1. Ellia & Junghyun Park

• NA:EUN Hospitality | CEO & Owner, Chef

Ellia and Junghyun ‘JP’ Park, the visionary co-founders of NA:EUN Hospitality Group, have been instrumental in introducing Korean fine dining to the United States. Their journey began with the opening of Atoboy in July 2016, a restaurant inspired by the concept of banchan, the small side dishes that accompany every Korean meal. The couple’s follow-up venture, Atomix, opened in 2018, and their empire expanded with the opening of Naro in Rockefeller Center in 2022 and Seoul Salon in Koreatown in 2023. This year, Atomix was honored with the James Beard Award for Outstanding Hospitality, named the best restaurant in North America and ranked 12th on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. In fact, it was the only restaurant in the U.S. to make the World’s 50 Best list. The Parks also just debuted their first restaurant in Seoul, JP at Louis Vuitton. Looking ahead, they are set to make their mark on the European stage with the upcoming launch of Kiji, an elevated Korean barbecue experience at the luxury development 60 Curzon in Mayfair, London, next year.

What JP wants in 2026: “I hope 2026 will be a year where the hospitality industry rediscovers sincerity, a return to genuine purpose and craft. For my team and our restaurants, I want to continue building spaces that represent hospitality with depth and emotion, while providing experiences that bring people together across borders. Ultimately, I want our work to contribute to a more thoughtful and balanced global dining landscape.”

What Ellia wants in 2026: “I hope this year is one in which depth is truly valued. In a time when so much passes by quickly and easily, I hope food, restaurants and culture can move toward a direction that is more thoughtful, lasting and leaves a lingering impression.”

3. Lois Freedman & Jean-Georges Vongerichten

• Jean-Georges Restaurants | President/Co-CEO & Chef/Proprietor

Lois Freedman, the unsung hero behind Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s restaurant empire, has been a driving force in the group’s operations and creative direction for four decades. Throughout their enduring partnership, Freedman has played a pivotal role in bringing to life some of the most ambitious projects in the group’s portfolio, such as the market- and food hall-inspired Tin Building at New York’s historic Seaport and the much-anticipated ABC Kitchens in Dumbo this October—which marked Vongerichten’s first foray into Brooklyn. The duo’s collaborative efforts have yielded an impressive 60 restaurants worldwide, 14 of which are located in New York City, including the flagship crown jewel, Jean-Georges, the acclaimed farm-to-table ABC Kitchen, ABC Cocina and ABCV. Freedman’s influence extends to the group’s private clubs, including the perpetually popular Chez Margeaux, which opened last year in New York. As the restaurant group continues to expand, Vongerichten has announced plans to open ABC Kitchen within the upcoming Miami Tropic Residences, a 49-story luxury residential tower in the Design District, set to open in 2028.

What inspired Freedman this year: “To be able to design a restaurant on my own without compromise and have my vision come to life as I imagined it. I approached ABC Kitchens in Dumbo as if designing my home, filling it with objects, furniture and lighting that I’ve collected over the years. Investing this much of myself personally has been an unexpectedly rewarding experience.”

If Vongerichten could time-travel for an epic night out: “I would love to travel back to France during the days of Louis XIV and be part of one of the grand feasts. Like the movie Vatel but without the tragedy.”

5. Simon Kim

• Gracious Hospitality Management | Founder & CEO

This year, Simon Kim opened Cote at The Venetian. In 2026, Gracious Hospitality will open its newest project, at 550 Madison, a three-restaurant endeavor which Kim calls “a masterpiece” he’s been developing for four years, “the longest and most meticulous development process we’ve ever undertaken…We’re collaborating with the very best craftsmen—the Olayan Group, David Rockwell, chef Masahiro Yoshitake—and I couldn’t be more excited to finally share what we’ve been building.”

If Kim could time-travel to any era or city in history for one epic night out: “I’d go back to the earliest days of humankind, to understand the most primal ways of eating and drinking. Think: The Jurassic ages, dinosaurs and primates. I’ve always been curious about humankind and how we began celebrating. I’d want to experience sitting around a fire—the original version of dining that civilization didn’t alter.”

If he could switch places with any other leader in dining for 24 hours, it would be: “Thomas Keller—the hallmark of excellence in this industry, truly the barometer and the north star for what exceptional hospitality looks like…The first thing I’d do is visit The French Laundry as him, not just as a guest, but as the owner, and enjoy a dinner while seeing the restaurant through his eyes.”

7. Eric Ripert & Maguy Le Coze

• Le Bernardin | Co-Owners

As expected, Eric Ripert and Maguy Le Coze’s Le Bernardin maintained its status atop the prestigious La Liste survey in 2026, sharing its impressive 99.5 score with only one other American establishment, SingleThread in Healdsburg, California. This recognition followed the restaurant’s retention of its coveted three-star rating from the Michelin Guide. Le Bernardin also secured the 9th spot on the 2025 North America’s 50 Best Restaurants list. As the establishment approaches its 40th anniversary in 2026, Ripert and Le Coze reflect on the enduring legacy of their culinary vision, which began with the original Paris-based Le Bernardin, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2022. Ripert’s influence reaches far beyond the streets of Manhattan, as evidenced by the 20th anniversary of his Caribbean outpost, Blue, at The Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman in 2025—an occasion marked by the unveiling of a stunning redesign by the acclaimed Champalimaud Design firm.

Ripert on the biggest shift in consumer preferences: “What we see this year is a shift, especially in Gen Z. We have never seen this many customers ordering the tasting menu and wine pairing, especially our younger guests. This generation really wants an overall experience. They are very engaging with our team, asking questions that our staff have never even heard before.”

If Ripert could switch places with another hospitality leader, it would be: “Nobu Matsuhisa. He’s extremely talented. I admire what he has created and that he has been able to mix Japanese sushi culture with Peruvian culture. He has made sushi restaurants sexy. If I were in his shoes, I would take more vacations.”

9. Johann Moonesinghe & Andrew Harris

• inKind | Co-Founders

To date, inKind and its co-founders Johann Moonesinghe and Andrew Harris have provided over $500 million in funding to more than 5,000 restaurants, including destinations from operators like José Andrés Group and Mina Group, as well as 20 Michelin-starred destinations and 50 James Beard Award nominees. The company’s innovative financing model gives restaurants funding in exchange for food and beverage credits, rather than equity or debt, enabling restaurants to cover operational costs and maintain profit margins. In 2025, inKind closed an impressive $450 million in capital to accelerate its platform growth, with plans to expand to an additional 10,000 U.S. restaurants over the next year. The fundraiser was led by Magnetar and included prominent backers such as Jay-Z’s MarcyPen Capital Ventures, Värde Partners, Alpha Wave Global and even all four members of the band Metallica. The company’s success is evident in its consistent growth, with an over 100 percent increase in gross order volume (GOV) for four consecutive years (2020-2024) and a projected $350 million in 2025. In October, Moonesinghe and Harris announced a groundbreaking partnership to implement Dogecoin (DOGE) as the first cryptocurrency accepted across inKind’s extensive nationwide restaurant network, which boasts over 3 million app users. Moonesinghe’s separate hospitality group, RDM, provided funding for Guest House in Austin, which expanded to Vegas under the leadership of RDM founder Raj Kumar last year.

Moonesinghe on the inspiration behind inKind: “Restaurants are the heart of our communities, and they deserve partners who understand the unique support they need to thrive. Traditional restaurant financing models can drain equity, cash flow and long-term viability. We created inKind to change that—offering a smarter, more sustainable way to fund restaurants without the burdens. Our model helps operators maintain cash flow, access capital quickly and build more resilient businesses, and thanks to our partners that led the funding we’re able to amplify those efforts on a massive scale of up to 10,000 additional restaurants. We’re proud to support thousands of locally owned restaurants nationwide, not just with funding, but as true partners in their success.”

11. Albert Yang

• Din Tai Fung North America | CEO

Din Tai Fung North America is experiencing rapid expansion, with 18 locations in North America out of 165 restaurants worldwide, serving over 7 million customers annually. The chain’s average annual sales per location reached $27 million last year, more than double that of The Cheesecake Factory and the highest among 1,500 restaurant chains tracked by Technomic. In October, the company announced plans for a second East Coast location in New York, set to open in 2027, 27 years since its first U.S. restaurant opened in California. Aaron Yang has transitioned to the board, leaving Albert Yang as the sole CEO. “Asian dining is one of the fastest-growing segments in the industry,” Albert tells Observer. “Authentic dining is now more relevant than ever and becoming truly mainstream, and Din Tai Fung is very proud to be a part of this shift.”

What inspired him this year: My car mechanic told me he saw me on TV for our grand opening in Santa Monica and had his whole family come over to watch with him. He told me, “You make me proud to be Taiwanese,” and that inspires me to do better every day. 

His biggest kitchen “fail”: Trying to reformulate the recipe for the chocolate in our chocolate xiao long bao. I remember having about 20 different types of cacao sitting on my desk and wasting countless hours trying different recipes. I think I made the right decision by giving up. Today’s recipe is our #1 dessert and a top menu item overall. 

13. Stephen Starr

• Starr Restaurant Group | Founder & CEO

In August, Stephen Starr opened his largest Philadelphia restaurant yet: Borromini, a $20 million, 15,000-square-foot colossus in Rittenhouse Square. Though Starr is credited with transforming Philadelphia’s dining scene from the 1990s through the early 2010s, his expansion over the last 15 years has established him as a major national player. Borromini joins a roster of 40-plus establishments operated by Starr Restaurants, spanning Philadelphia, New York City (including Pastis and the recent revamp of Babbo), Washington, D.C. and South Florida. After exiting in 2020, Starr returned to Atlantic City this summer, with the opening of two concepts, Sunny’s and Chez Frites, at the Ocean Casino Resort.

15. Scott Sartiano

• Zero Bond Hospitality | Founder

This year, Scott Sartiano announced plans to open Sartiano’s Italian Steakhouse at the Wynn, next to his Vegas outpost of Zero Bond, which debuts in February. The NY-based private club is frequented by many an A-Lister (most recently, America’s most overexposed lovebirds). “As we enter Las Vegas, I want to bring what makes Zero Bond and Sartiano’s special—the sense of community, attention to detail and genuine connection—into a new market with its own character and rhythm.”

What inspired Sartiano this year? “The renovation of Zero Bond for its fifth anniversary and our work with The Mercer both reinforced how spaces can evolve to meet people’s changing needs while staying true to their essence. That balance between growth and authenticity continues to guide everything we do.”

If he had to eat at the same restaurant for 30 days straight? His own. “Sartiano’s. I’ve actually done it. By day 30, I’m still ordering the veal chop Parmigiana. It never gets old.”

17. Chris Shepherd

• Southern Smoke Foundation | Founding Director
• Eat Like a Local | Host

Chris Shepherd, the culinary powerhouse behind a celebrated restaurant empire in Houston, has also emerged as one of the most significant humanitarians in the food industry. Through Southern Smoke Foundation, Shepherd has made an indelible impact on the lives of countless individuals working in the hospitality sector. The Foundation’s annual food and beverage fundraising event, held in Houston this past October, shattered records by raising an astonishing $1.7 million—the highest amount ever generated from a single fundraising event for the organization. The funds will directly support those employed in the hospitality industry through the Foundation’s Emergency Relief Fund and its mental health initiative, Behind You. Since its inception, the Southern Smoke Foundation has distributed more than $15 million in grants to food and beverage workers. Moreover, since 2020, the Foundation has provided over 9,000 no-cost counseling sessions to food and beverage workers across 13 states, including California, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington, D.C. 

What he wants in 2026: “I would like to see the continual growth and awareness of Southern Smoke Foundation. Specifically, I would love to see the Behind You program expand into more states and for more industry professionals to start coalition programs in their states to support free access to mental health care programs. It’s getting harder and harder for owners to take care of their staff. For many reasons, margins are even thinner, which makes it harder for owners to provide living wages, health insurance and access to benefits like mental healthcare. I believe that Southern Smoke Foundation, with our crisis relief grants and access to no-cost counseling, can help, but we really need to see significant policy changes for the industry to see a real difference. I always say that our goal is for the industry to evolve so much that Southern Smoke is no longer needed, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.”

