Introducing CODE’s 30 Under 30 Class of 2023/24, sponsored by Champagne AYALA.
The exceptional young people you see below are just some of the visionaries that make the British hospitality industry the powerhouse that it is today. There are chefs, sommeliers, restaurant managers, and winemakers too, but also many remarkable talents and great minds that turn the cogs behind the scenes. Here, we celebrate their achievements. We can’t wait to see what they go on to achieve in the future, raising and inspiring others along the way.
Meet our 30 under 30 Class of 2023/24
Sponsored by
Ones to watch
Abby Lee, 29
Owner and head chef, Mambow
From behind the open kitchen counter at Mambow in east London, Abby Lee plays her role in representing modern Malaysian cooking beyond roti, laksa and rendang. Abby opened Mambow’s earliest iteration at Spitalfields Market in 2020; but it was only on her return from Singapore and Malaysia where she saw out the pandemic, that it really started to resemble the Mambow it is today. At home with her family, the Cordon Bleu-trained chef reconnected with her roots and, for the first time, learned recipes from her Peranakan and Sarawakian heritage. Mambow mark two opened at Market Peckham; mark three opened in Clapton in November 2023. Head to Mambow to try her sambal-stuffed mackerel and five spice pork and prawn bean curd rolls.
@mambow_ldn
George Williams, 30
Head chef, The Bull at Charlbury
George Williams is no stranger to success. He has a first in theology from Cambridge; won a varsity blue on the university rugby team; and, arguably an even rarer achievement, he has a rave review in his cuttings book for his cooking at the Bull from the FT’s Tim Hayward (“food that can make you sit up and howl”). George trained at Ballymaloe after Cambridge, taking his first job at the River Café in early 2020. Unfortunate timing, admittedly, but he made the most of furlough, setting up Fed By George, a food parcel delivery service, to feed frontline workers and raise money for Hospitality Action.
@fedbygeorge @thebullcharlbury
Pierce Aungier, 28
Communications manager, Maybourne Hotel Group
Young Yorkshireman Pierce Aungier snagged one of the most coveted roles in hospitality when he joined the Maybourne Hotel Group (Claridge’s, The Connaught, The Berkeley etc) as communications manager in March 2023. He now plays a key role on the team led by PR doyenne Paula Fitzherbert, Global Head of Communications. It’s a fine time to be joining the international luxury hotel group: in spring 2024, it debuts its fourth hotel in the capital, The Emory, in Knightsbridge. Pierce earned his PR stripes during his four years at leading London agency Bacchus and featured as a ‘One to Watch’ in our 30 under 30 Class of 2019/20.
@paaungier @maybournehotelgroup
April Lily Partridge, 30
Sous chef, The Ledbury
In 2023, April Lily Partridge won the Roux Scholarship, only the second woman to have won the competition since its launch in 1983. Her victory won her a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Australia, where she staged at Firedoor, Quay, Bennelong and Josh Niland’s Saint Peter and Fish Butchery. She can add those illustrious names to an already glittering resumé: The Ivy, Blue Hill Farm, The Clove Club, and now The Ledbury, where she is sous chef. Lily Partridge, who comes from Chingford, found her vocation early, on a work experience placement at the Reform Club after her GCSEs. A ‘day’ at The Ivy eventually turned into a scholarship to study at Westminster Kingsway College. The long-term goal is to have a restaurant of her own.
Callum Mash, 23
General manager, Dorian
Front of house star Callum Mash made the move from one hot West London local to another, going from restaurant manager at the Pelican to general manager at Dorian, just five minutes away. Dorian opened in October 2022 and has gone on to become one the most talked about restaurants in town – even before Victoria Beckham became a regular. Mash has his work cut out, leading the team, working the room, and pouring some serious wines, all the while nurturing Dorian’s cherished ‘bistro for locals’ feel. Mash’s colleague in the kitchen is head chef Max Coen, who featured in our 30 under 30 Class of 2022/23.
