What’s On at Soneva Jani

During her 15-year career, Hortensia has collaborated with the UN, Olympics Sports Federations and several private clinics. She has a Master’s in Osteopathy and degrees in Sports Education and Physiotherapy. Originally focused on a traditional osteopathic approach to treating sports injuries, Hortensia’s methodology evolved to reflect evidence that stress, emotions and unchanneled trauma have a direct impact on the body. She works closely with you to get to the root of your concerns, using a unique, multi-pronged approach that combines traditional osteopathy with her deep knowledge of the body’s biodynamic, skeletal, muscular and craniosacral systems.

Chantelle Nicholson is a multi-award winning chef owner of Apricity, London. Formerly chef-owner of Tredwells (the recipient of a green Michelin star in 2021) and All’s Well, a ‘pandemic pop-up’. As one of the leading female voices in the UK’s hospitality industry, Chantelle is an advocate for seasonality and sustainability, championing veg-forward cooking and being committed to creating a more sustainable future across her operation and activities, whilst also being an independent board member for ReLondon and a Food Council member for City Harvest.

Sascha Stemberg has been running his restaurant, Haus Stemberg Anno 1864, in Velbert, Germany, since 2015. He first started working there as a Sous Chef in 2005 and, together with his mother and father, he planned his culinary dream. The restaurant has been family run since 1864, making Sascha and his wife the fifth generation to inherit it. Each dish is always full of flavour, using only the best ingredients, which are often local. They have their own bees, and work with many of the farmers in the area. In 2013, the restaurant achieved its first Michelin Star.

Chefs Judy Joo and Esther Choi will conduct a spectacular four-hands dinner at Soneva Fushi and Soneva Jani. Their dishes will showcase their amazing talent and rich Korean heritage. Chef Judy Joo In 2003, following an engineering degree at Columbia University and a career on Wall Street, Judy Joo decided it was time for a change. Realising that her passion was in cooking, she enrolled at the French Culinary Institute in New York, and received her Grand Diplome in Pastry Arts before becoming a test kitchen and editorial assistant at SAVEUR magazine. Excited about the thriving UK food scene, Judy moved to London in 2007, and joined Restaurant Gordon Ramsay as a pastry chef. For the following few years, she also worked throughout other Gordon Ramsay restaurants including Maze, under Jason Atherton, Claridge’s, Pétrus, and Boxwood Café as a chef and pastry chef. Judy also staged around the world at restaurants including 3 Michelin-starred The French Laundry in Yountville, California; Heston Blumenthal’s 3 Michelin-starred The Fat Duck in Bray; as well as Bangkok’s 1 Michelin-starred Nahm restaurant. In 2011, Judy became a regular face on TV, starring in Iron Chef UK and securing herself the title ‘Iron Chef UK’, becoming the only female Iron Chef in the UK and the second female Iron Chef worldwide. Off the back of her success in the UK show, Judy became a resident judge on Iron Chef America. Her expertise in Korean cooking led to her own shows: Judy Joo’s Return to Korea and two seasons of Korean Food Made Simple. Since then she published her debut cookbook, Korean Food Made Simple and has made regular appearances on numerous programs in the USA including The Today Show, Wendy Williams, The Talk, and various Food Network shows, and in the UK she has popped up on Saturday Kitchen, Sunday Brunch,  James Martin’s Saturday Morning and ITV’s Cooking with the Stars. Having settled in the UK, London was the obvious choice for Judy’s first restaurant as Chef Patron, and she opened the doors to her modern Korean restaurant Jinjuu – meaning ‘pearl’ – in 2014. Judy’s cooking is focused on the flavours of her childhood – raised in a Korean-American family in New Jersey, her back porch was lined with her mother’s clay pots, filled with fermenting kimchi, gochujang and doenjang. The house’s garage had racks of drying seaweed, and a Korean barbecue grill tucked in the corner. Judy and her sister were often drafted in to help fold row upon row of dumplings. Her multicultural heritage and training is evident in her dishes today: from ‘disco fries’ influenced by New Jersey highway diners, and topped with spicy cabbage kimchi, to classic French pastries that incorporate traditional Korean ingredients. In 2019, Judy left Jinjuu after five years in order to start a new chapter, which included the launch of her new cookbook, Korean Soul Food in October 2019, and has since launched her latest restaurant, Seoul Bird, in Westfield and Canary Wharf specialising in the Korean fried chicken for which Judy is known. Chef Esther Choi Chef Esther Choi, owner and founder of New York City’s mŏkbar and partner of Ms. Yoo, is an influential female chef driven by her Korean roots. With a personal passion for introducing New Yorkers to the flavors of Korean culture, Chef Esther’s cooking combines traditional and modern influences with fresh, seasonal ingredients. Inspired by the old-aged techniques of her Korean grandmother’s cooking, Chef Esther believes that food is the ultimate expression of a country’s culture. From its history and social customs to its language, geography, and arts, Chef Esther seeks to offer guests an understanding and appreciation of Korean foods. Chef Esther received formal training at New York’s institute of culinary education and has worked across the kitchens of ilili, La Esquina, and the Food Network. Esther has received numerous awards for her culinary pursuits and was named “New York City’s Culinary Rock star” in Zagat’s 30 under 30.