What inspired him this year: “On a professional level, having the opportunity to work with the Southern Smoke team and to watch the magic that they do to literally save the food and beverage industry. On Eat Like a Local, I am inspired by the drive of restaurant owners and chefs, and I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to tell their stories of community through food. I don’t take that opportunity lightly. On a personal level, I am inspired by my wife, Lindsey Brown, as she battles breast cancer. She is diligent and clear-eyed on what needs to happen in this fight. She is focused on the finish line as she goes through her weekly treatments with power and resilience. I am in awe of her daily.”

19. Jerry Greenberg

• Sushi Nozawa Group | Co-Founder

Jerry Greenberg’s latest venture, Cheesesteaks by Matū, is set to open two locations—one on Pasadena’s East Colorado Boulevard and another at The Commons at Calabasas in the winter. These new outposts will share space with Greenberg’s next location of HiHo Cheeseburger, which celebrated its tenth anniversary this year. Greenberg’s restaurant empire also includes the renowned Nozawa Bar, Sugarfish, KazuNori and Uovo. Uovo, which first opened in Santa Monica in 2017 and now boasts five Los Angeles locations, is poised to make its New York debut in spring 2026 in NoMad. This expansion comes on the heels of the opening of the eighth KazuNori location in Pasadena this fall.

What inspired him this year: “The same thing that inspires me every year. Seeing people come back week after week just for our food. It may seem like a simple thing, but that’s what it’s all about for us.”

If he could time-travel to any era or city in history for one epic night out: “I’d travel back 100 years to the Rite Spot in Pasadena to have the original cheeseburger—that’s top-of-mind as we celebrate HiHo’s 10th anniversary. And I would go to Rome/Amatrice for the original versions of cacio e pepe and amatriciana. Then cap it off and experience the origins of our sushi in Edo (Tokyo).”

21. Ahmass Fakahany

• Altamarea Group | Founder & CEO

Undeterred by the challenges presented by the L.A. fires, Altamarea Group visionary Ahmass Fakahany successfully opened Marea in Beverly Hills in January, marking the first West Coast expansion for the prominent restaurant group. Marea has been a standout in the culinary world since its opening on Central Park South in 2009. The Beverly Hills location, one of the most anticipated openings of 2025, is set to be followed by another outpost at The Snow Lodge within The St. Regis Aspen Resort later this month. The Altamarea Group boasts a portfolio of over 25 restaurants worldwide. The group’s flagship restaurant concepts encompass Marea, Ai Fiori—Wine Spectator’s 2025 Grand Award Winner—53, Morini Brands and Nicoletta Brands. On the international stage, Altamarea’s offerings are punctuated by the Michelin-starred grill concept 11 Woodfire, Mohalla Indian Cuisine, Tezukuri Japanese, SoBo 20 and the highly anticipated Scarpa.

If he had to eat at the same restaurant for 30 days straight: “Honestly, and I may not be alone here, it is likely Hillstone. It is consistent, comfortable and delicious with a range of salads, meats and fish. By day 30, I would opt for their rainbow sushi Roll, which ranks in my view.”

On the biggest challenge facing the industry: “It is harder to find capital to grow from traditional sources. Also, there has been a talent withdrawal from the industry that has to be rejuvenated. This and other challenges have made this the era of bringing heads together, just as in other industries, through joint ventures, partnerships and collaborations. This can be with hotels, developers, sponsors or like-minded operators.”

23. Michael Cimarusti

• Providence | Chef-Owner

Chef Michael Cimarusti’s acclaimed seafood-focused Los Angeles restaurant, Providence, has reached new heights in its 20th anniversary year. The esteemed establishment was awarded three Michelin stars and retained its green star in the 2025 Michelin Guide, solidifying its position as a leader in sustainable fine dining for the third year in a row. Providence also made it on the inaugural North America’s 50 Best Restaurants list at #47, with chef Cimarusti receiving the prestigious Chef’s Choice Award. The restaurant continues to innovate, with sous chef Danielle Peterson developing a fermentation program that repurposes ingredients into unique flavors, while the rooftop garden has become a Certified Wildlife Habitat. Pastry chef Mac Daniel Dimla has introduced a zero-waste chocolate program, and the bar team has crafted a refined zero-proof pairing experience alongside a tableside cocktail program featuring rare spirits.

Cimarusti on the biggest challenge the industry faces: “The labor market is shrinking and becoming ever more competitive. It is harder and harder to find talented individuals. We are investing heavily in developing talent, trying to create an environment where even relatively inexperienced people can be trained to execute at a very high level. This is only possible if you have a culture that welcomes and embraces new team members and actively participates in their training.”

The meal he could eat for 30 days straight: “The wood-roasted Belon oysters, Edna’s corn bread and the steak with bone marrow at Dunsmoor in Glassell Park.”

25. Elizabeth Blau

• Blau + Associates | Founder & CEO

Renowned for transforming Las Vegas into a world-class culinary destination, Elizabeth Blau continues to shape the international food scene by bringing acclaimed chefs and restaurateurs to mixed-use real estate projects and luxury resort developments. She spearheaded the launch of the Wynn Las Vegas Revelry food festival in 2024 and introduced the Women in Hospitality Leadership Conference at Wynn this year. Blau also played a pivotal role in bringing the World’s 50 Best to Las Vegas and is collaborating with Wynn to curate all food and beverage offerings at the Wynn Marjan Island property in the United Arab Emirates, including partnerships with Alain Ducasse and Delilah. As Blau and Wynn prepared to revive Revelry in late summer with fresh food and mixology programming, she remained on the lookout for emerging talent. With one of her business partners, Hunt Realty, involved in the massive Fields development in Frisco, Texas, Blau may expand her presence in the Lone Star State. In recognition of her outstanding contributions, Blau was honored with the prestigious Augie award from the Culinary Institute of America in May.

If she had to eat at the same restaurant for 30 days: “I’d choose Casa Playa at Wynn Las Vegas, where chef Sarah Thompson creates some truly extraordinary coastal Mexican cuisine. On day one, I’d order her ceviche, which is fresh, vibrant, balanced and full of life. And on day 30? I’d still be ordering the exact same thing. Some dishes never lose their magic.”

What she wants in 2026: “If I could choose one word for 2026, it would be stability. The hospitality industry has weathered nearly a decade of disruption from the pandemic to supply chain issues, staffing shortages and shifting guest expectations. Restaurants are built on rhythm and consistency, and my hope is that 2026 is finally the year we regain steady ground, rebuild stronger systems and focus less on surviving and more on thriving.”

27. Michael Stillman

• Quality Branded | Founder & President

In September, Michael Stillman unveiled Limusina, a Mexican eatery in Hudson Yards. Earlier this year, in March, he announced plans to bring Bad Roman to Beverly Hills (in 2026), marking the restaurant’s inaugural venture on the West Coast. Twin Tails, Stillman’s bold foray into Asian cuisine, opened its doors at The Shops at Columbus Circle in 2024. Despite a mixed reception during its initial launch last fall, the Thai restaurant has since garnered praise, with some even comparing it to the iconic Indochine. Quality Branded’s diverse portfolio includes an array of establishments: Don Angie, Smith & Wollensky, Zou Zou’s, San Sabino and Quality Meats, to name a few.

Stillman’s year in three words: “Sevens, not sixes.”

If he had to eat the same meal for 30 days: “Elio’s on the Upper East Side. Risotto Milanese.”

29. Michael Solomonov & Steven Cook

• CookNSolo Restaurants | Co-Founders

Philadelphia Israeli-food powerhouses Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook expanded their CookNSolo portfolio this year. In March, they opened Aviv at the 1 Hotel in Miami Beach. Since debuting their first restaurant, Zahav in Philadelphia, in 2008, Solomonov and Cook have built a culinary empire that includes Federal Donuts, Dizengoff, Laser Wolf and Goldie. Beyond their restaurant ventures, the duo have also made a significant impact in the CPG market with their brand, Zahav Foods. In June, their signature Zahav hummus debuted in 485 Target stores across 20 East Coast states, following a successful 2024 launch at Whole Foods, where it quickly became the region’s top-selling hummus brand.

Cook on the most significant shift in consumer behavior: “The home is becoming more and more the center of where people eat with delivery and ghost kitchen options, which means restaurants need to double down on creating a memorable and celebratory experience of eating communally in a restaurant.”

Solomonov on the industry’s biggest challenge: “The cost of goods and labor continues to rise as more and more excellent restaurants come online, which has meant that we are constantly hyper-focusing on the product and how we differentiate and get a little bit better each day.”

What they want for 2026: “We would love people to start eating later again, for the cost of goods to stabilize, and for immigrants who are the backbone of the industry to have the opportunity to feel safe.” 

31. Lindsay & Michael Tusk

• Quince & Co. | Co-Founders

Lindsay and Michael Tusk’s flagship San Francisco restaurant, Quince, not only earned a spot on North America’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2025 but also boasts three Michelin stars and attracts high-profile patrons, including former President Barack Obama. In October, the Tusks further elevated Quince’s dining experience by hiring Davide Franco as the new hospitality director, bringing nearly 20 years of expertise from Michelin-starred establishments in Italy and London. Looking ahead, the Tusks announced their latest venture, Bar Coto, an all-day Italian café set to open in the spring of 2026. Inspired by the vibrant cafés of Milan, such as Bar Basso, and the acclaimed Bar Pisellino in New York City, Bar Coto promises to be a welcome addition to the couple’s impressive portfolio of Jackson Square establishments. This includes Quince, the ever-popular Cotogna and the recently revived French-inspired wine bar Verjus, all of which have earned a place on the San Francisco Chronicle’s list of the 100 best restaurants in the Bay Area.

What inspired Michael this year: “The redesign at Quince, and moving within the space. I wanted the food to reflect the natural materials—working with knifemakers, glassblowers, artisans of all kinds. Getting rid of the electric rotisserie and putting in fire. Gentle nuances of smoke and dehydration.”

Lindsay on the most significant shift in consumer preferences: “The rise of non-alcoholic beverages and increased demand for private dining.”

33. Gregory Gourdet

• Printemps US | Culinary Director

Gregory Gourdet, Portland’s most renowned chef, made waves with the opening of his first restaurant, Kann, in 2022 at the age of 46. The establishment quickly garnered national recognition, earning a spot on the New York Times’ 2022 list of America’s Best Restaurants. In 2023, Kann was awarded the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant, and the following year, Gourdet himself won the Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific award. Gourdet currently serves as the culinary director for all five restaurants at the first U.S. location of Printemps, which opened in New York in March. The restaurants under his direction at Printemps at One Wall Street include fine dining stunner Maison Passerelle, Café Jalu, Salon Vert, Red Room Bar and Champagne Bar, all of which showcase French-style offerings infused with influences from Gourdet’s Haitian heritage. Prior to his success as a restaurateur, Gordet honed his skills under the tutelage of Jean-Georges Vongerichten, working his way up to the position of chef de cuisine over the course of nearly seven years. 

If Gourdet could time-travel to any era for an epic night out: “‘Haiti’s golden era, from the 1940s to the 1960s. Haiti was beaming as a hub for global travelers. It was one of the most vibrant, artistic and electric scenes in the Caribbean. People came for art, music, fashion and the beaches.”

What he sees as the biggest challenge facing the industry today: “We are living in a TikTok attention-span world with endless options at our fingertips. The hospitality industry, at its core, isn’t based on that. It takes years to hone your craft, often years for a restaurant to turn a profit, and decades of experience to truly see it all. I think better mutual understanding within teams—slow and steady and together—is the most sustainable way.”

35. Greg Galy

• Riviera Dining Group | Founder & CEO

Gregory Galy, the driving force behind Riviera Dining Group (RDG), has achieved a remarkable feat with the group’s flagship restaurant, Mila Miami, which has been recognized as the highest-grossing independent restaurant in the United States, generating an impressive $51,115,747 in sales for the 2025 list. This achievement marks a steady rise for Mila, which ranked #5 in 2022 and 2023, and climbed to #2 in 2024 with $49,088,032 in sales. Mila now stands alongside renowned establishments such as Pastis in New York City, Le Diplomate in Washington, D.C. and Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami. Beyond the main restaurant, Mila houses three distinct concepts: the exclusive 10-seat Mila Omakase, one of Miami’s most luxurious sushi counters; Mila Lounge, a sought-after nightlife venue redefining the city’s after-dinner scene; and Mila MM, a members-only destination that has expanded to four locations across RDG’s portfolio. Galy’s culinary empire continues to grow, with the February opening of Claudie, a French-Mediterranean restaurant in Brickell, helmed by chef Michaël Michaelidis. Last month, RDG also unveiled a second outpost of AVA MediterrAegean in Coconut Grove, following the success of the first location in Winter Park. 

