Influencer
Top 10 Professional Chefs: The Best Influencers in the Food and Cooking Space
Professionals make great influencers due to their years of experience and skills, and it’s no different when it comes to chefs. Be it simple cooking tips or sharing their creations with you, these top chefs add a lot of variety and spice to your Instagram feed.
Lately, more and more professional chefs have been stepping out of the kitchens and expanding to Instagram. This is great news for foodies as well as brands that want to partner with them.
Follow these top 10 chef influencers who are masters of their craft and watch them cook up a storm. But be warned – their dishes are drool-worthy!
Top 10 Chef Influencers
#1 Alain Passard (@alain_passard)
Followers: 621k
Alain Passard is a French chef who owns a three-michelin-star restaurant named L’Arpege in Paris. The restaurant menu changes according to the seasons and all the produce is sourced from their very own organic gardens! Alain loves cooking dishes where the vegetables are the showstoppers. Each dish he creates is a work of art.
On his Instagram page, he shares his wonderful creations as well as stills from the garden, which is his passion project.
#2 Jamie Oliver (@jamieoliver)
Followers: 9.2M
Jamie Oliver is a celebrity chef as well as a cookbook author who is known for his TV shows including “The Naked Chef” and “Jamie’s 15 Minute Meals,” his numerous cookbooks, and the Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group. Jamie’s casual approach to cuisine that aims at breaking traditional gender roles about who should cook has made him a fan favorite.
He makes cooking seem easy, even to those who are busy. On his Instagram page and website, he posts a lot of recipes, including those that can be cooked in under 30 minutes and/or can be made with just 5 ingredients. There are even budget-friendly recipes that he calls “Jamie’s £1 wonders.” Whether you are new to cooking or just want some new recipes, his page offers plenty of resources.
#3 Timothy Hollingsworth (@cheftimhollingsworth)
Followers: 195k
Tim is the executive chef and owner of Otium, a contemporary restaurant in Los Angeles. Otium is known for its casual ambience with an open kitchen with the indoor and outdoor seating areas merging. The idea is to create a calm place for people to eat and catch up with their loved ones. The restaurant’s menu is based on Tim’s experience and is a collection of eclectic and flavorful dishes.
Tim has won multiple awards including the Rising Star Chef of the Year Award by the James Beard Foundation and has appeared in Netflix’s show “The Final Table.” On his Instagram, he shares the dishes he creates as well as snippets from his daily life.
#4 Joanne Chang (@joannebchang)
Followers: 106k
Joanne is a pastry chef and owns Flour Bakery with her husband which is a bakery + cafe whose mission is to make things sweeter for the people around them. The pair also own Myers + Chang, where they serve yummy Asian food.
On her Instagram page, she shares her drool-worthy pastry creations. Her signature dish is her sticky buns. Joanne has published several cookbooks filled with recipes that are easy to follow so that you can become a baker, too! She is also the recipient for the James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Baker in 2016.
#5 Nigella Lawson (@nigellalawson)
Followers: 2.8M
Nigella Lawson is a celebrity chef and cookbook author who is known for her shows “Nigella Feasts” and “Nigella Bites.” She has even appeared in MasterChef Australia as a guest judge.
Her Instagram page is a delicious mix of all the things she cooks and eats. You have “recipe of the day” posts where she shares various cuisines and pastries. If you want the complete recipe for these dishes, just head over to her blog. Apart from recipes, you can also find tips and cooking FAQs on her website. Then you have her “cookbook corner” posts where she shares her favorite dishes from different cookbooks.
#6 Maggie Beer (@maggie_beer)
Followers: 335k
If you have ever watched The Great Australian Bake Off, you must recognize Maggie as one of the judges. Not only is she a famous chef, she is also a cookbook author, and a food manufacturer who has her own line of products.
She shares pictures of the food she cooks as well as updates about Maggie Beer Products on her Instagram page. If you want to recreate the dishes she shares, visit her website for detailed recipes. You can also shop her products directly from there!
#7 Jenner Tomaska (@jennertomaska)
Followers: 104k
Jenner Tomaska is the owner and executive chef of Esme, the one-Michelin-starred restaurant in Chicago. He was also a James Beard Rising Star finalist in both 2016 as well as 2017. His restaurant offers a unique fine dining experience with a different menu every 12 weeks.
Jenner creates his dishes based on Chicago’s vibrant culture. He believes that good food is art, so each of the dishes he serves blend creativity, different flavors, and textures beautifully. Curious about the kind of food they serve? Check out his Instagram page! You will want to try each one of them, though.
#8 David Chang (@davidchang)
Followers: 1.7M
David is the founder of the Momofuku restaurant group which is known for reimagining Asian cuisine with a modern twist. His restaurant, Momofuku Ko, has two Michelin stars and has been featured on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. He has won multiple awards from the James Beard Foundation including the one for the Best New Restaurant.
David sometimes publishes his recipes in food magazines and shares what he eats on his Instagram page. You will find a lot of Asian food/ restaurant recommendations on his page! He is also a podcaster and a TV personality who has appeared in several shows such as Ugly Delicious by Netflix.
#9 Rene Redzepi (@reneredzepinoma)
Followers: 1M
Rene is a Danish chef who co-owns Noma, a restaurant in Copenhagen with three Michelin stars. He is known for his unique takes on Nordic cuisine with clean flavors. The menu of Noma is seasonal and includes a lot of seafood.
Rene sources all the produce locally and often goes foraging in the woods for food. If you check out his Instagram page, you can find pictures of everything he finds during his excursions. He, then, uses the plants he finds to experiment with and prepare dishes – often after drying and fermenting them.
#10 Simone Zanoni (@chefsimonezanoni)
Followers: 315k
Simone loves pasta and is the chef at Le George, which is one of the three restaurants of the Four Seasons Hotel George V. He loves working with fresh ingredients and believes that the only way to make a dish unique is to put your entire heart and soul into it. Simone has previously worked with the famous Gordon Ramsay and has received accolades such as “The Best Italian Chef Working Abroad” by BMW Italia Guide.
Le George is a Mediterranean-style restaurant and you can find many of the dishes they serve on Simone’s Instagram page. He also shares a lot of recipes that you can recreate in the comfort of your own home.
We have reached the end of the virtual food tour. Feeling hungry? Try some of the dishes by these top chefs and let us know which ones were your favorite. Don’t forget to share this article with other foodies before you go!
