In 1989 a photograph was taken in the kitchens of a small but increasingly well known restaurant in south London called Harvey's. At one end of the preparation table stands the chef, a young, wild-haired chap called Marco Pierre White. On the other side of the table stands his sous chef, a heavy-browed young man who, at the time, would probably only have been recognised by the other foot soldiers who then staffed London's kitchens. Today that back room boy is instantly recognisable as Gordon Ramsay; the chef who, in his time, was tipped as the new Marco Pierre White. The lesson from that grainy photograph is clear. If you want to find the star chefs of tomorrow you should start by looking in the kitchens of the star chefs of today.

So it has proved. Five of the seven chefs that we have marked out for great things have spent time in the kitchens of the greats who came before. They have worked for the big five star chefs of their day: Nico Ladenis and Pierre Koffman, Raymond Blanc and Marco Pierre White and now, of course, Gordon Ramsay himself. Indeed three of our 'New Gordons' - Marcus Wareing, Jason Atherton and Angela Hartnett - are currently part of Ramsay's growing empire. That's the way Ramsay wants it. 'A really good chef always has to have someone alongside to help them through,' Ramsay says. 'Standing alongside me I have my father-in law, Chris Hutcherson, who deals with the business side.' That, in turn, gives Ramsay the space in which to help support, and profit from, the next generation. 'Some of the big chefs, like Nico or Marco, didn't nurse the talent in their own kitchens. They just rolled out branded chain restaurants. I don't want to do that. I want to roll out the talent.'

Not everybody is convinced that the idea of the older generation bringing on the new in this way is good for the restaurant trade. One of our seven, John Campbell, has become a Michelin-starred chef without spending any time working for the big names. That, he says, was always his plan. 'When Marco first came on the scene in the mid-Eighties he was a force for good because he attracted a lot of people into the business,' Campbell says. 'But since then I think he's become a poison because everybody has tried to mimic him.' People should go their own way, he says.

For his part Ramsay believes his chefs are going their own way. He points to Marcus Wareing, once his sous chef but whose style of cooking is now regarded as his own. And yet he remains part of Ramsay's empire because it was Ramsay who raised the money to launch him at Petrus in Mayfair: £1.4 million in total, half of it from his own pocket. 'If Marcus had gone to the bank to get £1.4 million for 14 tables in Mayfair they'd have laughed at him,' Ramsay says. He was the one who was able to give him his own restaurant.

And every great chef needs one of those. Our seven rising stars are not TV cooks. They are not people like Jamie Oliver or Nigella Lawson whose talent lies less at the stove and more in being able to communicate a lifestyle through the television screen. They are restaurant chefs; people who have been slogging away, for 16 hours a day, week in week out, for a decade or more, perfecting technique.

Even that dedication is not enough, however. The big names never become famous simply because they cook well. Their renown is always associated with a particular restaurant which, in that lucky and unquantifiable combination of mood and food, embodies their unique virtues. Jonathan Meades, who has just stepped down after 15 years as restaurant critic for the Times, remembers well his first visit to Marco Pierre White's breakthrough restaurant, Harvey's, in Wandsworth. 'I heard about it because a friend of mine lived around the corner and said it was beyond pretty special,' he says now. 'So I went there in February or March 1987 and it plainly was. Eating Marco's food for the first time was as close to a gastronomic epiphany as I've ever had.' The Hyde Park Hotel may have been where Marco landed his third Michelin star but Harvey's was where he made his name. Likewise, Gordon Ramsay collected his third star at his current restaurant in Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea but he made his name round the corner at Aubergine.

Sometimes that recognition can take a long time coming. One of our chefs, Michael Caines, has been cooking at Gidleigh Park in Devon for seven years and already has two Michelin stars, but only now is he being properly recognised. If, as some predict, he is given his third star when the new Michelin rankings are announced on 21 January, that will change very swiftly. Others, like Simon Gueller, have discovered just how difficult getting that showpiece restaurant running can be. Last year he finally managed to launch his own place, Gueller's, only to see it go into liquidation a few months later when he ran out of cash. A buyer was found and he is now just an employee of the restaurant that carries his name. Even so the quality remains: it was named Yorkshire restaurant of the year in the current Good Food Guide.

And then there are those among our rising stars - Jason Atherton, Angela Hartnett and Hywel Jones - who don't even have their own restaurants yet. But very soon they will and, if our predictions are right, you will hear an awful lot more about them. These, then, are our Magnificent Seven.

Michael Caines
Age: 32
Cooking at: Gidleigh Park, Chagford, Devon

Caines has already achieved an enormous amount although, perhaps because he is down in Devon far away from London's media chatter, he is far less well known than he ought to be. His one major brush with fame came after he lost an arm in a car crash in August 1994. He was the subject of a television documentary which followed his recovery as he went back to work at Gidleigh Park (he uses a prosthetic). Since then his disability has been the least interesting thing about him. Far more important are the two Michelin stars he won for Gidleigh. He has also set up his own company, Michael Caines catering, which runs the catering for the Clarence hotel in Exeter.