What inspired Galy this year: “Seeing Miami emerge as a true global city. The energy, creativity and ambition shaping Miami right now are extraordinary. It has become one of the world’s most influential lifestyle destinations.”

What Galy sees as the biggest shift in consumer behavior: “Guests are craving experiences over status; they want to feel a sense of belonging, wellness and purpose. We see a growing shift toward daytime celebrations, lighter drinking and more health-conscious choices while dining out—without compromising on taste expectations.”

37. Yavuz Pehlivanlar

• Hakkasan Group | CEO

In October, Yavuz Pehlivanlar was appointed CEO of Mohari Hospitality’s newly established Hakkasan Group, which Pehlivanlar tells Observer is “a privilege and a responsibility.” Pehlivanlar oversees the Hakkasan, Yauatcha, Ling Ling and Sake No Hana brands—which include several restaurants opened by Tao Hospitality Group, which Mohari previously acquired. Pehlivanlar previously served as chief operating officer of Caprice Holdings Ltd., helming a portfolio that included Balthazar, Sexy Fish and Scott’s Mayfair. His experience spans several other executive roles at 50 Eggs Hospitality Group, Zuma and Mina Group.

What Pehlivanlar wants in 2026: “A return to human hospitality. As leaders, we can’t rely on dashboards alone—we need to invest in culture, creativity and the teams who bring personality into a room. I want to see experiences that feel personal, memorable and full of character.”

If he had to eat the same meal for 30 days straight: “Le Bernardin. The lobster roll from the lounge menu, and a glass of Chassagne.”

39. Pavan Pardasani

• JKS Restaurants | Global CEO

Pavan Pardasani, a seasoned hospitality executive with an impressive background working for Tao, Hakkasan and Catch, was appointed as global CEO of London’s esteemed JKS Restaurants in September. In his new role, Pardasani oversees the group’s Indian-food portfolio, which includes renowned establishments such as Trishna, Gymkhana, Brigadiers and Ambassadors Clubhouse, across various global markets. His leadership commences at a crucial juncture, as JKS Restaurants embarks on its expansion into the United States with two highly anticipated openings: Ambassadors Clubhouse, a restaurant inspired by the culinary traditions of India’s Punjab region, is set to open in New York City this winter, while Gymkhana, the group’s two Michelin-starred London flagship, recently made its debut at Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, marking the first Indian fine dining restaurant on the Strip. 

Pardasani on the biggest shift in consumer behavior: “I would say discovery. Guests seem to rate recommendations from strangers on social media based on how their content hits over traditional trusted sources. Very few operators can survive at scale without playing the game to some degree.” 

What inspired him this year: “Watching the city of Los Angeles rally around the Pacific Palisades and Altadena after the fires was remarkable. Those communities and the city as a whole are still suffering, but the spirit of Angelenos remains strong. I often see the best in people when tragedy strikes.”

41. Jeffrey Bell

• One Cornelia | Founder

Jeff Bell, the mastermind behind the iconic speakeasy PDT, has been making waves in the culinary and mixology scenes. This year, he spearheaded PDT’s first significant expansion in nearly two decades, introducing a multifaceted space at One Cornelia Street that houses the East Coast debut of L.A.’s beloved Tacos 1986 and Mixteca, an agave bar helmed by his longtime PDT bartender Victor Lopez. Simultaneously, Bell has juggled multiple projects, including overseeing the cocktail program at the highly anticipated Waldorf Astoria revival, crafting a special menu for a collaboration between Kith Treats and Katz’s Delicatessen, bringing PDT to Barclays Center, and making pop-up appearances at Coachella. In January 2026, Bell is set to unveil his subterranean cocktail bar, Kees, at One Cornelia Street, the third and final concept within his West Village space.

The industry trend that excites him the most: “More variety in the cocktail space and the movement toward broader nonalcoholic selections at dedicated bars, not just restaurants.”

His key to success: “The answer always comes back to the customers and the team. Earning and maintaining one’s customers’ loyalty helps, despite the uncertainty of our industry. My team, whether they’re from the original PDT or completely new to the world of One Cornelia, helps me stay the course with humor, hospitality and an almost frenetic drive to deliver fresh and engaging cocktail experiences.” 

43. David Nayfeld

• Back Home Hospitality | Co-Founder & Executive Chef

David Nayfeld, a Bay Area native and co-owner of Back Home Hospitality, has established himself as a culinary force in San Francisco. With an impressive background working alongside renowned chefs like Joël Robuchon and Daniel Humm, Nayfeld has garnered numerous accolades for his restaurants, including Che Fico, Che Fico Pizzeria, Che Fico Parco Menlo. In June, he opened fast-casual Jewish-inspired dining concept Bubbelah in Menlo Park. In September, he returned to fine dining with the opening of Via Aurelia. Nayfeld has been a vocal advocate for the restaurant industry, co-founding the Independent Restaurant Coalition and securing substantial financial support for vulnerable establishments during the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, Nayfeld published his first cookbook, Dad, What’s for Dinner?, which was named Bon Appétit’s best cookbook of 2025.

What inspired him this year: “Reentering the fine dining pantheon after a decade away. It feels different this time. More personal. I’m not chasing anyone else’s style. I’m just trying to find my own voice in this cuisine. One that reflects who I’ve become as a chef, and as a person.”

If he had 24 hours to experience the industry as another nightlife and dining leader, he’d choose: “Stephen Starr, so I could see how the machine works.”

45. Ronn Nicolli

• The Meruelo Group | CMO & CXO

In November, Ronn Nicolli, the CMO instrumental in shaping Resorts World Las Vegas over the past four years, announced his transition to a new role as chief marketing officer and chief experience officer for The Meruelo Group. In what he tells Observer is “one of the most exciting and motivating opportunities of my career,” Nicolli will oversee the marketing and guest experience strategies across the group’s diverse portfolio, including the recently renovated Sahara Las Vegas (where Kwame Onwuachi is opening a steakhouse) and the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, which is currently undergoing significant enhancements, including the addition of a new arena. Nicolli’s expertise will also extend to the group’s radio and TV stations, leveraging these media assets to engage both the Latin community and the broader regional audience. Nicolli will leverage his experience working with other casinos, including his tenure with Wynn, the Fertitta organization, and most recently, the Lim family at Resorts World Las Vegas, to build upon the success of The Meruelo Group—run by a family with whom he has been friends for nearly 20 years.

Nicolli on the biggest challenge facing the industry today: “Disposable income looks different now, and people are more selective about what they’ll spend money on. The value proposition must be clear. As hospitality leaders, we have to go back to the roots of making people feel good and delivering authentic, meaningful experiences. We’re also competing with global travel more than ever. European summers, for example, were a major competitor to Las Vegas this year. We need to re-ignite excitement for this city—still, in my mind, the greatest city in the world—by showcasing new adventures, new moments and new ways to connect. But above all, our engagement must be authentic. Reacting only when negative feedback forces us to isn’t leadership. We need to rebuild the connective tissue with our guests and provide value that feels genuine, consistent and intentional.”

What inspired Nicolli this year: “Change. The need for it, the willingness to embrace it and the excitement that comes with new beginnings. The ability to create, evolve and step into what’s next has been a major source of inspiration for me.”

47. Giancarlo Pagani

• Pagani Projects | Founder
• Mother Wolf Group | Managing Partner

Giancarlo Pagani, the operator behind the Mother Wolf Group, is making significant impact on the Los Angeles culinary scene with an impressive lineup of ventures. The busy operator is helming the highly anticipated 2026 launch of Mott 32, a sprawling Chinese dining establishment situated above Evan Funke and Pagani’s acclaimed Mother Wolf restaurant in Hollywood. This year, Pagani opened Miznon, a pita spot by Tel Aviv chef Eyal Shani, at Grand Central Market, and Bar Avoja, a Roman-inspired cocktail lounge created with Funke, whom Pagani told Observer is “a true pasta Jedi.” 

What inspired him this year: “I was inspired this year by the resilience of the Los Angeles hospitality community. In the aftermath of the January fires, I watched chefs, operators, business owners and neighbors come together with a level of determination and collaboration that reminded me why this city is so special. Teams rebuilt overnight, supported one another’s staff, shared resources and found creative ways to keep serving their communities. Seeing an entire industry unite in the face of devastation and still find ways to create connection, comfort and joy was the most inspiring part of the year.”

What he wants in 2026: “I want to see a more intentional, values-driven evolution of hospitality—one where creativity and operational discipline coexist. For my own business, that means continuing to build chef-driven, culturally resonant restaurants that feel essential to their cities. For the industry, I hope that we collectively invest in leadership development, sustainable growth models and environments where teams can build real careers, not just jobs. When operators thrive, the entire ecosystem, from chefs to purveyors to communities, rises with them.”

49. Joel Montaniel

• SevenRooms | Co-Founder & CEO

In June, Joel Montaniel’s SevenRooms, a trailblazing restaurant booking and customer relationship management (CRM) platform, was acquired by DoorDash in a $1.2 billion all-cash transaction. Montaniel co-founded the company in 2011 with Allison Page and Kinesh Patel, and quickly established a commanding presence in the hospitality industry, catering to over 13,000 diverse venues worldwide, including prominent brands such as Marriott International, MGM Resorts International, Wolfgang Puck, Michael Mina and Union Square Hospitality Group. The acquisition serves as a resounding testament to SevenRooms’ accomplishments and potential, while also paving the way for the company’s continued expansion and global reach. 

Montaniel on the beauty of the industry: “Hospitality should be a sanctuary. Restaurants are a sanctuary and a place that can remind us all that we are all human. I really love that concept.”

Montaniel’s inspiration behind SevenRooms: “We talked to all these operators, and we asked them, ‘How do you decide who to give the reservation to? How do people get in touch with you?’ The systems they were using had no customer data in them. So a restaurant is thinking about where to open up their next location by understanding the customer demographic, how much they spend, how many turns you can get in. Looking at the existing data is really helpful to them as they think about, ‘Should I open up in Miami or L.A.? Or should I go to Dubai or London?’ Most restaurateurs in the past would get there through gut feel. Now, they’re able to get there a lot faster because they can really look at the data.”

Sarah Arison

• YoungArts | Board Chair
• Arison Arts Foundation | President
• Museum of Modern Art | President, Board of Trustees

A quiet but mighty powerhouse of arts philanthropy, Sarah Arison has used her influence to subtly but decisively shape the contemporary art landscape. As president of the Arison Arts Foundation, a family legacy, and the youngest-ever president of MoMA‘s Board of Trustees, she is known for championing emerging U.S. artists across disciplines early in their careers through sustained patronage and partnership. Her leadership was on full display this year when she delivered remarks at MoMA’s annual fundraiser and co-chaired the 2025 MoMA PS1 Gala, events that underscored her status as one of the country’s most influential private grantmakers.

“Institutions, funders and collectors are looking more closely at how artists are uplifted at all stages of their careers and how communities of practice form around them,” Arison tells Observer. “Much of my work focuses on creating environments where emerging artists can take risks, engage in dialogue, and build networks that sustain them over time. Rather than focusing on visibility alone, we are working to build durable networks of care that allow artists to evolve and lead the conversations that shape the cultural landscape.”
 
Based in Miami, the Arison Arts Foundation awarded more than 100 grants last year, distributing nearly $30 million to artists and institutions. Arison also continues her family’s legacy as Chair of the Board of YoungArts, the multidisciplinary arts organization founded by her grandparents Lin and Ted Arison. At YoungArts, she has helped advance a model of lifelong support for literary, visual and performing arts that begins when artists are still in high school and continues throughout the full arc of their careers. This work sits alongside her leadership at MoMA and MoMA PS1, as well as support for numerous grassroots programs that provide fellowships, community-building, and relief for artists facing financial hardship. Arison has emerged as a pivotal force in reimagining how arts philanthropy operates, emphasizing cooperation over competition. “When we invest in the full arc of an artist’s journey, the entire cultural landscape benefits,” Arison says.

