Nominees for Time 100's most influential people includes celebrity chefs and food writers

(AFP PHOTO DDP / AXEL SCHMIDT)

British chef Jamie Oliver, food writer Mark Bittman and Danish chef René Redzepi are some of the foodie nominees on Time magazine's annual Time 100 poll, a list of the most influential people in the world.

The list names the most important, trailblazing leaders, artists, innovators, icons and heroes of the year. The winner of the online poll will be included in the Time 100 as chosen by the editors. Online voting is open now and closes April 14.

Other foodie nominees shortlisted for 2011 includes a White House senior food policy advisor, a chef whose Copenhagen restaurant was named the "Best Restaurant in the World" last year, the author of what's been called the definitive "cookbook to end all cookbooks," and a pioneering three Michelin-starred chef.

Meanwhile, Food and Wine magazine opened up their annual competition for the first time this year to public voting for the People's Best New Chef. Voters chose Jamie Bissonnette of Coppa restaurant in Boston.

Here are the foodie nominees for the Time 100, as presented by the magazine.

Mark Bittman
Age: 61
Occupation: Author of the New York Times Bestseller How To Cook Everything; influential New York Times food writer; TV host for On the Road Again with Mario Batali and Gwyneth Paltrow

Jamie Oliver
Age: 35
Occupation: TV chef turned food crusader

Described as the "white knight" of healthy eating, Oliver went from hosting cooking shows to storming into schools in the UK and the US to try to revolutionize children's school dinners and cafeterias.

Roy Choi
Age: 40
Occupation: Chef

Famous in the US for Kogi food trucks in Los Angeles and inventing the Korean taco, Korean toppings wrapped in a tortilla. He's credited with kicking off the food-truck craze that has swept America from Los Angeles to Portland, Ore., to Miami to New York City

Nathan Myhrvold
Age: 51
Occupation: Co-founder of Intellectual Ventures, scientist, cook, author

The former chief technology officer for Microsoft started his own patent-holding company and studied with Stephen Hawking. He's also published a collection of culinary works - the six-volume, $625 Modernist Cuisine - which has been described as the definitive anthology of modern cooking.

Sam Kass
Age: 30
Occupation: Senior policy advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives
Inside the White House, he has been the First Lady's point man when it comes to promoting her signature initiatives to reduce childhood obesity, improve school lunches and encourage all Americans to eat healthier foods.

René Redzepi
Age: 33
Occupation: Patron-chef who likes to pick flowers
His restaurant Noma in Copenhagen snatched the title of world's best from Ferran Adrià's El Bulli in the World's Best Restaurants Awards. Redzepi's food spearheads the trend to use herbs, flowers and other wild, foraged ingredients.

Grant Achatz
Age: 36
Occupation: Chef
Achatz has become the leading American figure in molecular gastronomy, the art of using science to reinvent familiar foods. His Chicago restaurant Alinea recently won three Michelin stars, and Next, another Windy City eatery is due to open April 6.