares where they won many accolades and featured in the Good Food Guide. They later moved to the Black Bull where they have a simple food ethos to use "only the best seasonal ingredients available from what they refer to as the neck of Britain" - Yorkshire, Cumbria, Northumberland, Durham, Lancashire, Derbyshire and Cheshire.