Coming from a well-travelled, foodie background, Carolina Bazán Bañados chose to devote herself to gastronomy. After finishing her studies in Chile in 2003, she opened the first Ambrosia restaurant with her family in downtown Santiago. From there, she trained in restaurants in Peru, Brazil, Italy and France, where she worked with Chef Gregory Marchand at his award-winning Frenchie Restaurant in Paris. Back in Chile, Chef Bazán and her partner, sommelier Rosario Onetto, started the first Hidden Kitchen movement in Santiago in 2012, which led to a new location and a new concept for Ambrosia. The result is a modern family restaurant, where fresh market produce leads a menu that changes daily according to what’s in season. Her goal was to create an amazing dining experience, where great food is paired with fine wines, music and good old hospitality. By 2017, Ambrosia was joined by Ambrosia Bistro, a smaller, vibrant, more personal space that brings the concept of bistronomy to Santiago, with a focus on seasonal produce and delicious dishes. Ambrosia has been consistently included in Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants since 2014, which also named Chef Bazán Best Female Chef in 2019.  

Agnieszka Roma Radwańska is a Polish former professional tennis player. Known for making intelligent use of the court, she won 20 career singles titles, two doubles titles, and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 2 on July 9, 2012. Among her many achievements and accolades, Agnieszka is the first Polish player in the Open Era to reach a Grand Slam singles final, the first Pole to win the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Finals, the first Pole to claim a WTA singles title, and was one half of the first Polish team to win the Hopman Cup tournament. In addition, she won the WTA award for Most Impressive Newcomer in 2006, the WTA Fan Favourite Award six times, Shot of the Year five times, Shot of the Month on a regular basis, and finished with a top 10 year-end ranking eight times.  She is also widely considered one of the best tennis players to have never won a Grand Slam. For her accomplishments in sport and for representing her country with distinction, in 2013 she was awarded the Gold Cross of Merit by Polish President Bronisław Komorowski. On November 14, 2018, Agnieszka announced her retirement from professional tennis at the age of 29.

Hailed as one of the best football freestylers in the world, Marcel Gurk is the current German champion, holds ten Guinness World Records and is the author of the world’s first book on football freestyling. He made it to the semifinal of Germany’s Got Talent, Das Supertalent, and travels around the world sharing his unique skills. Having studied sport and media management in Dusseldorf, Marcel also specialises in working with children and has designed his own unique concept to help take his students’ skills to the next level. While in the Maldives, he will be hosting football freestyling workshops for Young Sonevians at Soneva Fushi and Soneva Jani.