Christine Berry & Martha Campbell

• Berry Campbell | Owners

Specializing in postwar American artists who were long overlooked or underrepresented, Christine Berry and Martha Campbell have built Berry Campbell gallery into one of the most influential forces behind recent market rediscoveries. “We were looking for postwar artists we could potentially represent, so we went to the Archives of American Art,” Campbell told Observer earlier this year. From there, they took a deeply hands-on approach, reaching out to the families and estates of forgotten artists, unearthing archives and cataloguing works that had slipped through the cracks of art history. Their training as art historians became the foundation for rebuilding these artists’ legacies, connecting the missing dots that institutions and markets had ignored for decades.

That persistence has paid off. The gallery’s exhibitions have ignited new visibility—and new valuations—for once-neglected painters. Bernice Bing, whose works sold for around $30,000 only a few years ago, reached $850,000 in 2024. Alice Baber, long undervalued at roughly $3,000, sold for a record $700,000 following her first major exhibition in more than 40 years. Lynne Drexler’s market followed a similar ascent. By championing these artists with scholarly rigor and curatorial conviction, Berry and Campbell have not only altered their markets but reframed the larger story of American modernism, ensuring that women and other marginalized voices occupy their rightful place in it. 

“As two women business owners for over a decade now, we have watched wealth change hands to where more women are making the buying decisions,” the duo tells Observer. “Naturally, as this happens, women are being more inclusive in buying women artists. It is exciting to witness (and be a part of) this evolution.”

Tim Blum

• BLUM | Founder

Tim Blum has spent decades redefining how Western audiences engage with Asian art—and now he’s redefining what it means to run a gallery. The veteran dealer, who introduced Japanese and Korean postwar masters to the U.S., stunned the art world this year by announcing the closure of his galleries in Los Angeles and Tokyo, as well as the shelving of plans for a New York outpost. “We’ll begin a new chapter: transitioning away from the traditional gallery format toward a more flexible model,” he explained. “Without a permanent public space or formal artist roster, this structure will allow us to engage with artists and ideas in new ways, through collaborations, special projects and longer-term visions still in development.” It was a decision years in the making, reflecting the mounting pressures of a gallery system stretched by nonstop programming, art-fair fatigue and the gravitational pull of the mega-galleries that dominate global attention and resources.

Blum’s exit from the brick-and-mortar model has become a lightning rod for broader conversations about sustainability, leadership and intentionality in the art world. His pivot toward a leaner, more fluid structure signals a move away from the volume-driven expectations that have defined the industry for decades. In doing so, he’s opened a pathway for a new kind of dealer—one focused less on scale and spectacle and more on depth, collaboration and long-term vision. Still, don’t expect him to vanish anytime soon. “Of course I’ll still be buying and selling art,” Blum said. “It’s part of my DNA.”

Maria Brito

• Maria Brito LLC | CEO

New York art advisor Maria Brito has moved more than $150 million for A-list stars and financiers (the vast majority of her clients are U.S.-based). She publishes The Groove, a widely read weekly newsletter that reaches 32,000 engaged readers, and she regularly shares market tidbits, cultural commentary and art obsessions with her 142,000 Instagram followers. “Globalization has made the market faster, bigger and more connected, while younger collectors demand purpose and transparency,” Brito tells Observer. “My role is to bridge worlds, combining knowledge, data, relationships and intuition so collectors can navigate this landscape with clarity and confidence.”

Her analyses of the art market—whether through interviews, in The Groove or on social media—are generous, engaging and accessible. With headlines like “Do artists need galleries?,” “Can art still shock us?” and “Can you love the art but hate the artist?” Brito uses her platforms to curate far-ranging conversations on the state of the art sector today, turning her into an influential voice among the traditionally tight-lipped art advisory world. Power, she adds, has become more distributed and far less predictable. “The old hierarchies still stand, but influence now moves through new collectors, new media and access to quality works… It’s not about disruption for the sake of it. It’s about evolution: making the art world smarter, more inclusive, and more transparent without diluting its excellence. That’s the real opportunity.”

Read our full Q&A with Maria Brito

Amy Cappellazzo

• Art Intelligence Global | Founding Partner

What Amy Cappellazzo touches tends to turn to gold. She rose through the ranks at Christie’s, transforming its postwar and contemporary art department into a market-defining powerhouse that reshaped valuations and sales across the industry. She then co-founded Art Agency, Partners, which Sotheby’s acquired for $85 million, and went on to serve as chair of Sotheby’s Fine Art division—overseeing strategy across Old Masters, Modern, Contemporary, Impressionist and Asian art. After years of rewriting the rule book at the auction house, she stepped down in 2021 to build something of her own.

That something became Art Intelligence Global (AIG), the firm she co-founded with Yuki Terase to bridge the U.S. and Asian markets through high-end art advisory and private sales. Headquartered in New York City and Hong Kong, AIG has quickly positioned itself as a next-generation player in an evolving art economy. This year, Cappellazzo brought in Matt Bangser as senior director—a move that signals her commitment to a holistic, ecosystem-wide strategy that connects artists, galleries, collectors and institutions. “Because he’s worked in galleries, at auction houses and directly with artists, he brings a range of experience that’s incredibly valuable—especially now,” Cappellazzo told ARTnews. It’s a statement that captures her ethos: art advisory not as a niche service but as a bespoke service that offers premium market intelligence and blurs the traditional boundaries between galleries, advisors and auction houses.

Elizabeth Diller, Charles Renfro & Benjamin Gilmartin

• Diller Scofidio + Renfro | Partners

The studio lost its beloved co-founder, Ricardo Scofidio, this year, but Elizabeth Diller, Charles Renfro and Benjamin Gilmartin remain firmly at the helm. DS+R has never been a conventional architecture firm—it’s the creative force behind some of the world’s most celebrated cultural landmarks, where architecture, art installation and performance converge. Co-founded by Diller in 1981, the studio has shaped the modern city’s cultural identity through projects like New York’s High Line—an eight-million-visitors-a-year phenomenon praised worldwide for its inventive reuse of industrial infrastructure and approach to urban rewilding. DS+R also designed The Shed, MoMA’s renovation and expansion, the $1 billion restoration of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art, The Broad in Los Angeles and its extension, currently underway and slated for completion before the 2028 Olympics.

The studio’s acclaim and collection of awards stem from its ability to transform how the public engages with architecture. DS+R’s work consistently rethinks the civic role of buildings, emphasizing cultural purpose and spatial context within the city. Each project invites participation rather than passive observation, merging design with social experience. Continuing that legacy, Gilmartin assumed the presidency of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) this year, launching the initiative “See You IRL: Designing for Public Life,” a program exploring how shared physical spaces shape the social fabric of New York City and beyond. Renfro led DS+R’s first international projects, including The Tianjin Juilliard School in China and Zaryadye Park in Moscow. He also shaped much of the studio’s academic work, with projects at Rice, Columbia, Stanford and UC Berkeley. Beyond design, Charles has been recognized for his support of LGBTQ+ and BIPOC artists through BOFFO.

Edward Dolman

• Dolman Partners | Co-Founder
• New Perspectives Art Partners | Founder

Ed Dolman knows auctions. Rising from furniture porter to Christie’s CEO and chair, he spent more than a decade at the top, overseeing historic sales, including those leading to the restitution of Gustav Klimt paintings to Maria Altmann and her family. At Phillips, he turned a once-niche house into a billion-dollar contender, driving sales from $398 million in 2014 to $1 billion by 2023. During his 10-year tenure, he expanded the company’s global reach, establishing a Hong Kong office ahead of many Western rivals and betting early on the ultracontemporary market. Dolman’s willingness to embrace risk and innovation (for example, investing in the volatile segments of the art market) helped redefine Phillips’ appeal among younger, more adventurous collectors.

“Taste always changes and evolves, and we are now at a moment when young and new collectors are searching for direction,” Dolman tells Observer. “We have seen a move recently into ‘safer’ and ‘classic’ late 19th- and 20th-century art, but this will not last as the market recovers and the number of collectors grows.”

Late last year, Dolman stepped down as Phillips’ CEO. This year, he helped found and launch New Perspectives Art Partners, the high-end advisory venture poised to reshape the global art-advisory landscape amid generational transitions in collecting. “The art market is more complex and global than it has ever been,” Dolman says. “Private sales need to be able to connect buyers and sellers from completely different parts of the world. It’s a good time to seek independent advice if you’re buying or selling.” Dolman’s deep familiarity with the Middle East’s fast-rising art scene (he previously served as acting CEO of Qatar Museums and remains close to Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani) will position the auction veteran well in this next chapter.

Katherine E. Fleming

• J. Paul Getty Trust | President & CEO

Katherine E. Fleming oversees one of the most powerful cultural endowments in the world—more than $9.45 billion—and leads a constellation of institutions that includes the Getty Foundation, Getty Research Institute, Getty Conservation Institute and its two museums. Last year, she told Observer that the organization was trying to “think really carefully and creatively about what it means to be wealthy” in one of the most expensive neighborhoods in L.A. That reflection became strikingly literal in January 2025, when the Palisades wildfires tested the Getty’s state-of-the-art fire protection systems—an elaborate defense network of concrete barriers, sealed air systems, water reserves and fire separations designed to protect both the Getty Center and the Getty Villa. “The wildfires really brought home to me, in super concrete terms, what it means to be a repository of global cultural heritage,” she tells Observer. “The art that we own, we own on behalf of humanity. Museums are like a cultural version of Norway’s seed bank. It is vital that we take that responsibility very seriously, even as we try to make our collections as accessible as possible.” 

Beyond preserving the institution’s own treasures, she also turned the crisis into an opportunity to lead by example. The Getty helped launch the $14.3 million L.A. Arts Community Fire Relief Fund to support artists and cultural workers whose homes, studios or workplaces were damaged in the fires. “It made me think a lot about how important cultural institutions are for the resilience of humanity in the face of the multiple disasters that seem to surround us in the contemporary world,” she adds. “We play a vital role in connecting people to the past, to the future, and to one another, and in helping calm them and give them resilience during chaos.” Ultimately, Fleming created a roadmap of how institutions can be more than just fortresses of art and scholarship, serving also as responsive civic resources that use cultural wealth to support community resilience in moments of crisis.

Read Our Full Q&A With Katherine E. Fleming

Larry Gagosian

• Gagosian | Founder

There’s no contemporary art world without Larry Gagosian, its billion-dollar kingmaker and overall heavy-lifter. While others set up mega-galleries, Gagosian built an empire. He continues to represent the most significant artists and estates, mounting impeccable museum-caliber exhibitions and curating punchy fair booths that set the bar for everyone else while sustaining audiences through his editorial venture Gagosian Quarterly. With such a legacy, no one would blame Gagosian for sitting back to enjoy the fruits of his labor. But in 2025, he delivered head-turning shows, featuring Cy Twombly, Picasso’s rarely seen works in partnership with the artist’s daughter, Paloma Picasso, as well as Willem de Kooning and Takashi Murakami, among others. He opened a new gallery in Seoul in 2024 with plans for expansion in West Hollywood.

Following the end of his Madison Avenue lease in 2026, the art world will hopefully get an answer to the now-perennial question: Who can replace Larry? Gagosian’s succession remains elusive—or close to the vest, your pick. His “council of the wise” (an advisory board peppered with cross-disciplinary luminaries, including Guggenheim chairman J. Tomilson Hill, financier Glenn Fuhrman, LVMH exec Delphine Arnault and filmmaker Sofia Coppola) has been mapping the gallery’s future and providing strategic guidance through leadership shake-ups that muddied earlier theories on possible heirs.

Marc Glimcher

• Pace Gallery | CEO

At the helm of Pace since 2011, Marc Glimcher has overseen significant evolutions and expansions, propelling the gallery into a global brand and powerhouse through a strategic blend of robust programming and market leadership. Pace opened a new location in Tokyo in 2024, consolidating its presence in the Asian market and bringing the total number of cities under the mega-gallery’s wing to eight. The gallery also opened a new space in Berlin in collaboration with Galerie Judin in 2025. All of this belies a long history: Arne Glimcher founded Pace in 1960; the gallery has built relationships with artists and estates as recognizable as those of Alexander Calder, Jean Dubuffet, Agnes Martin and Mark Rothko; and it launched one of the longest-standing gallery imprints.

