Food & Wine Looking for Best New Chefs in America

Posted on September 19th, 2011 1:08pm by Nancy Nichols
Filed under Celebrity Chefs

The call from Food & Wine magazine went out to food editors all over the country this morning:

“We are looking for chefs who are going to rock our world. Each year the magazine names 10 extraordinarily talented men and women as the Best New Chefs in America. The hunt for the 2012 winners has begun, and we would love you to nominate chefs you feel deserve consideration. The style of restaurant isn’t important: It could be an elegant dining room or a shiny taco truck. What does matter is that these chefs in the kitchen are the superstars of the future: creative, thoughtful and passionate cooks with a personal culinary style that always results in unique and delicious food. Here are the specific criteria: The nominee must create menus and oversee the day-to-day operation of the kitchen. He or she must have held the top chef position at one or more restaurants for no more than a total of five years. The restaurant does not need to be new, and the chef’s age is not a consideration.”

Well, whose name shall I send to them? Go.

19 comments

  1. DAVID UYGUR of LUCIA is the best chef anywhere, any time. Don’t know how long he was the chef at Lola, The Restaurant, because he worked there as sous chef before taking the reins for the Tasting Room at Lola. Does that count?

    @ 1:28 pm on September 19, 2011

  2. by 10+ years

    @ 2:42 pm on September 19, 2011

  3. I nominate Tony Gardizi. I found him at Decanter earlier this year and really enjoyed that place. I heard he moved up north in the Plano or Frisco area. I need to seek him out. I’m not sure if he fits the criteria of no more than 5 years. As I’m new to the area and the Bishop Arts area was an area I favored. I keep up to date with your blog and really enjoy your talent and insight.

    Thank you!

    @ 3:01 pm on September 19, 2011

  4. Julian @ nonna

    @ 3:10 pm on September 19, 2011

  5. Matt McAllister!!

    @ 3:36 pm on September 19, 2011

  6. Scott Gottlich if he is still eligible

    @ 4:04 pm on September 19, 2011

  7. John Tesar!!!!

    @ 4:15 pm on September 19, 2011

  8. Matt McAllister!

    @ 10:04 pm on September 19, 2011

  9. Felipe Riccio or Adam Saxenian at Reef Restaurant in Houston, they are doing some great stuff over there!!

    @ 10:14 pm on September 19, 2011

  10. Karey Johnson at GLOW in rockport, tx!

    @ 8:52 am on September 20, 2011

  11. Dallas reps have got to include Barsotti and McAllister.

    @ 9:08 am on September 20, 2011

  12. Uygur, Gottlich, and Gardizi have been around too long to qualify. Whatever one thinks of McCallister’s talent, the basic criteria include responsibility for menu creation and oversight of day-to-day operation of a restaurant kitchen, which he hasn’t had since leaving Stephan Pyles nearly a year ago. Barsotti’s new enough, but is he “best new chef in America” material?

    I struggle to think of anyone in Dallas who meets the criteria—”new guy,” “menu creation/day-to-day operations,” and doing work that would bear national scrutiny. Maybe Jay Jerrier, with Il Cane Rosso, though he presents himself more as owner than chef.

    @ 10:29 am on September 20, 2011

  13. Curren Dodd of Let’s Eat, a chef-driven restaurant in an old post office in Bluffdale, TX. It’s like York Street in the country and still a secret.

    @ 11:09 am on September 20, 2011

  14. He may be old but he’s the one!!!!!

    @ 1:29 pm on September 20, 2011

  15. September marks Gottlich’s fifth anniversary of opening Bijoux. He is obviously fantastic, but I fear five and a few months will disqualify him.

    @ 3:26 pm on September 20, 2011

  16. Old Man Tesar that is

    @ 3:27 pm on September 20, 2011

  17. Jeana and Colleen from Good 2 Go.

    @ 3:36 pm on September 21, 2011

  18. Juliard Ishizuka at Dee Lincoln’s Bubble Bar, Sushi Pizza is amazing! Such a creative chef!

    @ 4:04 pm on September 21, 2011

  19. Regan Reik of Pier W in Cleveland (http://www.selectrestaurants.com/pier/1.1.0.php)

    @ 12:25 pm on September 29, 2011