With long, auburn locks too beautiful to trim and too wild to contain with a hairnet, chef Dana Cespedes has managed to not only incorporate loose strands of hair into her dishes but to turn them into the star of the show. From succulent hair-wrapped scallops to hair two ways over mushroom and hair polenta, Cespedes is revolutionizing the way we think about consuming other people’s hair.

After losing both of her parents to salmonella poisoning as a child, Chef Posta has made a name for herself as LA’s cleanest chef, requiring employees to wash their hands for 90 seconds after every step in preparing and cooking the driest chicken breast in the country.

This LA-born-and-bred hotshot has taken the culinary scene by storm without even opening her first restaurant. The innovative chef is known for showing up unannounced at LA’s fine dining establishments, pulling out a gun, and telling everyone to get down and turn over the kitchen to her. Diners lucky enough to have had their meals taken over by Chef Boykov say it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience with multilayered pan-Asian creations that are worth the heart-pounding stress and pleas for mercy.

Widely regarded as the worst chef in Los Angeles, Chef Carlsby is unable to exit his kitchen and enter the dining room without being pummeled by a chorus of boos from patrons. Despite the eviscerating reviews and near constant heckling by his own staff, Carlsby has earned our respect by trudging through the sea of jeers for more than a decade, churning out meals to spite the masses who expected him to quit or kill himself long ago.

After giving up his high-powered career six years ago to chase his childhood dream, Chef Ratzinger has defied the critics and the odds by becoming one of the most daring and imaginative masters of Cuban fare in Los Angeles.

Sired by two-time James Beard Award–winning pastry chef Hamish Chong and Michelin-recognized pâtissier Deborah Stefans, the young Chong-Stefans has the pedigree of a world-class confectioner. Her brother, famed baker Kyle Chong-Stefans, fetched a $500,000 fee when he was put out to stud last year.