Therese Alshammar is a Swedish swimmer who has won 72 international medals, including three Olympic medals, 25 World Championship medals and 43 European Championship medals, and has set 14 world records throughout her career. A specialist in short distances races in freestyle and butterfly, she is the only female swimmer who has competed in six Olympic Games and the oldest to win an individual world championship title. Therese also runs a learn to swim program for schools in Sweden and has written two children’s books on swimming, mixing fact and fiction to spur interest to play in the water. Johan Wallberg is a retired Olympic swimmer and the current coach for the Swedish national team, leading the training centre for the team as well as research and development. With a unique eye and expertise in swimming techniques, he has coached several World and Olympic champions. Like Therese, he is also involved in learn to swim programs for schools in Sweden where he shares his passion for the sport and encourages young people to both learn how to swim and enjoy the water. While in the Maldives, Therese and Johan will be helping Young Sonevians perfect their stroke while having fun in the water.

Graeme Le Saux is a former England international footballer who played most of his career as a left-back, though his football pace and skill enabled him to move into a left-sided midfield role when required. Graeme made his England debut in a 1994 friendly against Denmark and went on to represent his country 36 times. The highlight of his England career was representing his country in the 1998 football World Cup. Graeme started his career at St Paul’s and moved to Chelsea football club in 1987. In 1993 he switched to Blackburn Rovers where he won the 1995 Premier League title with Blackburn. In August 1997 Graeme became the most expensive defender in English football when he returned to Chelsea football club in a GBP 5 million deal. Graeme remained there for six seasons before moving to Southampton football club. Graeme played at St. Mary’s for two seasons announcing his retirement in May 2005 following Southampton’s relegation. Since retiring from football, Graeme is popular with the media working across national and international outlets including NBC, Sky and the BBC. A respected and clear-thinking individual, he frequently undertakes project work with the FA, UEFA, FIFA and the Premier League.

For the past 10 years, chefs Adam Dahlberg and Albin Wessman have operated one of Stockholm’s most hyped Michelin-starred restaurants, Adam/Albin, offering a gastronomic dinner experience far from the traditional fine dining restaurant. Their restaurant group also includes Misshumasshu, Nori Bar, Ramen and a soon-to-be-open brasserie in the meat packing area of Stockholm. With their heritage rooted in Nordic cuisine and a passion for outstanding produce, the pair are on a mission to redefine luxury in the age of sustainability. While at Soneva Fushi and Soneva Jani, they will be combining their signature dishes with the locally grown greens from our organic gardens to create something truly unique.

Born in 1986 in the Czech Republic, Petr studied astrophysics at Masaryk University Brno and at Silesian University in Opava, Czech Republic. He is an astronomer and astrophotographer. His images were featured more than 30 times by NASA as Astronomy Picture of the Day, as astrophotographer and science outreach worker he cooperates with NOIRLab, National Geographics’ TWAN (The World At Night), European Southern Observatory, and many more. An asteroid 6822 orbiting between Mars and Jupiter is named after him. He travels the world to capture and show the immersive beauty of the starry sky and unique or rare sky phenomena. A long route brought him also to Soneva Fushi in 2019, where he experienced a beautiful night sky and took many photographs of it. Petr specializes in the outreach of modern astronomy with his talks to the public and in photographing the night sky phenomena to show what amazing Universe around us can be even seen by naked eyes all around the world, including the Maldives.

Born in Kenya to Indian parents and currently residing in the UK, Ravinder Bhogal is a journalist, chef and restaurateur inspired by her mixed heritage and the UK’s diverse immigrant culture. Her debut restaurant, Jikoni, was ranked 56th in the UK by the National Restaurant Awards within 7 months of opening. She has penned three cookbooks that reflect her cuisine of “cooking across borders,” in Cook in Boots, Jikoni: Proudly Inauthentic Recipes from an Immigrant Kitchen and Comfort and Joy. Ravinder has been named in Evening Standard Progress 1000 as one of London’s leading influencers of progress and diversity in the capital twice and launched a home delivery brand Comfort & Joy, a sister brand to Jikoni in June 2020. She is a monthly food columnist for the FT Weekend Magazine and Guardian Feast and a contributing editor at Harper’s Bazaar.