Food and Wine’s Best New Chefs - Will You Be One Someday?
Every year the editors of Food and Wine Magazine honor the ten chefs who are considered rising stars in the culinary world. Last year’s list included chefs as young as 26 year-old Gabriel Rucker, owner of Le Pigeon in Portland, Oregon. Aspiring gourmets can use this list as inspiration to follow their own culinary inclinations.
Review the biographies of the ten chefs chosen in 2007 and a few things stand out. For one thing, you don’ t have to own a restaurant in New York City to get noticed. Steve Corry, owner of Five Fifty-Five in Portland, Maine (population 230,000) made the list last year, and April Bloomfield was the only New York-based chef among the ten. (She was also the only woman on the list, which suggests an ongoing gender imbalance among professional chefs).
Another trend that stands out is the growing focus on local, seasonal, and organic ingredients that is becoming par for the course in many fine dining restaurants. Of the ten short biographies, six mentioned the importance local, organic, or seasonal products play in the kitchens of these young culinary artists.
Finally, it’s fascinating to see the varied backgrounds represented by this small sample of the up-and-coming in the world of food. Some came into the profession via the traditional route of culinary school, while others gained experience working under well-known chefs both nationally and abroad.
In a few months the 2008 list of winners will be announced. While you may not be ready to enter the candidate pool this year, play your culinary cards right and someday you, too, could make the list, which has included now-famous chefs such as Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud, Todd English and Nobu Matsuhisa.
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