Nieves Barragán Mohacho, the chef-patron of Sabor on Heddon Street in London, has been named the UK's most influential working chef in The Mise's annual industry survey, which polled more than 1,200 food professionals across hospitality, media, and education.
Barragán Mohacho, who opened Sabor with business partner José Etura in 2018 following her celebrated tenure as head chef at Barrafina, received 18 per cent of first-choice votes — the highest share recorded in the survey's four-year history. She is the first woman to top the ranking.
Respondents cited her consistency in maintaining Sabor's three-floor concept at the highest level, her role in broadening British diners' understanding of Spanish regional cooking beyond tapas, and her mentorship of a generation of younger chefs now working in senior roles across the industry.
What voters said
The survey asked respondents to name up to three chefs whose work had most shaped their thinking about food and hospitality over the past twelve months. Comments submitted alongside votes offered a detailed picture of why Barragán Mohacho resonated so strongly this year.
Several respondents pointed to her approach to the asador on Sabor's top floor — the wood-fired cooking station that has become one of the most copied formats in UK restaurants — as a reference point for thinking about live-fire cooking as hospitality rather than theatre. Others cited her decision to keep prices at Sabor broadly stable through two years of significant cost pressure as evidence of a principled approach to the business of running a restaurant.
"There's nobody in UK hospitality who has done more to demonstrate that regional cooking, done with absolute rigour, is as compelling as anything more fashionable," one respondent wrote.
The wider list
Thomasina Miers, co-founder of Wahaca, placed second, with voters recognising her decade-long contribution to sustainability campaigning alongside her restaurant work. Sat Bains of Restaurant Sat Bains in Nottingham placed third, while Anna Haugh of Myrtle in Chelsea and Asimakis Chaniotis of Pied à Terre rounded out the top five.
The survey is conducted annually by The Mise across a panel of chefs, front-of-house professionals, food writers, culinary educators, and industry buyers. The full top twenty will be published in The Mise's May print edition.
Barragán Mohacho, reached by The Mise, said she was "genuinely surprised and very moved" by the recognition. "This work is about the team and about the guests," she said. "To be thought of this way by other people in the industry is more meaningful than I can really say."