This restaurant guide features Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs and their restaurants, as well as their recommendations in cities across the U.S. Meet the chefs, explore their restaurants, and find your perfect restaurant match based on location, style, and more.
Nearly 40 Years of Best New Chefs
Food & Wine has named America’s Best New Chefs in the United States since 1988. The very first class included chefs who would go on to transform the restaurant world: Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud, Rick Bayless and Hobert Keller. The accolade has helped to propel the careers of many others since — Nobu Matsuhisa, Tom Colicchio, David Chang, Anita Lo, David Bouley, Nancy Silverton, Grant Achatz, Kwame Onwuachi, and more. With this year’s class, the Best New Chefs family is 399 chefs strong and the full list of alums reads like a who’s who of the chefs who have shaped American cuisine.
How Do We Pick a Best New Chef?
Chefs who have been in charge of a kitchen or pastry program for five years or less are eligible for the F&W Best New Chef accolade. The process begins with Food & Wine soliciting and vetting nominations from Best New Chef alums, food writers, cookbook authors, and other trusted experts around the country. Then, Food & Wine scouts travel the country, each dining out in dozens of restaurants in search of the most promising and dynamic chefs right now. Food & Wine conducts background checks and requires each chef to share an anonymous multilingual survey with their staff that aims to gauge the workplace culture at each chef’s establishment. Chefs also participate in Food & Wine’s Best New Chef Mentorship Program to empower themselves with the skills and tools they need to grow personally and professionally as leaders and to successfully navigate challenges and opportunities in their careers.
Credits
Editorial
SVP/Associate Group General Manager Michelle Edelbaum
VP/Editor in Chief Hunter Lewis
Senior Editorial Director Sean Flynn
Editorial Director, Special Projects Melanie Hansche
Managing Editor Caitlin Murphree Miller
Contributing Editorial Producer Hillary Dixler Canavan
Social Media Director Sam Gutierrez
Copy Director Winn Duvall
Contributing Copy Editor Adam H. Callaghan
Contributing Copy Editor Erin Clyburn
Contributing Copy Editor Susan Roberts McWilliams
Contributing Copy Editor CB Owens
Contributing Writer, Philadelphia Kiki Aranita
Contributing Writer, Washington, D.C. Adele Chapin
Contributing Writer, Boston Terrence B. Doyle
Contributing Writer, San Francisco Becky Duffett
Contributing Writer, Los Angeles Kat Hong
Contributing Writer, Chicago Ximena N. Beltran Quan Kiu
Contributing Writer, New Orleans Clair Lorell
Contributing Writer, New York City Mahira Rivers
Contributing Writer, Austin Erin Russell
Contributing Writer, Seattle Allecia Vermillion
Photography
Executive Photo Director Tori Katherman
Senior Photo Editor Dan Bailey
Photo Editor Doan Nguyen
Contributing Photo Researcher Lauren Hermele
Contributing Photo Researcher Dayle Zelitch
Contributing Photo Processor Jorge Alvarez
Art & Production
VP, Creative Jesse Blanner
Creative Director Winslow Taft
VP, Design Tiffany Jessup
UX Design Lead Isabelle Gomez
Associate Creative Director Sabrina Tan
Senior Digital Art Director Sarah Maiden
Associate Director, Digital Production Elsa Säätelä
Product & Engineering
Product Manager I Livia Hughes
Software Engineering Lead Billy Zhu
QA Analyst II Natasha Ovdina
Associate Director, Product Delivery Bithika Adhikary
Senior Software Engineer I Paul Phan
Senior Software Engineer I Jesse Calton
Senior Software Engineer I Gerson Espinal
Software Engineering Manager Michelle Osborne
Senior Software Engineer I Doug Brown
Computer Systems Analyst Mandy Meindersma
Computer Systems Analyst Peter Weckend
Product Manager I Talya Phelps
Engineering Manager Jian Huang
Senior Software Engineer Jill Kramer
Technical Product Manager Abubakr Sharif|
Senior Software Engineer Debarya Das
Software QA Developer II Gurpreet Kaur
