Spotlight on Women in CODE Hospitality’s 30 Under 30 List Class of 2019 / 2020

Who are the movers and shakers in the hospitality world that haven’t turned 30 yet? Once again CODE Hospitality – the  restaurant industry journal have highlighted the rising stars of the UK restaurant scene, both inside the kitchen and beyond it. This year’s list of 30 industry professionals includes many inspiring women.

The editors wanted to showcase hospitality as a viable career path in this country, as well as highlight the broad variety of roles this industry has to offer. For us it shows the health of the hospitality industry in the UK and what can achieve before the age of 30!

Women in the Food Industry supporter Ravneet Gill (28) is an experienced pastry chef, who previously worked at Black Axe Mangal, St. JOHN Bread and Wine and most recently the newly opened Wild by Tart, Rav has experienced first-hand the difficulties associated with working in hospitality. Her platform Countertalk works to make the hospitality industry better for everyone, encouraging businesses to consider the wellbeing of their staff.

Maya Tarrant (27) started her career in Bristol, and successfully lead the team at The Blind Pig in Jason Atherton’s Social Eating House to a Tales of the Cocktail ‘best restaurant bar in the world’ award. In 2016 Maya joined JKS Restaurants as Head of Bar Culture and Training, where she creates individual plans for team member development and seeks to create a positive and consistent culture across 15 restaurants and bars including Gymkhana, Bubbledogs, Lyles London and Trishna.

Tobie-Anna Durk (26) is the founder of Kelly’s Cause Foundation.  During her training at Le Cordon Bleu London, Tobie-Anna  met Kelly, the foundation’s namesake, who had struggled with mental health difficulties throughout her life, worsened by the unforgiving atmosphere she faced in the hospitality industry. Kelly took her own life at 23, the motivation behind Tobie-Anna founding Kelly’s Cause. Her aim is to honour Kelly’s legacy by making tangible steps towards protecting the wellbeing of all hospitality employees by providing mental health training in hospitality through custom-designed first aid courses.

Kate Frobisher (29) trained at Leith’s School of Food and Wine before jetting off to Sydney for the year, where she fell in love with their breakfast culture. Inspired by her travels, she singlehandedly opened Urban Pantry  in 2015 at 24. The Chiswick restaurant  won three Time Out London Awards and the 2019 National Breakfast Awards for Best Breakfast in the UK. Now, Kate is launching ‘Through Loving Cuisine’, a gifting business for customers to send quality comforting dishes to friends in need.

Grace Regan (29) was named one of the UK’s best young entrepreneurs in 2015 for her first start-up Clippet news, leading her to Silicon Valley: while there, she became vegan. Disillusioned by the tech world and keen to make her dream of opening a curry house a reality, Grace founded SpiceBox from her kitchen home. She then entered the world of street food, with SpiceBox named a Young British Foodies finalist; this year she opened her first vegan curry house in Walthamstow.

Georgia Hutcheon (25) joined the Four Corners Group in New Zealand as a manager at 17, opening its flagship restaurant Ombra a year later. She joined the Caravan events team upon her return to London and then joined Arnold & Henderson in 2017, running their new site Rochelle Canteen at the ICA. She has  now worked her way up to become Managing Director of the business.

Julia Jefferis (25) and her friend James Timmins founders of Utter Waffle were previously chefs at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. The friends noticed a savoury crepe culture in Columbia and were keen to bring something similar back home. They began experimenting with waffles and, as Julia is a coeliac, wanted to create street food that was inclusive and approachable. Their company has already been featured on Sunday Brunch, ITV News London and won three British Street Food Awards.

Natasha Norton-Smith and Daniel Smith (both 27) of The Fordwich Arms met 12 years ago at catering college. They opened The Fordwich Arms in Canterbury two years ago. The pub was awarded a Michelin star after 10 months and rated best pub in the UK.

Congratulations to all. The full CODE 30 under 30 List can be found here.

You may also like to see our feature on the inspiring women in CODE’s Over 50 Power List.