Soneva Stars

Educated in classic Japanese sushi in Chiba, Japan by the renowned sushi master, Mr. Kazato, Chef Pepi Aneveski is a certified sushi head chef by the prestigious All Japan Sushi Association (AJSA). With more than 15 years of experience, one of Chef Aneveski’s greatest achievements has been winning the World Sushi Cup in Tokyo, Japan in March 2013, and also being awarded the title ‘World’s Most Creative Sushi Master’. In recent years, Aneveski has been working as a Head Sushi Chef in Copenhagen, Denmark, and has continued to develop his artistry. “Sushi is much more than a food creation,” he explains. “It’s more of an art which by understanding and respecting the core products gives you amazing results.”  His ambition is to raise more global awareness about the art of sushi. Chef Pepi Aneveski will host a series of dinners at Soneva Fushi and Soneva Jani in the Maldives to showcase his sushi mastery from October 15 to 30, 2022.

Ajay Chopra is an Indian chef, food creator, restaurant consultant and media personality. A pioneer in progressive cuisine, he was one of the first Indian chefs to host Masterchef India and helped changed the way people perceive cooking as a profession. Born into a Punjabi family from Lucknow, he spent his childhood in multiple cities in North India. After working in hotels throughout the country, he started his own company, Zion Hospitality, a food and beverage consulting company which caters to food and beverage units including hotels, Restaurants, QSR and casual cafe concepts. In 2018, he also started his own YouTube channel, The big daddy chef, which shares a collection of recipes that encourages families to have fun in the kitchen. Taking inspiration from authentic Indian dishes, Ajay transforms recipes into easy step-by-step processes. His cooking style is unique, using simple ingredients which have led him to be on the list of best chefs in India.

Soneva Fushi: November 1 – 6, 2022 Soneva Jani: November 6 – 10, 2022 A medalist of the prestigious international culinary competition Bocuse d’Or, Viktor’s gastronomic career was inspired by his father and brother, who were also chefs. Over the past 20 years,  the multiple award-winning has since mastered his skills under the guidance of some most famous, Michelin-starred chefs around the world, including Björn Frantzen at Frantzén in Stockholm, David Muños at StreetXO in Madrid and Christian Puglis at Relae in Copenhagen. Currently, Viktor is the brand chef of Moscow’s Uhvat restaurant, where he specialises in locally-grown produce and age-old cooking methods, seamlessly combining them with the latest techniques in the culinary arts. Constantly surprising guests with his original interpretation of traditional cuisine, he uses his original clay wood-burning stoves to cook delectable dishes before adding modern techniques and an author’s presentation.

Born and bred in Mumbai, Vicky’s wit and charm has a duality that is reminiscent of natural Indian spice. A foodie at heart, he is a heady cocktail of flavours, some still undefined. The initial explosive burst of personality and flair is followed through with a wild imagination, delicately layered with sensual middle notes, being excitable, entertaining, inviting, spontaneous and devilish. Through his culinary journey, Vicky taught at the White Star Chef’s Training School onboard QE2, in Manila and St. Nazaire, training over 180 chefs. Currently, Vicky consults as a Culinary Director with GIPL and conceptualises restaurant menus and food concepts for places such as Pizza Express, The Runway Project, The Market Project, The Poona Project, Ministry of Crab and Nihonbashi. He is most recently revamped The Bandra Project, which is a communal style, casual-yet-chic, all-day eatery serving global cuisine. Vicky’s travels and his knowledge of global trends have led him to develop a web series called Vicky The Gastronaut, which is streaming on his Facebook page. The series has gained over 10 million views. He has filmed in Peru and Australia and is now filming the third part of the series at Chiang Mai in Thailand.

