For an ex-VAT consultant, Thomasina Miers sure can cook. When she won Masterchef in 2005, Thomasina took up her spatula and began a stint at Petersham Nurseries under chef Skye Gyngell. Then in 2007, she drew on her time in South and Central America to open Wahaca, an award-winning restaurant group offering unique and vibrant dishes inspired by the food markets and street stalls of Mexico. Wahaca uses free-range meat, sustainable fish and recycles everything down to the food waste. She’s also a food and cookery writer and TV presenter. Tommi’s new TV series “Mexican Food Made Simple” will be on Channel Five, series starting on 5th July. Her book: “Mexican Food Made Simple” is available to buy in all good book stores nationwide, published by Hodder & Stoughton £20.

Giorgio Locatelli grew up in the kitchen of his parent’s Michelin-starred restaurant on the shores of Lake Maggiore, Northern Italy. Now one of the UK’s best-loved Italian chefs, he earned his own Michelin star at Zafferano in the 1990s. More success followed with popular London restaurants Spighetta and Spiga, and in 2003 he earned his second star at Locanda Locatelli, the celebrated London restaurant he set up with his wife Plaxy. Giorgio’s skills lie in highlighting the natural flavours of quality produce, exalting dishes such as pan-fried calf’s kidneys, lobster linguine or scallop risotto, with gorgeous ingredients like saffron, black truffle and amaretti.

Think ‘fusion’ and you’ll probably think Peter Gordon. The celebrated Kiwi brings together the ingredients and cooking styles of the Asia-Pacific and European food traditions, with sublime results that have tickled the tastebuds of the toughest restaurant critics, while delighting many a diner. His multi-award-winning restaurants have included the Sugar Club kitchens in Notting Hill and West Soho, The Providores and Tapa Room in Marylebone and the recently opened Kopapa in Seven Dials.

For the last 12 years, Jamie Oliver has been inspiring people to cook and eat better food through his TV series, best-selling books and campaigns. From his early days as “The Naked Chef”, where he demonstrated how simple and delicious food could be, Jamie went on to found Fifteen, a charitable restaurant group that uses food to give unemployed young people a chance of a better future. Each of the three Fifteen restaurants operates a unique Apprentice Programme alongside the day-to-day running of the restaurant, reinvesting profits to fund training. In 2005, his TV show Jamie’s School Dinners, and the Feed Me Better campaign, caused a fundamental change in the UK government’s policy on school food, and he is currently championing Ministry of Food projects in the UK and Australia, as well as the Food Revolution in the USA. Jamie has also developed a BTEC course for secondary schools called Home Cooking Skills, now being taught across Britain. Jamie continues to empower, educate and engage as many people as possible to love and enjoy good food. He has also opened a number of award-winning Jamie’s Italian restaurants that are hugely popular in towns and cities across the UK. He also recently opened Barbecoa, in partnership with famed US chef Adam Perry Lang.

Jonathan Downey gave up a career in international corporate law in 1997 to devote his life to drinking. And London is very glad he did so. His Rushmore Group owns some of the most talked-about restaurants, cocktail bars and private members clubs’ in the capital, including Match Bar, The Player, Milk & Honey, Trailer Happiness, Giant Robot, Redhook, Tiny Robot and The Starland Social Club, Super Pizza and Danger of Death. Jonathan also owns restaurants and bars in New York and Melbourne, a boutique hotel in the French Alps, a drinks publishing company and drinks brand, The Proof Beer Company.