Alexei Zimin

Culinary wildchild Alexei Zimin studied philology at Moscow State University before becoming a food columnist and later launching Afisha-Eda, a magazine that revolutionised how Russians thought about what they ate (it once suggested poaching salmon in a dishwasher). Having trained at London’s Cordon Bleu cookery school in preparation for his editorship, Zimin opened his first restaurant, Moscow’s Cafe Ragout, in 2010, serving French dishes with a Russian twist. Further successes have followed, including books, TV shows and a cookery school. Last year he opened Zima, a bar pioneering the concept of Russian street food, in London’s Soho.