Paying homage to the north, to the tasty variety of plant-based ingredients and to his love for “real” food, German chef Jens creates his own style of new Nordic cuisine at his acclaimed Rittmeyers Restaurant No4, with elaborately prepared sauces as the star of each individual dish. His menu changes weekly or even daily, working with small local farmers to create the freshest dishes in the cycle of the seasons. Throughout his career, he has led many Michelin-starred kitchens across Europe, including seven years in Portugal. This not only formed his passion for regional, seasonal cuisine, which focuses not only on meat, fish and crustaceans, but also on the diversity and changeability of local vegetables. Above all, Jens developed a great enthusiasm for an exceptional component: sauces. His fascination and talent for preparing elaborate jus, stocks and brews have earned him the title of “Sauce God” over time.

Rajput on her father’s side and Bengali on her mother’s, Asma moved to Cambridge from Calcutta in 1991 to join her academic husband. After studying law, she went on to do a PhD in Law at King’s College London. Cooking was her passion and she began her food career in 2012 with a supper club in her home. In 2015, she opened a pop-up in a Soho pub and Darjeeling Express restaurant opened its doors in June 2017. A year later, her cookbook Asma’s Indian Kitchen was published by Pavilion in October 2018. The book was the winner in the U.K. category for food publishing in Indian cuisine in the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. Asma’s Indian Kitchen was also shortlisted for best debut cookbook in the Fortnum & Mason 2019 awards. Asma is the first British chef to feature in Netflix’s Chef’s Table. The series’ sixth season, which includes Asma’s episode, was nominated for an Emmy in the Outstanding Documentary section. The Evening Standard listed Asma in The Progress 1000 as one of London’s most influential people 2019. In June 2019, Business Insider named her number 1 on their list of “100 Coolest People in Food and Drink”. Asma has been included in the eighth edition of the GG2 Power List –profiling Britain’s 101 most influential Asians. Her restaurant Darjeeling Express has been listed in the Michelin Guide 2019 and 2020. In addition, Michelin highly recommended Darjeeling Express in their 2020 top 10 Indian restaurants in England & Ireland.

Born in Yorkshire, England (known as ‘God’s own country’) Tim became passionate about food, cooking and inspiring others from the age of 13, when he worked as a dishwasher in a restaurant kitchen. From that moment he was hooked, watching the chefs in the kitchen, admiring their skills and the electric atmosphere of service. After graduating from college, he worked for Raymond Blanc for two years at Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons in Oxford, before moving to the South of France to fulfil his own romantic notions about French cuisine. While there, he worked with Yves Thuries at the Hostellerie du Vieux Cordes in the Tarn region. When Tim returned to Yorkshire, he opened a Junior Chefs’ Academy at Leeds City College to teach the next generation of chefs. Many former students have now gone on to become great chefs themselves, in England and all over the world. Tim was the first Yorkshire chef to head up one of the most popular Italian restaurants in Leeds, travelling to Italy, and working in Michelin-starred restaurants while he was there. Tim’s passion and drive saw him set up his own venture, opening The Butchers Arms in Hepworth, Yorkshire. The restaurant garnered an array of prestigious industry awards, including Pub Restaurant Chef of the Year from the Craft Guilds of chefs, and Best Gastro Pub of the Year. He has also appeared twice on the BBC’s Great British Menu, successfully reaching the finals. Tim is currently the Head Chef of the acclaimed Cannon Hall Farm in South Yorkshire, where he overseas the site’s award-winning restaurants, farm shop and deli. He also regularly cooks on television, and is resident chef on Channel 5’s This Week on the Farm. Tim will be bringing a taste of Yorkshire to Soneva Fushi and Soneva Jani in the Maldives from December 5 to 19, 2022.

Raised in Los Angeles, Howard recognised a deep-rooted love for food at a young age and found himself exploring his curiosity in his childhood kitchen. To pursue his dream of becoming a chef, he moved to New York to train at The Culinary Institute of America, which focuses on culinary, baking and pastry arts education with renowned alumni including Anthony Bourdain and Grant Achatz. He began his culinary journey in 2006 at DANIEL, a Michelin-starred restaurant in New York, and has since worked with several Michelin-starred venues including Picholine, Restaurant Mélisse, The Restaurant at Meadowood and The French Laundry. Chef Howard currently runs the kitchen at CÉ LA VI Dubai, where he focuses on reinventing the classics; finding that perfect balance between tradition and modernity. His menu is contemporary Asian with a European and American approach. Pairing this with his own approachable, rustic culinary style and attention to detail, he constantly strives to not just feed people, but to create memories.