@cally_mash @dorian.nottinghill
Kit McGrath, 22
Marketing manager, Season + Taste
Season + Taste is the Bristol-based hospitality group behind restaurant brands Bravas, Gambas and Cargo Cantina. In 2023, the group was voted one of the 30 best places to work by The Caterer, thanks in part to the efforts of innovative young marketing manager Kit McGrath. McGrath, who started at Season + Taste as a kitchen assistant, has introduced LGBTQ+ inclusivity and neurodiversity awareness to the company, partnering with neurodiversity charity SEND2Work to help adults with hidden disabilities find paid, sustainable employment. They were also the driving force behind launching free yoga sessions for employees, none of this strictly in a typical marketing manager’s wheelhouse.
@kmcgrathmusic @seasonandtaste
Florence Mae Maglanoc, 27
Chief executive officer, Maginhawa Group
As CEO of the Maginhawa Group, Florence flies the flag for Filipino food in the UK. Between them, she and co-founder Omar Shah oversee a stable of brands including pan-Asian Bintang in Kentish Town (Omar’s parents’ restaurant dating back to 1987), Panadera Bakery, Latin-Caribbean restaurant Guanabana, Filipino ice cream parlour and dessert shop Mamason’s, Ramo Ramen in Soho, and the newly opened modern Filipino restaurant Donia in Kingly Court. Florence studied advertising at UAL; she has an eye for a brand, for a clever concept, and isn’t afraid to make it happen. One of her ambitions, and she has many, is to open in New York.
Ciaran Brennan, 27
Head chef, Osip
After four years at Number One Bruton, Merlin Labron-Johnson’s Michelin star farm-to-table ‘micro restaurant’ Osip has outgrown its tiny home and is to move to a new address in rural Somerset in early 2024. Making the move with Labron-Johnson is Osip’s head chef Ciaran Brennan, who took on the role three years ago. Brennan has been at Osip since the start, and shares its values of collaboration, creativity, kindness and beauty. Labron-Johnson says “it’s a joy” to work with him. It’s not too late to experience Osip in its first iteration; you can catch them there until end of March.
@ciaranbrennan96 @osiprestaurant
Evan Williams-Box, 28
Food and beverage manager, The Fife Arms
As F&B manager at the Fife Arms in Braemar, Evan Williams-Box has one of the top jobs in Scottish hospitality. His role sees him running two restaurants, two bars, all events and the village pub to the exacting standards expected of Artfarm, the hospitality company founded by Iwan and Manuela Wirth of Hauser & Wirth. In such a remote setting, human relationships are everything. Williams-Box liaises with gamekeepers and visiting artists, royalty and visitors, and forges strong bonds with team members, encouraging their learning, development and progression. His CV also includes roles at Moor Hall, Gidleigh Park, and Yorkshire’s Devonshire Arms Hotel & Spa.
Georgia Sommerin, 24
Chef, Home at Penarth
It may be her father James Sommerin’s name above the door at Home at Penarth but Georgia Sommerin and the rest of the Sommerin clan are every bit as much a part of it. Sommerin’s CV reads like that of a chef ten years her senior: she’s represented Wales on Great British Menu twice (at 20, she was the youngest ever competitor) and at just 24 she’s already head chef and partner of a Michelin star restaurant. She started young, working in the restaurant at 13 to earn some pocket money, going full time when she left school in 2016. Who’s her mentor? Her father, obviously. He’s the only chef she’s ever worked for.
Hector Henderson, 29
Head chef, Rochelle Canteen
The head chef’s job at Rochelle Canteen in Shoreditch is a proven springboard to success. Previous incumbents in the role include Café Deco’s Anna Tobias and The Kinneuchar Inn’s James Ferguson. Hector Henderson, son of Rochelle Canteen founder Margot Henderson and her husband, St JOHN’s Fergus, took up the post a year ago after being sous chef for two years before. Henderson was destined for the kitchen; he’s been washing up and waiting tables since his teens. Pre-Rochelle, he did stints at Koya, Quo Vadis and Momofuku in Sydney.
