Helena Rizzo of Mani Named World’s Best Female Chef

From the best female chef of Latin America to the best female chef around the world, Brazilian chef Helena Rizzo has made quite the splash.

The recipient of  The Veuve Clicquot World’s Best Female Chef on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants List  for 2014, Rizzo is both an ex-model and a trained architect, however it is her experience and special touch on restaurants across Europe and Latin America that have distinguished her.

Rizzo’s long experience includes The Roca Brother’s El Celler De Can Roca, in Girona, which is ranked as the world’s best restaurants. Girona is also where she met her husband Daniel Redondo, and in 2006 they opened their own restaurant together, Mani in São Paolo.

Rizzo says in response to the award:

“This award is a recognition of my work and of the work of our entire team. I am not and have never intended to be ‘the best female chef in the world’, especially because this is a difficult judgment to make. Each one of us can be the best in a particular situation, at a given time for a certain person. Of course, I’m very happy and honoured to receive this award and I’m grateful for it! At Maní, we try to do our best every day, sometimes we get it wrong but sometimes we get it right… I hope that this award makes the gastronomic world open its eyes to the work of female cooks and to the wonderful kitchens we have in Brazil.”