Last night Food & Wine editor Dana Cowin announced the winners of that magazine's 24th annual Best New Chefs in America award. You know the drill: ten chefs from around the country are picked, awarded, featured in the July issue and fêted at the Aspen Food & Wine Classic this summer. So, drumroll please.
At the top of the list (for us) is Bryant Ng of The Spice Table. Congratulations, Bryant! Ng, the opening chef at Mozza and a native of Singapore, opened The Spice Table in Little Tokyo in March of 2011. Were there other winners? I suppose there were. Turn the page for the complete list.
Food & Wine choses the chefs for this award “with restaurant critics, food writers and other trusted experts around the country.” The magazine editors visit the restaurants incognito (Their word! How cool. Disguises maybe even.) to see and eat for themselves. Chefs under consideration have been in charge of kitchens for five years or less. They are “New Chefs” after all.
Food & Wine 2012 Best New Chefs:
(in alphabetical order)
Erik Anderson & Josh Habiger
The Catbird Seat
Nashville, TN
Mario Carbone & Rich Torrisi
Torrisi Italian Specialties
New York, NY
Danny Grant
RIA
Chicago, IL
Dan Kluger
ABC Kitchen
New York, NY
Corey Lee
Benu
San Francisco, CA
Jenn Louis
Lincoln Restaurant
Portland, OR
Cormac Mahoney
Madison Park Conservatory
Seattle, WA
Bryant Ng
The Spice Table
Los Angeles, CA
Karen Nicolas
Equinox
Washington, DC
Blaine Wetzel
The Willows Inn
Lummi Island, WA
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