@hector.henderson @rochellecanteen
Safiya Robinson, 29
Chef and founder, sisterwoman vegan
Safiya Robinson is a self-taught cook of British, Jamaican, and African-American descent, currently chef-in-residence at new hi fi bar and restaurant Moko in Tottenham. Her food is modern vegan soul food through the lens of a Londoner – just see the Louisiana po’boy she recasts as a Rudeboy (with not oysters but cornmeal fried oyster mushrooms and spicy ackee remoulade). She is the founder of sisterwoman vegan, a multipronged social enterprise founded on the three tenets of community, education and mindfulness. sisterwoman vegan assumes many forms – food education programme, reading group, supper club – but always centres wellness, inclusion, critical conversation and food justice. Safiya is a politics graduate, currently pursuing a Master’s in Anthropology of Food at SOAS.
Harvi Singh, 30
Business development manager, Notto
Phil Howard’s Notto has grown from a lockdown pasta delivery business run out of Elystan Street’s Michelin-starred kitchen to a hugely successful pasta bar with a pair of central London sites. Business Development Manager Harvi Singh has been there from the beginning, calling upon his experience in all corners of the industry. Singh, a business graduate, straddles the divide between front and back of house, having come to Notto via Le Manoir’s accounting team and the head waiter and later restaurant manager’s job at Elystan Street. Singh, a keen chef and even keener restaurant-goer, was instrumental in formulating the business plan, getting Notto first to Piccadilly in 2022 and to Covent Garden a year later.
@nottopastabars
Alice Norman, 30
Director and chef, Pinch
Fig leaf and black sesame? Honey and bacon? Cinnamon sugar? These are the difficult decisions you face as you pick your cruller at Alice Norman’s modest café and coffee shop adjoining Maple Farm Shop in Kelsdale, Suffolk. The correct response, obviously, is one of each. Suffolk native Norman, former head chef of Emilia in Mayfair, started her business in the spring of 2021, selling restaurant-quality food to go before opening up the café to sell coffee, homemade gelato and crullers, those deep-fried choux pastry rings with which le tout Suffolk is smitten. In spring 2024, Pinch moves to a bigger space on the farm where Norman will be slinging Roman pizza made with grains and vegetables grown on site.
@alice.norman.food @pinch.suffolk
Henny Fox, 30
Operations director, KOKO
Henny Fox moved to London from the north in her late teens, working her way up at some of the biggest names in the business: Corbin & King, Petersham Nurseries, and Annabel’s, before launching KOKO in Camden Town. What’s remarkable is that for much of her career, she was battling with drug and alcohol addiction, which she examined in brutally honest detail in two must-read features on Countertalk earlier this year (part one covered her addiction; part two her recovery) and on the We Recover Loudly podcast. Fox is also a passionate equestrian and a civilian support rider for the Household Cavalry Regiment.
Cameron Malik-Flynn, 30
F&B marketing manager, The Standard, London
It’s only been a year since Cameron Malik-Flynn joined The Standard, but already he’s been involved in some of the most talked-about activations of the year. From a summer BBQ series showcasing Riaz Phillips, Rahel Stephanie and Tom Zahir in the garden to a month-long Heinz X Morley’s Chicken Shop at Double Standard, The Standard has been the hotel on everyone’s lips. Over four years after its launch, that’s no mean feat. Malik-Flynn, former group beverage manager at BAO, is credited with bringing in significant brand investment and executing such simple but effective campaigns as Decimo’s Menu del Dia.
