2009 Best New Chefs
We are proud to present this year’s exceptionally talented class of Best New Chefs. These cooks hail from all around the country—from New York City to Memphis, Tennessee.
Chefs
Nate Appleman
A16 and SPQR, San Francisco
A16: Menu | Reservations | Website
SPQR: Menu | Reservations Not Accepted | Website
Nate Appleman has cooked in Italy but credits his Greenville, Ohio, childhood for his initial interest in cooking: “There were whole weekends when no one could go outside because we had three feet of snow. I watched Julia Child and The Frugal Gourmet all day long.“ He’s been fixated on becoming a Best New Chef since picking up a copy of Food & Wine’s July 1998 issue.
We loved: Berkshire pork shoulder roast and porchetta with lemon and wild arugula (A16); spaghetti amatriciana with guanciale, tomatoes, red onion, chile and pecorino (SPQR).
Bryan Caswell
Reef, Houston
Menu | Reservations | Website
Bryan Caswell doesn’t sauté any fish at Reef; instead, he sears it on a custom-made griddle inspired by the planchas he used while working in Barcelona. “I don’t need a guy washing 9,000 sauté pans,” he says. The Jean-Georges Vongerichten protégé imagines one day opening a 2,000-square-foot oyster bar.
We loved: Crispy-skinned snapper with sweet-and-sour chard and tomato brown butter; grilled amberjack with plantain and long bean sauté.
Vinny Dotolo and Jon Shook
Animal, Los Angeles
Menu | Reservations | Website
Vinny Dotolo and Jon Shook met during the first day of cooking
school at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. But they learned even
more from obsessively eating out. “When we were 22, 23, we went to see
our accountant, and he told us we’d spent $150,000 that year on
dining,” Shook says.
We loved: Quail fry with slab bacon, chard and maple jus.
More about Vinny Dotolo and Jon Shook »
Kelly English
Restaurant Iris, Memphis
Website
Kelly English’s father, a lawyer, had a surprising reaction when his son told him he’d rather go to culinary school than law school: He was delighted. The pair celebrated at New Orleans’s August, where English would later cook with John Besh, now his mentor.
We loved: Sautéed veal sweetbreads with pork belly.
Mark Fuller
Spring Hill, Seattle
Menu | Reservations | Website
Seattle-born Mark Fuller spent seven years working under star chef Tom Douglas before branching out on his own with Spring Hill. Fuller’s lifelong passion for noodles started with the saimin (similar to ramen) he ate while growing up in Hawaii. Now he has an enormous following for his Monday night spaghetti-and-meatball dinners, and his favorite YouTube clips are on how to make hand-pulled noodles.
We loved: Olive-oil-poached albacore tuna with smoked king clam panzanella, arugula and avocado.
Linton Hopkins
Restaurant Eugene and Holeman and Finch Public House, Atlanta
Restaurant Eugene: Menu | Reservations | Website
Holeman and Finch: Menu | Reservations Not Accepted | Website
When Linton Hopkins was a kid, his mom once refused to make him hollandaise sauce for his eggs—so he prepared it himself, with a recipe from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Hopkins still has the (egg-stained) cookbook, plus a vast collection of others including Junior League and community cookbooks.
We loved: Chicken livers, soft grits, pickled peaches (at Restaurant Eugene); the H&F burger, served only after 10 p.m. (at Holeman and Finch Public House).
Chris Kostow
Meadowood, St. Helena, CA
Menu | Reservations | Website
Chris Kostow has cooked under three former F&W Best New Chefs: Trey Foshee, Daniel Patterson and Daniel Humm. He got his start cooking in high school, when he had a summer job at a restaurant. He’d fry chicken all day, starting at 9 a.m., while listening to the same Beastie Boys album over and over. Among his favorite perks of cooking at Meadowood: “I have a great garden and a beautiful dining room.”
We loved: Bolinas goat poached in whey with wheatgrass, sea salt and olive oil.
Paul Liebrandt
Corton, New York City
Menu | Reservations | Website
Born in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and raised in London, Paul Liebrandt has worked at an impressive number of Michelin-starred restaurants, including Pierre Gagnaire in Paris. He has cooked for both British aristocracy (Prince Andrew) and Hollywood royalty (George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon).
We loved: “From the Garden,” a mixture of more than two dozen vegetables and herbs; smoked pasta with Gouda and truffles.
Barry Maiden
Hungry Mother, Boston
Menu | Reservations | Website
Using a grassroots campaign, Barry Maiden raised more than $10,000 (much of it through Pay Pal) to finance Hungry Mother. “We started with friends and family, asking them to donate $5 to $500 to help offset the costs, and the word spread. We got contributions from as far away as California,” he says. All the donor’s names are now stenciled on a wall at the restaurant.
We loved: Warm beef tongue canapé; fried green tomato, grilled homemade bacon and red remoulade sauce.
Naomi Pomeroy
Beast, Portland, OR
Menu | Reservations: 503.841.6968 | Website
Naomi Pomeroy taught herself how to cook using cookbooks, including a decades-old copy of The Joy of Cooking. The onetime vegetarian eats meat now, but she’s choosy about where it comes from: She picks the non-sustainably raised beef out of her favorite pho noodle soup.
We loved: Charcuterie plate with foie gras bonbon; steak tartare and quail egg toast; chicken liver mousse with candied bacon.
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Posted by: adem | April 27, 2009 at 11:10 PM