Early in his career he spent time in the kitchens of the great Parisian chef Joel Robuchon and, before that, at Raymond Blanc's Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons. 'Raymond is the person who has influenced me most,' he says. 'Not just because of the food but because of the training and his understanding of business.

Raymond's support, both at the beginning and now, has been very important.' Curiously, for a chef who already has other interests, he does not own his flagship restaurant, Gidleigh Park. 'But I can see myself becoming chef-patron, eventually. And you will definitely see me go on to create my own empire.' He may get the final boost he needs in a week's time: he is tipped by some to get that elusive third Michelin star when the new ratings are announced on 21 January.

Praise for Gidleigh Park: 'What marks the cooking out is the fact that there is so rarely a flavour out of place...Depth of flavour is sometimes quite remarkable.' The AA Restaurant Guide

Signature dish: Mille feuille of foie gras, boudin noir, braised turnips and apple with a sherry vinegar sauce.

Simon Gueller
Age: 37
Cooking at: Guellers, Leeds

Simon Gueller almost disappeared from the business altogether this year. His own restaurant, Guellers, went into liquidation in April after only a few months of trading. He had, he says, presumed that business would be good the moment he opened, after five years running the kitchen at the Michelin starred Rascasse, also in Leeds. 'I'd counted my chickens and it didn't work out,' he says simply. The restaurant is now owned by a board of investors and he is simply an employee, but their faith in him as a chef is clearly strong and with good reason.

After all, he was one of those responsible for bringing really good food to Leeds, and on a large scale, by opening Rascasse: the kitchen was quite capable of serving 150 meals a day. 'The idea of Guellers was a place that could be a real chef's restaurant,' he says now. 'Just 50 covers.' Whatever happened on the business side, the food has received the all important rave reviews and was named Yorkshire Restaurant of the Year in the latest edition of The Good Food Guide. 'Of course I still harbour ambitions to own my own restaurant,' he says, 'but now is the time for me to get my head down and do the work. First we have to be profitable. Then we can think about winning Michelin stars.'

Praise for Guellers: 'The food's simple and direct appeal is a product of good raw materials and intelligent handling...and its hallmark is clear flavours.' The Good Food Guide

Signature dish: Paupiette of partridge with foie gras and pancetta.

Angela Hartnett
Age: 33
Cooking at: Hilton Dubai Creek, Dubai

Angela Hartnett is not particularly interested in examining the reasons for the lack of women chefs at the top of the profession. 'I've no idea why there are so few of us,' she says. 'It may be the hours. That it's an anti-social job. That it's hard work.'

All she knows is that, since her teenage days when she was taught to cook by her Italian grandmother, she has always wanted to be a chef. After a degree in modern history, she spent time cooking in Barbados before, in 1994, joining up with Gordon Ramsay at Aubergine. Since then she has been involved in every one of his ventures and has become the chef he most trusts to open each new kitchen. After time at L'Oranger, Petrus and Royal Hospital Road she opened Amaryllis in Glasgow and is now executive chef at the Dubai Creek Hilton Hotel, overseeing both the brasserie style Glasshouse and Verre, the fine dining operation (making her Jason Atherton's boss). 'I like the organised way Gordon runs his kitchens,' she says simply. 'I like putting his systems into place.'

At some point in the near future she hopes to come back to London and open her own restaurant, probably under Ramsay's patronage. But it won't be a French kitchen, in the style of Petrus. 'These guys love lobster and foie gras. I'm more into Italian and southern French flavours,' she says. 'I understand Italian cooking because of my family background, so why should I do something else?'

Praise for the Verre at the Dubai Creek Hilton: 'Three days after dining at Verre, the sensational flavours of our meal are still delightful memories.' Time Out, Dubai

Signature dish: ravioli stuffed with roasted pumpkin and amaretto with shavings of Parmesan.

Jason Atherton
Age: 30
Cooking at: Verre, Hilton Dubai Creek Hotel, Dubai

There are few chefs in the business whose CVs are as complete as Atherton's. In the early Nineties he was a chef de partie for Pierre Koffman at La Tante Claire. He moved over to work with Nico Ladenis and then joined Marco Pierre White's team to help launch The Restaurant at the Hyde Park Hotel which went on to win Pierre White his three Michelin stars. He was also the first British chef to work at the ultra-experimental Spanish restaurant El Bulli. However it was not until he set up the French restaurant L'Anis in London's Kensington for the Cuisine Collection group that he was spotted by the critics. He turned out terrifically precise but lush food at bargain prices - including a three course lunch for just £12.50 - despite having limited resources to draw upon.