Danish chef Anika Madsen began her culinary career at the age of 17, starting at the bottom and working her way up through the ranks of a brasserie in the heart of Copenhagen. While studying her bachelor’s degree at Formel B, she spent time training under Heston Blumenthal at Dinner By Heston in London, before joining the team at Eldorado under Theis Brydegaard in Copenhagen. In 2018, she took on the role of partner and head chef at the Kadeau group’s Roxie, located at the five-star hotel Herman K, and later joined Claus Meyer in 2020, her mentor at the time, as partner and head chef in the old pheasant farm Fasangården, situated within the Frederiksberg Gardens. With Anika at the helm, the restaurant’s set menu features dishes led by sustainable, seasonal ingredients from local farmers and fishermen and highlights her personal approach to gastronomy, gathering people through surprising elements and innovation.

Paul Svensson is a Swedish chef and restaurateur who lives and works in Stockholm after several years in the kitchens of London. Having spent 11 years as Creative Leader at Fotografiska, which in 2018 was voted the World’s Best Museum Restaurant and in 2020 was awarded a green star from the Michelin Guide, Paul now runs Paul Taylor Lanthandel, a neighbourhood restaurant that is known and respected for its circular outlook and thinking. Spring 2022 also saw the launch of his latest project Studio 2000, an edible experiment that strives to disrupt the food system and change the way we think about land use, soil health and flavour whilst also becoming the most equitable and fun way to look at the future of food. Passionate about the ‘Green Kitchen’ and questions sustainability in every decision he makes, Paul strives for a kitchen that achieves zero waste – a subject he also lectures on. His cookbooks are much loved and have won a number of awards, earning him distinction as one of Sweden’s most popular and loved TV chefs.

Italian-born chef Mirko began his culinary career in 1988, working at a local restaurant in his hometown of Aosta. In the years that followed, he worked his way through the kitchens of Gstaad, Geneva and Mallorca. Upon his return to Italy, he worked at a series of one and two Michelin starred restaurants, including Petit Restaurant Hostellerie du Cheval Blanc, Petit Restaurant at the Grand Hotel Royal and Golf and The Terrazza at Hotel Eden. After leading Moscow’s Italian restaurant Syr for 20 years, he now manages the kitchens of Aist, Onest and Bro&N in Moscow and La Fabbrica in Rostov-on-Don for the Novikov Group. As the brand chef, his philosophy champions the use of fresh, local seasonal products to create dishes that amaze guests with their apparent simplicity. An act to which he attributes his long search for the right ingredients and technologies. Revered by fellow chefs and television audiences alike, he is known as the most demanding of the judges of MasterChef Russia. In 2022, Mirko also starred in a reality show Cook on Wheels on the First Channel.  

An array of fine, festive dining experiences awaits guests at Soneva Jani, alongside an exceptional line-up of visiting chefs through the Soneva Stars calendar. Timothy Bilton, Anika Madsen and Paul Svensson will all be hosting exclusive dining events at So Engaging, the intimate chef’s table that seats just five guests. The seasonal celebrations start early on Christmas Eve, with a delectable mushroom steak and truffled egg breakfast served at sunrise or in-villa for guests. Later in the afternoon, Santa will be making an appearance at The Den to spread the Christmas cheer. Sunset cocktails will be served at the So Sandy beach, followed by an indulgent Christmas Eve dinner on North Beach, with live entertainment and a DJ. Families of all ages and sizes have plenty to look forward to at Soneva Jani’s all-new two-storey Den. Featuring a zipline through a cascading waterfall, areas for music, Lego, dressing up and creativity, a soothing sensory room for toddlers, and a hidden hangout for teens where mocktails and music set the scene – there’s something for everyone at The Den. In true Soneva tradition, the iconic New Year’s Eve Journey around each resort will see out the year in awe-inspiring style – with sumptuous dining, live music and unforgettable entertainment Discover More