@cameron_malik_acid_ @thestandardlondon
Nikita Pathakji, 26
Private chef
It was pretty obvious, very early on in the 2022 series of MasterChef: The Professionals that Nikita Pathakji, then junior sous chef at Kitchen W8 in Kensington, was the real thing. Her octopus takoyaki and khao soi-inspired chicken thighs had the judges reaching for the superlatives (“Sublime” said Marcus Wareing). On becoming the first female winner of the show in a decade, she could doubtless have had her pick of jobs, but Pathakji chose to play a longer game, guest-cheffing her way around the country, and hosting a monthly supper club at her home in Clapham, with the long-term goal of opening her own restaurant one day. She’s also cooked pro bono for charities including War Child UK and Women for Women International. She did her apprenticeship at Westminster Kingsway College, going on to work at the Lanesborough, CORE by Clare Smyth and Bibendum.
Ned Burrell, 27
Chef and director, Wilding Kitchen & Shop
In 2001, conservationist Isabella Tree and her husband Sir Charles Burrell set about transforming their 3,500 acre estate in West Sussex into one of the UK’s largest and most ambitious rewilding projects. The trailblazing estate now attracts visitors from all over the world, hence the decision to convert an 18th Century oak-beamed barn on the land into a café, restaurant and farm shop which opened last summer. Commanding the hospitality side of things is the couple’s son Ned Burrell, a Ballymaloe-trained chef who’s worked at Brat in east London and The Bull Inn, Totnes. Burrell celebrates regeneration through delicious food. He’s fortunate to have his pick of produce grown in Knepp’s new market garden, as well as longhorn beef and Tamworth pigs reared and butchered on the estate.
@ned_burrell96 @kneppwildingkitchen
Panayiota Soutis, 29
Head of projects, Gemma Bell and Company
Leading communications agency Gemma Bell and Company announced a host of changes this year that included the inauguration of a projects division, led by Panayiota ‘Pani’ Soutis, to run alongside the established PR and marketing business. Soutis’s experience uniquely prepares her for the exciting new role; she was previously in chef curation at Carousel, and was partnerships lead at Dishpatch. In fact, it was Soutis who approached Gemma with her idea. Her focus is on creative strategy, consultancy, and production; so far, she’s been instrumental in establishing the F&B offering at the new V&A East (opening 2025).
@panayiotasoutis @gemmabellandco
Matthew Jackson, 28
Head concierge, Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park
Matthew Jackson is the youngest head concierge in London. He’s also the youngest head concierge across the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group worldwide. He made his start at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park as bell captain in 2018, was promoted to head concierge in May 2023, and is now a proud member of Les Clefs d’Or, the worldwide association of hotel concierges. Jackson has worked in hospitality since he left school at 16, accruing experience along the way that would set him in good stead. How many other concierges can say they’ve been a talent runner on Strictly Come Dancing?
@mo_hotels
Patrick McNulty, 29
Head chef, Ynyshir
Gareth Ward’s free-spirited restaurant Ynyshir, south of Snowdonia in Wales, scooped the top spot in the National Restaurant Awards for the second time this year and scored a ‘world class rating’ in The Good Food Guide. Talented as Gareth is, he couldn’t have done any of this without his team of fellow gunslingers including head chef Patrick McNulty. McNulty worked in kitchens initially to fund his studies (3D design and architecture and fashion design and marketing at UAL) but stayed on to Ynyshir’s gain. His job is to corral the day’s fresh produce, aged wagyu beef, and a global larder of arcane ingredients into thirtysomething distinctive courses, enjoyed over five DJ and disco ball-enhanced hours. See it to believe it.
@patchwork.ind @ynyshirrestaurant
Rebecca Dancer, 29 & Joe Beckett, 30
Co-founders, Kinsbrook
Rebecca Dancer and Joe Beckett at Kinsbrook Vineyard in West Sussex are among the UK’s youngest vineyard owners. The couple, both local (they met on the school bus) think ‘from the ground up’, combining progressive, sustainable winemaking with feel-good food and hospitality. Hospitality wasn’t the original plan. Beckett, the third generation to farm the land, had the vision to plant 20,000 vines at Kinsbrook back in 2017. Grapes grew; wine was made; and a hospitality offering – initially just coffee served out of converted horsebox café – organically grew up around it as local dog walkers and picnickers flocked to the great outdoors during the pandemic. The ambitious farm shop, deli, butchery, and restaurant that you see there today opened in late 2022, putting Kinsbrook firmly on the English winemaking map.