The gallery has championed Abstract Expressionists and Light and Space movement artists, with a head-spinning roster of the most prominent modern and postwar artists and estates that withstand broader market downturns. Under Glimcher’s vision, Pace Gallery has adopted frontier and innovative projects, including Pace Live in 2019, placing its West 25th Street space as a multidisciplinary cultural hub and Pace Verso in 2021, delving into the world of NFTs. It’s this blend of steady and new that keeps Pace at the center as it proudly celebrates its 65th anniversary this year.

Loïc Gouzer

• Fair Warning | Founder

Making his name at Sotheby’s and Christie’s, Loïc Gouzer is the maverick who orchestrated the record-shattering sale of the Salvator Mundi in 2017. Considered by many the “Federer of the art market,” he’s now set on reinventing the auction model through his app-based venture Fair Warning, rebooted in 2024 after raising $5 million. It cuts out the traditional auction house, curating single-piece sales of mid-tier works by artists like Basquiat and Picasso for a members-only audience of digitally fluent collectors who bid via the app. It’s not about breaking records but about reshaping access, luring a younger, tech-native generation more comfortable wielding a digital paddle than a physical one.

“Algorithms now shape taste more than Gertrude Stein ever did,” Gouzer tells Observer. “Social media does to art what the food industry does to food: it sucks out the nutrients, flattens the flavor, standardizes the recipe, and sells it back as culture. Freeing oneself from this master will be the existential cause of artists and collectors alike.”

This experiment in one-off auctions builds on Gouzer’s earlier venture Particle, which offered fractional art ownership as part of a move to democratize blue-chip collecting. (Two years ago, Particle sold 500 shares of H.R. Giger’s sculpture of the famous Xenomorph featured in Alien.) Fair Warning has already surpassed $50 million in auction sales, with private transactions exceeding that total. Still, Gouzer insists it’s not about hype but integrity—proof that innovation in the art market doesn’t have to come at the expense of connoisseurship. Or, as he famously put it: “quality, quality, quality.”

Philip Hoffman

• The Fine Art Group | Founder & Chairman
• New Perspectives Art Partners | Founder

Christie’s prodigy Philip Hoffman—CFO before he turned 30 and on the Global Management Board by 33—is CEO of The Fine Art Group and a founding member of the powerhouse collective New Perspectives Art Partners, launched this year. Renowned for turning art into a bona fide asset class, Hoffman has redefined high-end collecting and professionalized the advisory field with a financier’s precision. Since founding The Fine Art Group in 2001, he has built it into a global empire, launching eight art investment funds, advising on more than $20 billion annually and transacting over $1.4 billion in artworks and jewelry. 

“One of the biggest changes I’ve seen is how proactive collectors have become,” Hoffman tells us. (It is a topic about which he regularly shares insights with Observer.) “They’re more informed, more mobile, and far more attuned to the financial side of collecting than ever before.”

Representing 350 family offices across 28 countries, Hoffman has strategically expanded his global reach through partnerships, including a 2023 collaboration with Patti Wong & Associates in Asia—and now aims to amplify that model through New Perspectives Art Partners. The venture, he told Observer, “could pick up the phone to probably 1,000 or 2,000 of the world’s top clients,” emphasizing the scale of his infrastructure. “We’ve got warehouses and operations in every country.” Few can make that claim—and even fewer with such authority.

Noah Horowitz

• Art Basel | CEO

Art Basel isn’t just about fairs anymore. Since taking over as CEO in 2022, Noah Horowitz has transformed the organization into a multifaceted global culture brand—one that extends far beyond the convention halls. Under his leadership, Art Basel has strengthened its international footprint, reinforcing its Hong Kong edition with a three-year partnership with the Hong Kong Tourism Board and increasing first-time exhibitors by 37 percent in 2024—a growth trend that continued this year. In Europe, he solidified the brand’s presence, renaming Paris+ to Art Basel Paris and aligning it with Basel’s other flagship cities, while anticipation builds for the debut of Art Basel Qatar in 2026, set to redefine the fair model for the Gulf region.

But Horowitz’s ambitions stretch further. This year, he launched the Art Basel Awards to celebrate and support the wider art ecosystem, signaling a shift from pure market focus to cultural leadership. He’s also ventured into brand collaborations and partnerships—including one with Hugo Boss for the awards—and expanded into the lifestyle space with last year’s launch of the Art Basel Shop concept store. Alongside these initiatives, Art Basel continues to set the tone for global art-market analysis through its annual Art Market Report. The result is a newly energized, forward-facing Art Basel that’s reshaping the art world instead of responding to it.

Megan Fox Kelly

• Megan Fox Kelly Art Advisory | Founder & Principal

The art advisory field has evolved dramatically since she began, but Megan Fox Kelly remains at the top of it. Through her namesake firm, she manages more than $3.5 billion in art assets, guiding ultra-high-net-worth collectors and institutions through every stage of building, managing and preserving major collections. Her clientele reads like a who’s who of contemporary collecting, from the estate of Faith Ringgold and the Robert Indiana Estate (Star of Hope Foundation) to Michael Crichton and the Robert A. and Beatrice C. Mayer Collection, to the Terra Foundation for American Art, the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation and the estate of Robert De Niro Sr. Yet her work extends beyond private counsel. “This is about professionalizing advisory practice beyond just transactional brokerage, and building long-range strategies that sustain value for collectors and, for artist estates, build scholarship and access,” Kelly tells Observer. “If you’re managing a specific collection or an artist estate, you need bespoke analysis—what’s happening with pricing in this particular segment, what are the trends that matter for these works?” 

As a contributor to Observer, Kelly writes about collection legacies, art fair strategies, and market forecasting. As host of the Reading the Art World podcast, she helps demystify the business for a wider audience. A former president of the Association of Professional Art Advisors, Kelly is a regular presence at TEFAF Maastricht, The Art Business Conference and The Armory Show, where her perspective carries the authority of both experience and discretion. Behind the NDAs and closed doors, she is a strategist; onstage and in print, she’s a translator of market complexity. Her advice to her colleagues remains succinct and timeless: “What it takes to make this real is collaboration. Financial advisors, attorneys, and art market professionals actually working together instead of in silos. That’s how we better serve both collectors and estates.”

Read our Full Q&A with Megan Fox Kelly

José Kuri & Mónica Manzutto

• kurimanzutto | Founders

Last year, the husband-and-wife duo Mónica Manzutto and José Kuri celebrated their 25th anniversary at the helm of kurimanzutto, the once itinerant Mexico City gallery. In 2022, the pair put down roots in New York with a permanent gallery space in Chelsea. While CDMX Art Week is now an established date in the global art market calendar for collectors and curators alike, this wasn’t always the case; Manzutto and Kuri have done a lot to elevate the visibility and valuation of contemporary Mexican and Latin American art in the U.S. by giving these artists a platform domestically and abroad. “It was a desert. You could count on one hand collectors in the city,” said Kuri of the Mexico City art market during the 1990s in a recent interview. Today, they no longer need to individually call collectors after each show; instead, collectors rush to Mexico City, with demand and pricing momentum projected to steady levels into 2026. “The most transformative shift in the art world’s power dynamics has been the emergence of multiple narratives,” the duo tells Observer, adding that this has informed their strategy to “insist, insist, insist.”

Manzutto and Kuri can arguably boast of having successfully skyrocketed contemporary Mexican art to the global art scene and made Mexico City a hub in global conversations. They’ve propelled prominent artists like Gabriel Orozco and Abraham Cruzvillegas, securing major institutional exhibitions and the representation of estates like that of John Giorno, catalyzing collector demand by building international relationships with museums, curators and collectors, making Mexican artists accessible to global markets and boosting their liquidity and prestige. (Sotheby’s, for instance, recently reported that sales of works by Latin American artists have climbed more than 50 percent above pre-pandemic levels.) Concurrently, there’s been a notable accumulation of wealth in the Latin American region and within the Latino diaspora, and Mexico City has become an arts destination in its own right. Looking ahead, they are most looking forward to “privileging knowledge and critical thinking over influencers and oversimplifiers of the complexities of art and its ecosystems.”

Clare McAndrew

• Arts Economics | Founder & Cultural Economist

Dr. Clare McAndrew is the economist behind the data that defines the art world. As founder of Arts Economics and author of the annual Art Basel & UBS Art Market Report (as well as several others on art and collectibles), she produces the most authoritative snapshot of the global art economy—September Vogue with charts instead of couture. When the yearly report drops in March, dealers, collectors, institutions and journalists alike turn to its findings to gauge the market’s health, whether it’s rebounding, contracting or simply shifting shape. Its headline figures—sales volumes, sector shares, regional trends—are matched by nuanced analysis of global economic forces, auction performance and dealer sentiment, offering an unparalleled outlook for the year ahead, along with some much-needed clarity. “As most of what the mainstream media reports on is the multi-million-dollar sums paid for this very small number of artists’ works, new buyers are led to believe that the art market is out of their reach, and that you can only get a quality work of art if you have a budget of over $1 million or so, when in fact there are so many other less publicized artists and works available at much lower prices,” she tells Observer.

McAndrew has managed what once seemed impossible: to quantify the notoriously opaque art market. By applying rigorous economic methods, she has developed a research framework that combines surveys, data modeling, and a mix of quantitative and qualitative analysis to produce consistent and comparable insights across regions and sectors. The result is a report that helps the industry reflect on the past year while strategizing for the next, exposing how sales respond to shocks, trends and evolving collector behavior.

In 2024, she expanded her scope with the first-ever Japan Art Market Report—a detailed national study continuing her focus on regional “spin-offs” as emerging markets and shifting collector bases demand sharper, more localized intelligence. She also points to ongoing changes in what’s being sold in the art market, including an expanding range of collectibles and luxury products being sold by dealers and at auction houses and new digital mediums and channels for accessing these works. “The traditional mediums still dominate by value for now, but that could change in the future,” McAndrew says, adding that “how we account for and measure these sales will become increasingly important in understanding the activity in the sector as a whole, especially when we’re trying to assess its economic and social impact.” 

Marc Payot

• Hauser & Wirth | President

This year, Marc Payot celebrated a quarter century with Hauser & Wirth, and what a year it’s been. A remarkable number of the gallery’s artists and estates headlined exhibitions at New York’s top institutions: Amy Sherald at the Whitney, Flora Yukhnovich at the Frick, Jack Whitten at MoMA, Lorna Simpson at the Met and Rashid Johnson at the Guggenheim. Numerous others—Jenny Holzer, Firelei Báez, Glenn Ligon and Annie Leibovitz, among them—commanded major museum shows across the U.S., Europe and Asia. The gallery, now spanning 18 locations across the United States, Europe, Hong Kong and the U.K., published 17 titles under its Hauser & Wirth Publishers imprint, a testament to the scope of its cultural reach. Next year, it will add new physical spaces in London and Palo Alto, further expanding its presence.

The empire’s builders, Manuela and Iwan Wirth—who are now busy redefining the model of a cultural enterprise that fuses art, publishing, real estate and hospitality—have left the gallery in formidable hands. Under Payot’s leadership, 2025 was marked not only by institutional success but also by growing engagement and notable collaborations. To wit: Hauser & Wirth launched its “In the Studio” series of compact, illustrated books offering deep dives into artists’ practices; forged collaborations with arts organizations, including London’s Royal Drawing School and Whitechapel Gallery; and partnered with The New Art School Modality to provide free hybrid art courses. Then there’s the Collective Impact initiative—a project in which Hauser & Wirth joins forces with smaller, younger galleries to represent artists in an approach defined by parity, transparency and mutuality. “It’s clear to us that ‘success’ is not a zero-sum game in a delicate ecosystem like the art world,” Payot tells Observer. “We’ve been putting a lot of energy over the last few years into collaborations with our colleagues who operate at different scales, so that we can contribute in concrete, measurable ways to the health of the wider field.”