When L'Anis closed earlier this year Atherton was picked up by Gordon Ramsay who dispatched him to open Verre, the fine dining side of his operation at the Dubai Creek Hilton Hotel. He expects to return to London in about 18 months. 'Gordon asked me what my ambition was and I said if the timing was right I want to be a three-star chef,' he says. 'But I'd sooner run a good restaurant and be successful than have three stars and be unsuccessful. For me the next five years are make or break time.'

Praise for L'Anis: 'Notably deft, light Mediterranean cooking...' Harden's Restaurants Guide

Signature dish: Hake wrapped in pancetta with haricot beans and a red wine sauce.

John Campbell
Age: 32
Cooking at: the Vineyard, Stockcross, Berkshire

Campbell is a man without mentors. Other than a week with Phil Howard at the Square in London and another at Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck in Bray, he has spent no time in any of the great European kitchens. Perhaps as a result he is less than convinced that the star names have all been good for the business. 'Marco Pierre White was a catalyst in 1985 because he brought a lot of people into cooking,' he says, 'but since then he's become a poison because so many people have tried to mimic him.' Campbell has gone his own way, developing a style which now owes something to the gastronomic science employed by Heston Blumenthal - his menu features both a savoury mustard ice cream and one made with Roquefort aand pickled walnuts, for example - while staying closer to classic French combinations. During his five years at Lords of the Manor in Upper Slaughter, Gloucestershire he picked up a Michelin Star and four rosettes from the AA Restaurant Guide. This month he took over at the Vineyard in Stockcross where he will be bringing the quality of the food up to that of the spectacular wine list. He has also recently published his first cookbook, Flavours, which has been well received. As to the future: 'I will eventually own my own restaurant - maybe 10 years down the line - but at the moment I'm quite happy being employed.'

Praise for Lords of the Manor: 'John Campbell cooks like a man obsessed, playing with ideas to extract every ounce of potential. Dishes are complex, but coherence unites their various components to create satisfaction.' The Good Food Guide

Signature dish: slow cooked beef served rare, with a bourguignonne ice cream.

Hywel Jones
Age: 30
Cooking at: Foliage, the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park Hotel, London

Jones was identified as a chef to watch in the summer of 2000, with the opening of the ludicrously titled hotel restaurant Foliage. The title might have been silly but the food was hailed both as sublime and as some of the best value available at that level in London. 'We have no ground rents here so we can price competitively,' he says simply. The result is a menu rich with truffles, glorious seafood and the now obligatory foie gras. He is a graduate of both Nico Ladenis' and Marco Pierre White's kitchens. 'Nico taught me about gastronomy,' he says. 'Marco taught me about perfection.' But he cites David Nicholls, who gave him his first job in London at the Royal Garden Hotel, as his greatest influence. 'He's almost like a father figure to me,' he says of Nicholls, who is now executive chef at the Hyde Park. 'If ever I need anything he helps me sort it out.'

On leaving school in South Wales, Jones almost went into the navy but, at the last moment, decided to go to catering college, for which we should all be grateful. He is tipped to get his first Michelin star in next week's ratings.

Praise for Foliage: 'The menu is a satisfying take on French cuisine, there are few innovations but the pinpoint execution and the depth of flavour achieved are more than enough compensation for that.' The AA Restaurant Guide

Signature dish: Roast scallops glazed with verjus, with parsley cream, turnip purée and fricassée of ceps and snails.

Marcus Wareing
Age: 31
Cooking at: Petrus, London

If it were not for the name of his restaurant's co-owner, Wareing would probably already be a star in his own right by now. But, as Wareing sees it, were it not for Gordon Ramsay he wouldn't be in the position he is now. 'Gordon has given me a stunning platform right in the middle of Mayfair,' he says. 'He doesn't trouble me. He's not on my back.' Though Petrus has been described as one of Ramsay's restaurants, the food is all Wareing's: often it can be more strident than that cooked by his boss in Chelsea. Scallops come with a rich, foaming lobster bisque. Pork belly is dark, sticky and glazed. It's precise cooking, but not overly intellectual.

Wareing and Ramsay met first at Le Gavroche in the early Nineties when they were both working under Albert Roux. After a little time abroad he joined Ramsay at Aubergine as sous chef, then opened L'Oranger as head chef with Ramsay's backing and finally, in March 1999, opened Petrus just up the street. 'I've always had a role model,' says Wareing. 'Gordon has been very important. So has his father-in-law, Chris Hutcherson, who runs the business side.' Does he plan to strike out on his own? 'No. I've launched three restaurants and it's the hardest work you can do. ' He is tipped to move up to two Michelin stars in next week's rankings. And after that? 'Once I've done the two I couldn't stop. I'd have to go for three.'

Praise for Petrus: 'A distinctive brand of refined, modern disciplined cooking.' Good Food Guide

Signature dish: Roasted red leg partridge with a game torte, parsnip galette and truffle Madeira jus.