@becca.nathalie @kinsbrookvineyard
Ryan Walker, 23
Head of fermentation and R&D, Silo
As head of fermentation at pioneering zero waste restaurant Silo in Hackney Wick, Ryan Walker can justifiably claim to have the coolest job description in hospitality. He heads both the fermentation programme at Silo and research and development too. He started cooking early, learning from his mother in Thailand’s Isan region. At 20, he won a scholarship to study the environment and sustainability at Noma’s famous MAD Academy in Copenhagen. His job at Silo is to turn food waste into food wonder. Recent creations include amazake (sweet rice sake) ice cream made of rice shipped by emission-free sail power. This year, he made his Food on the Edge debut and collaborated with his Silo colleague Will Stoyle on a Dreamerz Burgers pop-up (tagline: ‘Fire, Fermentation and Fuck All Waste’).
@steeze_en_place @silolondon
Rose Gabbertas, 24
Head pastry chef, St. JOHN Smithfield
Self-taught pastry chef Rose Gabbertas started at St. JOHN in Smithfield as an intern. Now, two years, later, she heads up the pastry kitchen, while fitting in studies for her Master’s degree in Anthropology of Food at SOAS. Just to add to her workload, she’s also branched out into the world of pop-ups, cooking with her former St. JOHN colleague Elliot Hashtroudi at wine shop and bar 107 (formerly P.Franco) in east London.
@gabbergrams @st.john.restaurant
Charlotte Shaw, 27
Head housekeeper, The Athenaeum Hotel & Residencies
Charlotte Shaw is the first housekeeper to appear on CODE’s 30 under 30. As head housekeeper at the Athenaeum Hotel & Residencies (recently awarded ‘best urban hotel’ in the Condé Nast Awards for Excellence) Charlotte heads a department of over 40 people. Among her achievements this year are attaining the Master Innholders Aspiring Leaders Diploma and overseeing the introduction of Molton Brown’s first ever hotel-exclusive collection at the Athenaeum (in refillable dispensers to reduce single use plastics). Shaw is a mentor to many and goes out of her way to help her team with their English skills. The low staff turnover rate in her department speaks for itself. She has a degree in hotel management from the University of Essex.
Yann Bouvignies, 30
Head of mixology, Rosewood London
When Scarfes Bar at the Rosewood London made it onto the World’s 50 Best Bars for the first time this year it was down, in no small part, to the bar’s Head of Mixology, Yann Bouvignies. Bouvignies, who hails from a village in the south of France, started at Scarfes Bar in 2016; became head bartender in 2018; and was promoted to his current role last year. Responsible for an operating revenue of over £3m, his initiatives have included launching a bottled cocktail range, collaborating on a sell-out limited edition The Lakes X Scarfes bar whisky, and introducing a new bar menu that has seen average food spend jump 40%. He’s also a mad keen drummer, having been drumming since the age of five.
Suzi Mahon, 27 & Ella Williams, 22
Head baker & Chef de Partie, Mountain
Perhaps you’ve heard of Mountain, chef Tomos Parry’s Soho follow-up to Brat in east London? It only opened in July, but already it’s had a five-star review from Jimi Famurewa in the Evening Standard and raves from Grace Dent in The Guardian and Giles Coren in the Times (“the most exciting new restaurant this year”). It would be nothing without its team, including head baker Suzi Mahon and Chef de Partie Ella Williams. Mahon started in London but moved to Paris at 21 and worked chez Cyril Lignac, becoming head pastry chef at E5 Bakehouse on her return. She’s done chocolate and cheese making, but her current obsession is traditional grains; she collaborated with Pamela Yung on putting together Mountain’s grain and bakery programme. Williams, meanwhile, is an interdisciplinary creative with a work ethic and a half who started cheffing at 15, working at Park Lane Hotel, Café Murano, D&D Restaurants while completing first her A Levels, later a film degree at UAL. She joined Mountain from Jake Finn’s Cinder. Her Italian training and Jamaican heritage come together at her Sunday supper club Ode.