Magnus Renfrew

• ART SG & Tokyo Gendai | Co-Founder
• ARTHQ Group | Managing Director

Magnus Renfrew wants the art world to look east—and he’s giving it every reason to. As co-founder of ART SG and Tokyo Gendai, Renfrew has spent the past two years strengthening the art fair portfolio that he leads. A master of regional infrastructure building, he’s creating new platforms for galleries and collectors while also advising private clients, artists’ estates, institutions and governments through his consultancy ARTHQ, shaping how the region’s art economies connect and grow. Positioned as the leading art fair in Japan, Tokyo Gendai has already drawn global attention in one of the world’s most dynamic emerging markets. The rise of ART SG reflects the shift from the Asia Pacific to the Indo Pacific. “I’m looking at how I can engage this new demographic of people who are proud of their cultural roots, particularly from Asia and Southeast Asia, yet open to artistic expressions from other regions,” Renfrew tells Observer of his current priorities. 

Renfrew’s confidence is earned—he was the founding director of Art Hong Kong, which later became Art Basel Hong Kong, and his leadership helped put Asia-Pacific firmly on the international art map. He’s particularly excited, he says, about deepening the infrastructure for art in Southeast Asia. “Technology, globalization and demographic change are all accelerating a decentralization of the art world… This is enormously exciting. Technology has democratized access to information, allowing collectors to discover artists wherever they may be. Globalization has brought new perspectives and cultural narratives to the fore. The younger generation of collectors is approaching collecting with a new sense of purpose and curiosity.” And his fairs will be there to answer their call.

Mary Rozell

• UBS | Global Head, UBS Art Collection

Mary Rozell oversees one of the most influential corporate art collections in existence, comprising 30,000 works spanning canvas, paper, photography, sculpture, video and installation, amassed over decades of collecting. What began as a scattering of individual acquisitions coalesced in the 1960s into a distinctly contemporary collection that has since grown into a global cultural asset. Only works by living artists and those acquired directly from galleries make the cut, and today pieces by Lucian Freud, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Philip Guston and Cy Twombly hang across UBS’s 700 offices worldwide. They serve not just as conversation starters but as quiet assertions of taste and intellect, transforming corporate hallways into a museum-grade experience for employees and visitors alike.

When Rozell, an art lawyer and former director at Sotheby’s Institute of Art, stepped into the role, her mandate was clear: unify the disparate collections under a single, forward-looking vision. She approached the task with both precision and openness, expanding the collection’s diversity while maintaining its exacting standards. “Generally we’re not buying an artist at their first show—it’s the second or third, when they have some traction but before they get too much recognition,” Rozell told Observer of her acquisition strategy. Among her most meaningful contributions has been lifting the velvet rope around a once-insular collection. “I feel like some of our pieces are so important that we have a responsibility to share them with the greater public,” she said—a sentiment that has helped redefine UBS’s art holdings as a cultural resource.

Muys Snijders

• Private Client Select | SVP, Head of Art Services

With over 25 years in the international art world, Muys Snijders is a leading expert in fine art insurance. As head of art services at Private Client Select, she oversees risk management for a portfolio insuring over $50 billion in fine art and collectibles across 50,000 policies. In an era of intensifying climate threats, Snijders is redefining how the industry protects cultural patrimony. “Many new technologies have been introduced in recent years to support mitigation efforts,” Snijders told The Art Newspaper, citing innovations like automatic fire suppression and hypoxic storage now being implemented for collections in wildfire zones. Over the years, Snijders and her team have provided bespoke coverage to some 60 percent of the top 200 ARTnews Collectors, conducting site visits worldwide to ensure proactive protection. 

At this year’s Aspen Art Fair, Snijders moderated “A Collector’s Point of View: Curated Approaches in a Contemporary World,” with collectors including Nancy Magoon, Sharon Hoffman and Christine Mack. Snijders is also steering Private Client Select toward a new era of corporate collecting, championing acquisitions by diverse artists and launching commissions focused on sustainability. The firm’s new managing general underwriter (MGU) structure, she says, reflects a changing insurance landscape—one where agility and tailored solutions are paramount.

Snijders serves on the Guggenheim‘s Young Collectors Council Acquisition Committee, ICA Miami‘s International Council, and the Aspen Art Museum‘s Director’s Circle, among other board and advisory roles. Before joining Private Client Select (formerly AIG Private Client Group), Muys launched her own art consultancy firm and served as the managing director of Christie’s Americas. With natural catastrophes mounting, her steady leadership is preserving art for generations to come.

Yü‑Ge Wang

• Christie’s | Associate Director, Senior Client Advisor & Auctioneer

After joining Christie’s more than a decade ago, Yü-Ge Wang quickly rose through the ranks to become associate director and senior client adviser, specializing in Asian collectors. She was the lead auctioneer at Christie’s 21st Century Evening Sale last May, commanding $96.5 million with a 92 percent sell-through by lot and 97 percent by value—an impressive feat in a tightening market. Under her gavel, visibility and valuations surged for women artists and contemporary stars, like Carmen Herrera, Cecily Brown and Elizabeth Peyton. She hammered Miss January by Marlene Dumas for $13.6 million, setting a record for a living woman artist. “Innovation isn’t just about digital tools,” she tells Observer. “It’s about who gets to be part of the conversation, whose stories we tell, and how we authentically interact with a much more diverse and global community, so people feel heard rather than excluded.” 

Having worked across China, Germany and England, Wang bridges languages, markets and cultures with rare fluency, and her star is on the rise. “Collecting motivations and strategies are changing and creating meaningful dialogue is more important than ever,” she says. “As an auctioneer, I learned to create this dialogue also on stage by using my language skills to connect with bidders from different countries and my body language to engage with the audience in the room or online.” She frequently appears on panels exploring how media and photography can ignite cross-cultural dialogue, while using that same instinct for connection to drive sales with confidence, charisma and sharp market intuition. For Wang, learning to engage with other cultures isn’t just about boosting bottom lines but also a sign of respect—one that “helps colleagues from diverse backgrounds feel seen, valued and included, as well as being essential for long-term relevance.”

Andrew Wolff

• Beowolff Capital | CEO

Andrew Wolff stormed into the online art market in 2025 with a pair of headline-making plays: acquiring a controlling stake in Artsy and launching a €65 million delisting and takeover of Artnet, in moves that were less about buying legacy names than about combining market intelligence and reach. It’s not about the multi-brand cachet, but about building a vertically integrated digital empire, merging reach, data and market intelligence to rewire how art is discovered, priced and sold. “I think the world is moving from static forms of power to a more fluid model of networked authority and strength—one in which power and influence are built on the foundations of interconnected communities,” Wolff tells Observer. “Old-school power structures build walls to protect themselves. But our younger generations are skeptical of centralized gatekeepers; they want access, participation, transparency, consistency, objectivity.” 

His aim is to provide it with innovation, using analytics and A.I. to unlock the latent power of two of the art world’s most influential tech platforms. “We embrace A.I. not to reduce the role of human expertise in the art market, but to amplify it,” he says. “Not to steal the voices of artists, but to allow them to expand their reach. After all, in a world where machines can do more and more, the ability to create and feel the power of art is an increasingly critical part of what makes us human.” For now, Artsy and Artnet remain separate, ostensibly rivals, but his long game likely involves strategic complementarity: Artsy’s dominance in the primary market paired with Artnet’s unrivaled secondary market data. If and when those worlds merge, Wolff will control an ecosystem linking 67 million annual users to the world’s largest online marketplace for fine art—a rare position from which to shape the digital future of collecting.

Read Our Full Q&A With Andrew Wolff

Jeffrey Yin

• Artsy | CEO

Jeffrey Yin runs the world’s largest online marketplace for fine art—a platform whose scale and sophistication have redefined how art is bought and sold. Artsy connects more than one million available works to millions of collectors globally through partnerships with over 3,000 galleries and auction houses. It combines editorial authority, curatorial intelligence and data science to power a marketplace that has become indispensable to the art world’s digital ecosystem. For example, Yin tells Observer that a collector might discover a work through Artsy’s personalized recommendations, save the work, receive an offer directly from the gallery, and finalize the purchase online—all within a few days. “The average distance between buyer and seller on Artsy—about 2,500 miles—says a lot about how technology is expanding reach and redistributing opportunity across the art ecosystem,” he says.

Under Yin’s leadership, Artsy has seen record momentum: first-time buyers are on the rise, and 2024 sales climbed 15 percent year over year—the platform’s strongest growth since 2021. The number of artists with commercial activity on the platform has grown by 20 percent since 2020, and galleries are now selling works by 40 percent more artists. The Artsy mobile app, now a fixture among younger collectors, continues to expand the company’s reach, while its inaugural 2025 Art Market Trends report and new collector follow-up tools mark a push toward data-driven personalization and higher conversion. The biggest opportunity, he says, will involve not just guiding the next generation of collectors but also sustaining their engagement over time. “The foundation of transparency and global access is now in place; the next step is helping collectors navigate the overwhelming volume of art online in a personal, meaningful way,” he says. “Our goal isn’t to automate or remove the human experience from collecting, but to meet people where they are.”

Read our Full Q&A With Jeffrey Yin

Lingua Franca Bespoke Cashmere Sweater

You cannot go wrong with Lingua Franca’s bespoke cashmere. The brand was founded in 2016 by Rachelle Hruska, who, years earlier, had become a household name in discerning zip codes as the chronicler of early-2000s New York society, thanks to her website, Guest of a Guest. Why is this important? Because the cool kids follow Hruska, and it didn’t take long for Lingua Franca to become the “next cool thing.” (But that was nine years ago, so if it’s the first you’re hearing of Hruska’s sweaters, act like you’ve been there.) Lingua Franca’s 100 percent cashmere knits are adorned with pithy, playful and often provocative statements, hand-stitched in a cool-girl font that is just the right amount of lopsided while remaining legible.

For moms and dads, consider gifting a bespoke crewneck or cardigan emblazoned with a shrunken version of their child’s most adorable doodles. If your loved one does not love children or at least does not love them enough to want kid scribbles on cashmere, dream up a message that’s utterly, uniquely them (“Ask me about anything but children!”) and embroider that on the front, instead. The softness is unparalleled, yet the fabric has a weightlessness and delicacy that almost belie its keepsake-in-the-making durability.

Ships in 3-4 weeks. Order by early December for holiday delivery.

from $650 | Lingua franca

W&CO Cast Bronze Stamp

The W&CO Cast Bronze Rubber Stamp is a stunning example of how everyday objects can be transformed into cherished keepsakes through the power of thoughtful design and exquisite craftsmanship. Cast in rich, warm bronze from a 19th-century paperweight mold, each stamp base bears the subtle irregularities that mark it as a true one-of-a-kind. The substantial weight and smooth, cool surface of the bronze invite touch, making the act of stamping a tactile pleasure.
Choose a custom rubber imprint—perhaps a monogram, an architectural motif, or a beloved phrase—to create a stamp that’s as unique as its recipient. Or opt for a Gift Voucher that allows your loved one to personalize their stamp to their own exacting specifications.

At 2.25″ wide with a generous 2.125″ imprint area, it’s perfectly sized for a wide range of creative and practical applications. Each stamp is meticulously handcrafted in Sweden and presented in W&CO’s signature black gift box, a fitting vessel for an object of such understated luxury. And for those who prefer a different aesthetic, the Cast Bronze Rubber Stamp is also available in a sleek Blackened finish or a luminous Silver-plated version. In an age of digital everything, there’s something profoundly personal about the act of stamping one’s mark on paper.

Ships in 1-2 weeks.

from $235 | w&co

Custom Golf Swing Sculpture

Swing Sculpt turns your loved one’s golf swing into a permanent work of art (or at least home decor)—video analysis meets proprietary 3D modeling to capture the exact mechanics of their form. Mounted on walnut with optional engraving, these keepsake pieces skip the gimmicky trophy aesthetic in favor of clean lines that let the swing’s fluidity speak for itself. The result works equally well in a formal office or den, and for the golfer who cares as much about form as score, it’s the rare, one-of-a-kind gift that creates entirely new reasons to talk about golf—as if they needed more. Sometimes the best presents immortalize something fleeting—in this case, the split-second grace of a well-executed drive that their friends will now have to admire on repeat.

Ships in 3-4 weeks.

