Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Best New Chefs 2012: Their Simplest Recipes

They spent their early years washing dishes, chopping cases of parsley or working on disastrous charcuterie experiments to try to impress Mario Batali. Now our 2012 Best New Chefs are in charge of outstanding kitchens across America. How do we find these talented men and women? F&W editors solicit nominations from hundreds of experts around the country. Then we travel to eat at the source, on the lookout for cooks who are serving creative and sensational food and who have been in charge of a professional kitchen for a maximum of five years. Featured Recipes Best New Chefs 2012: Danny Grant

Why He Won: Because his Chicago hotel restaurant is an epicenter for luxurious Midwestern dining. He loves highlighting simple ingredients to create complexly flavored dishes.

Best New Chefs 2012: Blaine Wetzel

Why He Won: Because, on a remote island off the Washington state coast, Wetzel gets the majority of the ingredients for his extraordinary menu from two fishing boats, his own garden and the beaches around the island.

Best New Chefs 2012: Cormac Mahoney

Why He Won: Because he’s turned a sleepy corner of Seattle into a food destination, using Pacific Northwest ingredients to elevate simple dishes—stuffing eggs with Dungeness crab, topping nettle soup with fried oysters.

Best New Chefs 2012: Corey Lee

Why He Won: Because his daring menu epitomizes the Bay Area’s young, innovative spirit. “People think Benu is a modern Asian restaurant, but we’re a modern American restaurant,” says Lee. “For every Asian ingredient on my menu, there are 50 American ones.”

Best New Chefs 2012: Bryant Ng

Why He Won: Because he uses his custom-made sate grill, the focal point of his restaurant, to cook outstanding dishes that focus on his Singaporean heritage.

Best New Chefs 2012: Jenn Louis

Why She Won: Because she obsesses over every ingredient on her menus, from the house-made ricotta in the sage fritters at her flagship, Lincoln, to the olive oil and chocolate topping for the soft-serve honey ice cream at Sunshine Tavern.

Best New Chefs 2012: Rich Torrisi & Mario Carbone

Why They Won: Because at their flagship, they make Italian-American cuisine remarkable in both affordable seven-course menus and astonishing 20-course menus that celebrate New York City.

Best New Chefs 2012: Karen Nicolas

Why She Won: Because she has transformed the menu at an established DC restaurant by putting a modern spin on classic American dishes. “I like to see how far I can take different flavors,” she says.

Best New Chefs 2012: Erik Anderson & Josh Habiger

Why They Won: Because at their wonderful counter restaurant, the duo combine the playfulness of avant-garde cooking with classic technique: They flavor yogurt with smoked sweet hay to serve with oven-roasted pigeon.

Best New Chefs 2012: Dan Kluger

Why He Won: Because Kluger uses prime farmers’ market produce to make some of Manhattan’s best and most beautiful New American dishes.

Related Articles

View the original article here

No comments:

Post a Comment