@suzirosalind @e.s_williamz @mountain.restaurant
Tomás Gormley, 29
Chef patron, Skua
Tomás Gormley founded Heron in Edinburgh with Sam Yorke, one of the CODE’s 2022 30 under 30 cohort. As widely predicted, the pair won a star for Heron in the 2023 Michelin Guide. Gormley has now turned his attention to their sequel Skua (also named after a seabird) which opened in Stockbridge in early ‘23. Skua, with its red neon sign, moody interiors, and subterranean setting, has been described as Stork’s “goth cousin” and “yang to the Heron’s yin”; but this is no dive bar. On the QR code menu: lobster, squid ink crumpet, smoked lobster butter, chives; and St Bride’s duck, radicchio, hoi sin. Gormley trained at Andrew Fairlies, moving on to 21212 and Le Roi Fou, two highly regarded Edinburgh restaurants. During lockdown, Gormley ran one of Scran Academy’s emergency food response kitchens and launched the Bad Seeds pop-up with his long-time accomplice Sam.
Valentin Mouillard, 30
Head sommelier, L’Enclume
Valentin Mouillard comes from a winemaking family; his grandparents made wine in the Jura. His earliest memory is helping his restaurateur father pour a Champagne fountain at a wedding; a career in wine was surely inevitable. Valentin has been at L’Enclume in Cartmel for nearly seven years now, working his way up from commis sommelier to head sommelier of the now three Michelin star restaurant. At L’Enclume, Valentin is charged with composing three wine pairings and one soft pairing to go with the highly complex 15-course menu. His list is limited to one reference per colour per winemaker. When not pouring wine, Valentin can be found on the fells, running, climbing and paragliding.
Alicia Latham, 26
Finance manager, KERB
Pioneering street food collective KERB celebrated ten years in 2023. Ten years – that’s 200 plus traders at (currently) seven different sites, serving over 6.5m dishes between them. Crunching the numbers is raver-turned-finance manager Alicia Latham. Latham started her career as office support with Village Underground where she was promoted to the finance team. At KERB, she’s praised for her cross-departmental communication, moving around the business for her own personal development, as well as to support the needs of the business, and for her engagement with KERB’s not-for-profit social enterprise KERB+. She is described as ‘a true asset’.
A message from our sponsor
With its longstanding commitment to the hospitality and direct-on-trade industry, Champagne AYALA is proud to be the headline sponsor of the 30 Under 30 2023/2024.
With its dynamic and youthful team at the helm, AYALA is deeply committed to shedding light on the remarkable young talent emerging from the UK’s vibrant hospitality industry. Notably, at just 34 years old, AYALA’s Cellar Master Julian Gout is part of the young generation of environmentally focused Champagne makers who are helping to shape the Champagne region of tomorrow. He is committed to pursuing the Champagne House’s CSR policy, especially in their aim to become organic. This award is a brilliant beacon for recognising and honouring the sheer potential of these 30 Under 30’s.
Drawing from a rich heritage dating back to 1860, AYALA were pioneers of dry, vibrant styles of Champagne. As one of the original Grandes Marques Houses, AYALA was awarded a Royal Warrant by Edward VII in 1908. Since 2005, the Bollinger family have helped restore this historic House to its former glory. Today, Champagne AYALA is celebrated for its fresh and elegant wines, crafted with precision and delicacy on a boutique scale. The AYALA range epitomises the purest expression and mastery of Chardonnay, the Maison’s signature grape variety. These exceptional wines have graced the UK’s most prestigious establishments for over a century.
Discover previous years’ lists