$499 | Swing Sculpt

Olympia Le-Tan Personalized Book Clutch

For the stylish woman who tied the knot in 2025, an Olympia Le-Tan custom clutch is a gift that is as unique and memorable as her special day. The Parisian brand is renowned for its exquisite, hand-embroidered “book” clutches. With their custom design service, you can create a one-of-a-kind gift that celebrates significant life milestones. Imagine presenting a newlywed bride with a clutch featuring the book cover from which her wedding reading was taken, or a design incorporating elements from her bouquet or wedding invitation. Perhaps it’s a favorite love poem, rendered in intricate stitching, or a scene that captures the essence of where the couple first met. Every detail can be customized, from the base color to the cover artwork. With the option to add personalized touches like initials, a name, a date or a special message, the clutch becomes a keepsake.

Allow 15 days for in-stock items and 60 days for fully custom designs.

From $2,030 | Olympia le-tan

Olivet Monogrammed Garment Bag

A well-appointed garment bag makes even the most hectic travel feel chic. In gifts for her, Olivet’s sumptuous deep navy poly moiré catches the light just so, with a black flocked bow and coordinating black piping and embroidery. Olivet’s Classic Garment Bag is extra-long to accommodate even the most formal of gowns, with two interior pockets for keeping accessories and essentials close at hand. The ability to transition from full-length to half-fold to compact suitcase fold is a stroke of genius, and with handles at each length, it’s a breeze to carry. Perhaps the most luxurious touch is the option for custom embroidery over the right interior pocket.

In gifts for him, try Hudson Sutler’s Hunter Green Charleston Garment Bag, a nylon and leather version with a spill-proof liner, contrasting zipper and accent piping. It fits two suits or three full-length garments (and is also monogrammable for $180).

Ships in 10-14 business days.

from $240 | olivet

Anna Lou Rolling Cube Ring

Anna Lou of London’s 14kt solid yellow gold rolling cube ring offers straightforward personalization: two letters of your choice, whether initials, a partner’s monogram, or whoever the recipient wants to carry around. The cube rotates and converts to a pendant, which is practical without being precious. Since 2004, Anna Scaife has built her brand on contemporary pieces that balance whimsy with wearability, working with materials ranging from acrylics to solid gold and recycled silver in her family-run studio in the UK. Made in-house with bold colors and clean lines, these pieces reject the tired notion that accessible means compromised. For someone who appreciates personalization but finds traditional monogramming overly formal, this delivers without the sentimentality.

Ships in 1-2 weeks. Order by December 5 for holiday delivery.

$1,964 | anna lou of london

Weezie Monogrammed Robe

Weezie’s robes are a welcome departure from the bulky, shapeless options that often define the category. In gifts for her, the brand’s luxuriously soft French Terry Scallop Robe drapes elegantly, featuring a scalloped edge with contrast piping that elevates the overall look. In gifts for him (and her), Weezie’s Signature Robe is crafted from 100 percent organic cotton in Portugal. Both designs feature roll-and-button sleeves, a stroke of genius that allows the wearer to customize the length depending on the task. The attached belt ensures that it never goes missing in the wash or gets tangled in a drawer. Adding embroidery or appliqué transforms the brand’s best-sellers into personalized gifts that feel genuinely unique. It’s a touch that elevates the robe from the realm of the everyday into something more meaningful, a luxurious keepsake to be cherished for years to come. (Note: the brand also recently launched custom-embroidered Christmas stockings.)

Ships in two weeks.

from $178 | weezie

Emilia Wickstead’s Jeweled Kitten Heel

There’s a specific heel height that occupies some theoretical sweet spot of footwear—high enough to feel polished, low enough to actually walk in—and Emilia Wickstead’s Katy kitten heel has found it. The rectangular heel itself is what makes these practical for navigating New York sidewalks, and despite being crafted from black satin with an oversized jewel buckle, nothing about them reads as too fussy for daytime. I wore them with a suede pencil skirt and cashmere turtleneck, an otherwise sober combination that needed precisely this amount of visual interest without tipping into costume territory.

Wickstead, a New Zealand-born designer who launched her eponymous label in 2008, has built her reputation on fluent use of color and exacting craftsmanship that combines traditional romance with contemporary refinement. These mules embody that ethos—pointed toe, sleek silhouette, just enough embellishment to register as special without announcing itself. They’re the rare shoe that works equally well with jeans or a formal gown, which is another way of saying they’re versatile enough to justify the investment and elegant enough to make you reach for them constantly.

$790, shop now

Haribo Goldbears

I’m a self-proclaimed connoisseur of exactly two things: jelly beans and gummy bears. My criteria are specific—intense flavor, just the right amount of chew—and you’d be shocked how often I’ve been disappointed by gummies that lack punch or practically dissolve on contact. Which is why Haribo’s Goldbears deserve recognition as the platonic ideal of the form. After leaving my hotel early Monday morning and careening through a day of coffee runs, office meetings, midtown appointments and more meetings, I realized it had been nearly twelve hours since I’d eaten an actual meal. A bag of these humble little bears kept me functional, which sent me down a research rabbit hole that only deepened my appreciation.

Haribo—a portmanteau of founder Hans Riegel’s name and his hometown of Bonn—launched its first gummy bear in 1922, and the company’s approach has remained remarkably unchanged since. Their Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, facility produces 60 million Goldbears daily using a slurry recipe that hasn’t been altered in over 25 years, in a space staffed largely by robots where signs remind workers that “our world is the world of gummi candies” and warn against distraction. The bears cure for a proprietary number of days to achieve their signature texture. With obsessive consistency, Haribo has applied that distinctly German precision to gummy bears, making the family-owned business the world’s largest sugar confectionery brand because they’ve never tried to fix what wasn’t broken.

$3, shop now

Michael M. Grynbaum’s ‘Empire of the Elite’

I picked this up before leaving for New York—partly because I’m constitutionally unable to resist media industry tell-alls, partly because understanding the machinery behind the aspirational publishing world I now write for feels relevant. Michael M. Grynbaum’s book traces Conde Nast through its most powerful decades, when S.I. Newhouse’s magazine empire wasn’t merely covering culture but actively creating it. The reporting digs into how publications like Vogue, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker operated as tastemakers with genuine power—their editors could make or break careers, their photographers and writers shaped what luxury meant to millions of readers, and their lavish events rivaled anything thrown by actual aristocracy.

What kept me reading wasn’t the gossip (though there’s plenty), but Grynbaum’s examination of how a private company managed to position itself as arbiter of what mattered in American culture. Reading about the mechanics of influence while staying at a historic New York hotel and dining at restaurants that still trade on that vision of elevated living felt appropriately meta. The empire has contracted considerably since its peak, disrupted by the same digital forces that upended all legacy media, but its imprint persists. Whether that’s reassuring or troubling probably depends on how you feel about centralized tastemaking versus the chaotic democracy of social media.

$18, shop now

Olivet Garment Bag

I’ve never been precious about luggage—if it zips and fits in the overhead bin, it’s probably fine—but watching a crumpled silk dress emerge from my suitcase after a recent flight to L.A. made me reconsider my (lack of) travel strategy. Enter the Olivet garment bag, which arrived just in time for this trip in a green gingham print with lavender moiré piping that manages to feel both grandmotherly and impossibly chic. At 61.5 inches tall and crafted from durable cotton canvas, the bag accommodates everything from minis to maxis, with two interior zip pockets for accessories and a thoughtful design that transitions from full-length to half-fold to compact suitcase fold, with handles at each configuration. The option for custom embroidery over the right interior pocket elevates it from purely functional to genuinely personal. Such practical luxuries make you wonder why you ever accepted wrinkled clothing as an inevitable cost of travel.

$215, shop now

First Impressions: Beautiful Design, Patient Staff

Check-in and valet parking ($60 per night, but speedy and professional) were seamless, and I was immediately impressed by the hotel’s attention to and tolerance of young guests—particularly as my daughter furiously threw open a suitcase of American Girl doll paraphernalia in the middle of the lobby on a Friday night because Felicity’s outfit wasn’t working.

The main floor public spaces hummed with just the right energy—lively enough to feel vibrant but never overwhelming. Upstairs, however, the atmosphere shifted completely, offering a peaceful, calm environment that provided perfect respite from the chaos of downtown Washington. One of the hallmarks of a true luxury hotel is making guests feel as though they’re among very few people at any given time, and the Riggs achieved this beautifully when and where it mattered.

Upon arrival, our children received teddy bears, “passports,” coloring books, crayons and gift certificates for ice cream sundaes. These thoughtful touches transformed what could have been an intimidatingly formal environment into a family-friendly experience.

Gallery Suite: Beautiful Design, Practical Shortcomings

We stayed in one of the Gallery Suites on the Southeast corner of the hotel’s top floor. A curtain wall of windows extending from the dining room into the living room offered near-panoramic views of the surrounding D.C. neighborhood. At 690 square feet, the suite provided ample space and was beautifully designed, with rich interior fabrics and thoughtful lighting. My husband and I took the bedroom while our children shared the living room’s pull-out couch—an arrangement that worked well for a family with two children under six. The bedding was comfortable, though the noise level ran somewhat high due to our corner location in what can be a busy, sometimes slightly seedy neighborhood—an expected trade-off. The air conditioning and wifi were reliable and strong.

However, the design presented a few challenges that proved tricky for family travelers. The accommodation featured only one bathroom with a single pedestal sink, which created some logistical hurdles. My husband’s electric toothbrush teetered precariously on the edge, my makeup bag lived on the floor, and the children’s various potions—sunscreen, detangling spray, etc.—formed a tower on the windowsill. Every morning became a delicate hop of ‘Don’t touch that,’ ‘Where did that go?’ and ‘Why is there toothpaste on the wall?’ One person brushing teeth meant everyone else had to vacate, turning our luxurious suite into a medieval castle where the garderobe could only accommodate one peasant at a time. For $1,395 a night, I expect a counter large enough to accommodate at least one full-sized human’s toiletries without requiring the organizational skills of a Tetris champion.

The suite boasted a beautiful, long dining table with seating for six, but came without dishes, flatware or even basic napkins—a discovery we made the hard way when we arrived in DC late Friday night, starving, and dashed out for Shake Shack, only to later wipe greasy fingers on paper bags like cavemen. This is a puzzling omission for a space designed for extended stays and group dining. While there was a well-appointed mini-bar, the lack of a second mini-fridge created storage challenges. Because my (all?) children have a talent for leaving everything half-eaten, most food needs to go back in the fridge, making this absence particularly inconvenient.

Despite these material limitations, the hotel staff’s accommodating and patient approach elevated our experience. Their warmth and professionalism made our family feel welcome throughout our stay.

Culinary Excellence for All Ages

Our dinner at Cafe Riggs was phenomenal. Fahad, the maître d’, provided wonderful service, while our waiter Hector brought infectious enthusiasm and friendliness to every interaction. His bubbly personality shone brightest when he literally caught our five-year-old son as he tumbled out of the booth during dinner—well past bedtime, naturally.

The restaurant successfully caters to diverse palates, offering an excellent children’s menu alongside a varied and daring selection for adults. The crispy duck confit with frisée salad, kumquat and croutons stood out among the starters, presenting familiar ingredients in an elevated, sophisticated preparation. The King Salmon with red rice, baby spinach and beurre blanc made me reconsider my hesitation about ordering salmon at restaurants—sometimes dismissed as the “boring” choice, this dish was anything but ordinary. My husband and son raved about the octopus with potato, merguez oil and Meyer lemon aioli, and while octopus isn’t for me despite repeated attempts to acquire a taste for it, this appeared to be an excellent rendition for those who appreciate the ingredient.

For dessert, a triple scoop of their homemade, unbelievably creamy vanilla, chocolate and pistachio ice cream. When we forgot our three-year-old daughter’s leftover mac and cheese that had been packed for our room, someone thoughtfully brought it to us (though, of course, we had nowhere proper to store it). These small gestures of care and attention distinguished the service at Cafe Riggs.

The next day, we returned to Cafe Riggs for a midday snack, ordering the homemade chips, house-brined olives and spicy mixed nuts—all three exceeded expectations as the perfect accompaniment to afternoon drinks. Our included breakfast (again at Cafe Riggs) was a highlight. The kids devoured fresh croissants, my coffee stayed hot, and the eggs were cooked to perfection—a strong start to our zoo-bound morning. We didn’t try room service, but based on the level of service everywhere else at the hotel, I imagine it’s worth the cost.

