MAKI STEVENSON
The international teaching staff is led by Chef Maki Stevenson, who has twelve years of teaching experience. She qualified as a chef at the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts in New York, and after moving to Hungary in 2007, she started her own cooking school, Makifood.
KISS KRISZTIÁN
Krisztián started his career at the Novotel hotel, continued at the Gundel restaurant, and then tried his hand at private pastry shops in Hungary. Always attracted to travel, he started working on luxury cruise ships. He has worked as Head Pastry Chef on Regent Seven Seas ships and has spent the last ten years on board Disney Cruise Line ships as Executive Pastry Chef.
TISCHLER PETRA
After graduating, Petra started cooking at Nobu, which opened at the time. Her experience abroad began at The Arts Club private membership restaurant in London and then in the US as a junior sous chef at One Eleven under French chef Joel Antunes.
STEPHANE GERPHAGNON
Stephane was born in the South of France. He graduated from confectionery school in Lyon. He has worked in Paris, Melbourne and London. He moved to Hungary in 2007, where he worked initially at Lukács Confectionery and later with Lajos Takács at Olimpia. For several years he was the head pastry chef at La Praliné and á table!
BARHÓ SZABOLCS
Szabolcs Barhó has worked in the kitchen since he was 16. He graduated in tourism and catering from the Kodolányi János University. He has been working at the Michelin-starred Borkonyha for 8 years. He has staged several times in London, including in two Michelin-starred restaurants of Dinner by Heston Blumenthal.
SIPOS ANDRÁS
András graduated as a chef from the Gundel Károly Cooking School. After Olimpia restaurant he worked as a chef in nU bistro, then as sous chef and then as a chef. After 4 years he continued his work at Susu Budapest and then at the Beefbar. Currently he is the Excetutive chef of the Continental group, responsible for 2 restaurants and an event venue, as well as the quality of the food and the day to day operations.
SARAH ALWAZIR
Sarah Alwazir, started her career in London, first in small bakeries like Butterscotch Bakery and Primrose Bakery and then under Andy Rose, she managed the pastry department of Floridita Soho. She later became head pastry chef at the National Maritime Museum before she and her husband opened their own pastry shop in Camden, which TimeOut London listed as one of London’s most exclusive cafes.
KOPPÁNY LEVENTE
As a child, Levente Koppány hustled in the kitchen alongside his mother and grandmother, from where he went straight to the Gundel School of Catering. Alongside his studies, he was an apprentice at Costes. His international success began in 2021 when he reached the finals of the San Pellegrino Young Chef competition. In his free time, he enjoys fishing, mushroom picking and various wild plants. Now chef de cuisine at Costes since 2022, he has been steadfastly guarding the restaurant’s Michelin star.