Francis Mallmann Location: Patagonia Island, Argentina Francis Mallmann is an Argentinian celebrity chef renowned for his mastery of open-fire cooking and flare with smoke, and his charismatic personality and nomadic lifestyle. The author of six bestselling cookbooks, Mallmann operates nine restaurants in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Miami, and France. His media presence includes his own YouTube channel, appearances on PBS's The Mind of a Chef and Netflix's Chef's Table, as well as features in The New York Times, Esquire, Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, Maxim, and many others. Experience A native of Patagonia, Francis Mallmann managed his first restaurant at the age of 19 after leaving home to cook on a touring boat five years earlier. By age 20, he'd made his way to Paris where he worked alongside legendary French chefs like Alain Chapel. Mallmann returned to Argentina and spent several years helming the kitchen of a fashionable restaurant before opening his first concept in Palermo and publishing his debut cookbook La Cocina al Instante in 1984. He gained national recognition through a television program that highlighted his skills in traditional Argentinian-style grilling and Patagonian smoking techniques. Mallmann famously makes use of seven types of fire for cooking — detailed in his James Beard Award-winning cookbook Seven Fires (2009). In addition to his many restaurants, the chef hosts wild-fire cooking workshops on his private island in Patagonia, the remote La Isla in Lago La Plata, featured in Netflix's Chef's Table. About Food & Wine Food & Wine, a Dotdash Meredith Brand, is an award-winning online resource for anyone passionate about the culinary world. With rigorously tested recipes and the most trusted restaurant, drinks, culinary travel and home coverage, we inspire and empower people everywhere to discover, create, and devour the best in food and wine. Learn more about us and our editorial process.