Prime Penn Quarter Location

An 11-minute walk from the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and across the street from the National Portrait Gallery, the Riggs DC is well-positioned for families planning patriotic adventures. The hotel is on F Street NW, less than a mile from the White House, in Penn Quarter—flanked by Chinatown, Judiciary Square and the National Mall. The surrounding downtown area bustles with dining options, including Shake Shack, The Smith and Le Pain Quotidien, where our kids enthusiastically pointed to pumpernickel something while squealing “chocolate!”—and the staff, apparently believing that small children possess sophisticated palates for dense German breads rather than simple chocolate cravings, never bothered to correct the misunderstanding, which of course led to the kind of wailing typically reserved for actual tragedies as both children declared it “the worst thing” they’d ever eaten.

The Riggs offers bikes for guests adventurous enough to ride bikes in DC, which was not us, and includes a fitness center for those maintaining workout routines (also not us). The entire property was impeccably clean—something we’ve learned to notice since our children spend considerable time on floors, either because their “legs have stopped working” or they’re staging dramatic protests over ludicrous injustices like realizing they can’t take the decorative pillows home as souvenirs.

Historic Charm Meets Family Fun

The hotel succeeds in feeling genuinely special. In the lower level, a giant gumball machine—probably ten feet tall—delighted our children. The Riggs thoughtfully supplies a dish of tokens, eliminating the need to scrounge for quarters. Such details demonstrate the property’s commitment to creating memorable experiences for guests of all ages.

Our discovery of the subterranean Silver Lyan Bar happened purely by chance when my husband returned from escorting our children for the fifth time to the gumball machine. Eyes wide, a mix of astonishment, defeat and FOMO, he sputtered, “There is a bar down there, behind heavy velvet curtains, and it looks great.” Sure enough, steps from the giant gumball machine, Silver Lyan is the hotel’s cocktail bar that is hard not to envision as a prohibition-era speakeasy. We sadly didn’t have the chance to experience this award-winning destination due to our reluctance to bring children into such a refined space and our lack of childcare arrangements for a proper date night—a missed opportunity that gives us excellent reason to return to the Riggs without little ones in tow.

Coming and Going

The one area where service could have been smoother was at the front entrance, which seemed understaffed during our visit. Most of the time we entered or exited, we found ourselves juggling heavy doors while managing two small children and the inevitable volume of items families require. At a property of this caliber, having doors consistently opened for guests would enhance what was otherwise an excellent service experience.

In contrast, the valet team demonstrated remarkable patience and professionalism. They graciously accommodated my Italian sister-in-law, who parked her car in the valet drop-off zone and then—unbeknownst to me, and I do love her dearly—proceeded to settle into Cafe Riggs for a leisurely 45-minute coffee experience, which included sending back her drink when it arrived in a to-go cup rather than the proper ceramic vessel she expected. My Italian husband assures me this relaxed approach to time and space is distinctly Italian—though he’s careful to distinguish between “carefree” and “careless.” Throughout her extended occupation of their drop-off zone, the valet staff never once appeared flustered, simply managing around her with quiet efficiency. This level of grace under pressure speaks well of their training and temperament, making the inconsistent door service all the more puzzling by comparison.

Final Verdict

At $1,395 per night, the Gallery Suite feels appropriately priced given the premium location, spacious accommodations and historic significance. The only equivalent luxury hotel we’ve experienced in D.C. was the Jefferson, which was perfection from all angles—though we traveled childless on that occasion, making direct comparisons challenging. The Riggs Hotel successfully honors its presidential history while creating a welcoming environment for modern families. The stunning architecture, exceptional dining, and genuinely caring service staff create an experience that feels both extravagant and accessible. However, the 181-room property would benefit from reconsidering suite layouts and amenities to better serve extended-stay guests and families.

Despite these limitations, our weekend at the Riggs created lasting memories.

Dogwood Hill Wrapping Paper

There’s something to be said for the lost art of beautiful gift wrapping. Call it the lasting influence of watching Martha Stewart as a tween in the mid-90s, absorbing her gospel that presentation is everything, but I’ve always believed that even the smallest present deserves to arrive looking like it matters. Which is why I’ve become obsessed with the wrapping paper collection from Dogwood Hill, where founder Jennifer Hunt has assembled a roster of artists who understand that the packaging can be as thoughtful as what’s inside.

Take Gina Langford’s Virginia Holiday design, a botanical wonderland of pineapples, pinecones and winter florals, or Paige Spearin’s Citrus Tree pattern, where oranges and lemons dance across the page in a way that makes you want to frame the paper instead of tearing it off. At 20 by 30 inches per sheet (three sheets per roll), these aren’t your drugstore impulse buys, but they’re also not the sort of investment that requires a small loan.

SHOP NOW, $12

Super Smalls Super Book of Gems

I was lucky enough to get an early copy of Super Smalls Super Book of Gems: Birthstone Magic, Science, Facts and Fun—which hits shelves on October 14th—and it’s become an unexpected obsession in our household. When this bold, graphic celebration of all things sparkly arrived, I knew it was something special. What I didn’t anticipate was the immediate custody battle that erupted between my three-and-a-half-year-old daughter and five-year-old son. My daughter ultimately claimed victory and has slept with it every night for weeks, establishing a bedtime routine where she flips through to point out all the jewelry “Santa will bring us”—and honestly, I hope she’s right. Meanwhile, my son is fascinated by what he calls “all kinds of rocks!” and the incredible depth the book goes into about where each gemstone originates, the myths behind them and how they’re used.

Written by Super Smalls co-founders and sisters Maria Duenas Jacobs and Bianca Gottesman, it’s equal parts educational deep-dive and glitter-filled fun, with legendary jewelry house cameos from Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels. It’s designed for kids but sophisticated enough that I find myself learning alongside them—proof that the best children’s books work on multiple levels.

SHOP NOW, $25

Goldie Chelsea Tee

If the earlier ode to Alyson Eastman didn’t already indicate, my tee drawer has become surprisingly strategic over the years. My latest discovery is the Goldie Chelsea Tee, for when the silhouette of my outfit demands something fitted. I’ve only had this shirt for a few weeks, but it’s already become the piece I reach for every time I wear those high-waisted mom jeans that I’m relieved to see fading from the trend cycle, or when I want to tuck something into a silk pencil skirt for that French-girl thing. Think Rachel Green’s fitted tees from the mid-’90s, but without the commitment to showing your entire midriff or the structural engineering challenges that came with going braless in cotton.

The wide-rib knit has a thick, luxurious texture, and the lettuce-edge trim adds just enough feminine detail to keep things interesting without veering into precious territory. Made from 96 percent Peruvian pima cotton with a touch of spandex, it has a flattering, body-hugging fit without feeling restrictive. The crew neck hits at precisely the right spot, and at 22 inches in length, it tucks beautifully without creating bulk at the waist.

shop now, $120

YogiFi Gen 3 Smart Mat

Between kids’ schedules, work deadlines and the reality that most yoga studios require you to show up at specific times, making it to in-person classes has become nearly impossible. The YogiFi Gen 3 Smart Mat bridges that gap by bringing A.I.-powered instruction directly to my living room floor. Embedded sensors track posture and alignment, providing real-time corrections through subtle, surprisingly intuitive notifications. There’s something satisfyingly futuristic about having artificial intelligence analyze my downward dog.

The technology isn’t complicated, either. Roll out the mat, connect to the app, and suddenly, I can access personalized feedback that rivals what I’d get from a skilled instructor. The “Freestyle” mode is clever, allowing me to practice my own sequences while the mat silently monitors balance and form and provides insights afterward. For anyone whose practice has been derailed by logistics, having A.I. technology that adapts to your schedule and skill level feels like the future of home fitness.

shop now, $249

The Shirt That Earns Its Wrinkles

• B. Draddy’s ‘Somerset’ Linen Shirt

This is the summer shirt. Made from the kind of Italian linen that gets name-dropped in fashion circles, the Sommerset comes straight from a mill outside Florence known for its legendary delavé—that washed, lived-in finish that looks like you’ve owned it forever (but better).

The feel is pure luxury, light and breathable, but built to last. It’s garment-washed for extra softness, so it already feels broken in the first time you put it on. Button it all the way up for dinner in town, or wear it open over a tee—it plays both sides beautifully. Tailored chest pocket. Subtle B. Draddy compass logo at the back hem. Eight cross-stitched buttons that feel like they belong on a much more uptight shirt.

This is the one you’ll pack for every weekend away and end up wearing Monday, too.

$275, shop now

His New Go-To for Everything

• B. Draddy’s ‘Bond Jacket’

This is the jacket that doesn’t ask where you’re going—it just goes. The Bond is built to perform, whether you’re chasing par on a blustery back nine or showing up five minutes late to dinner looking suspiciously put together. It’s wind-resistant, water-resistant and made with four-way stretch, so it moves like a second skin and holds its shape like a tailored one.

The design’s clean—minimalist in the best way. No fuss, no bulk, just sharp lines and bonded seams that flex with you and don’t fray. Inside, you get contrast taping that adds just the right amount of edge. Outside, it’s got zip pockets exactly where you need them and a dual-direction front zipper so you can adjust on the fly without looking like you’re trying too hard.

You’ll forget about the weather, and everyone else will remember how good you looked in it. It’s the kind of layer that earns a permanent hook by the door.

$218, shop now

The Cord That Doesn’t Quit

• Muji’s Tangle-Free USB Cable

It’s a charging cable, yes—but it’s also proof that someone, somewhere, still cares about doing the simple things right. These soft Muji cords are built to last, never tangle and come with a Velcro wrap that actually makes it back into the drawer without becoming a ball of chaos. You’ll wonder why every cord doesn’t come this way.

They’re half the price of Apple’s, but twice as satisfying—smooth to the touch, sturdy in the hand and subtle enough to disappear into your desk setup without screaming tech bro. Whether you’re packing light for a trip or just sick of cables that unravel like a bad fishing knot, this is the fix.

Muji doesn’t miss—but even by their standards, these are standouts. Stock up. Give them out. Keep one in every bag you own. You’ll thank yourself the next time your phone hits 3 percent.

$11, shop now

The Cold Tub That Builds Character

• The Plunge: Original Cold Plunge Tub

This is not your buddy’s old horse trough. The Plunge is a purpose-built, ice-cold daily reset that looks as good in your backyard as it feels on your nervous system. Clean lines, no gimmicks and no bags of gas station ice required—it chills to 39°F on its own and stays there, quietly daring you to show up and step in.

Made in the USA with durable acrylic and teak-style trim, it’s a plug-and-plunge setup that works indoors or out. No plumbing, no construction crew, just you, your shorts and a quick jolt of humility. The cooling system is built in. The filtration system’s self-contained. You can even add a hot-and-cold upgrade to go from monk mode to spa day in under a minute.

Every feature here is tuned for performance without the bro science. And if Dad’s already into recovery routines, cold exposure, or just likes the feeling of doing hard things before breakfast, this is the ultimate flex.

$6,990, shop now

The Subscription That Swings Above Its Weight

• The Golfer’s Journal Premium Subscription

There are golf magazines, and then there’s The Golfer’s Journal. This is the one that skips the swing tips and gear hype in favor of something far rarer: timeless storytelling. Each quarterly issue is printed on thick, matte paper that smells like a good decision and looks better on a coffee table than half the books you pretend to read. The photography is arresting, the essays are unhurried and the whole thing reads like it was made by people who love the game more than they love their own hot takes.

With a membership, you get all four issues plus access to events, exclusive merch and the kind of community that actually remembers your name at the clubhouse. It’s not about the leaderboard. It’s about the walk, the conversation and the kind of course you daydream about. Perfect for the golfer who cares more about soul than stats.

$275, shop now

The Sneaker That Cleans Up Nice

• NB Numeric Jamie Foy

Jamie Foy’s first pro model for New Balance Numeric is built to take a beating, yet surprisingly refined. Think suede and leather overlays that look sharp out of the box, paired with a low-profile vulcanized sole for real grip on the board—or sidewalk. Reinforced in all the right places (because Foy doesn’t mess around), these kicks hold up session after session but wear just as easily with your off-duty linen.

Call it stealth luxury for anyone who ever tried—and failed—a kickflip in their youth.

$90, shopnow