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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