Perhaps the biggest highlight of the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen was the Best New Chefs dinner (which, was really more hors d’oeuvres, and less dinner, but who’s keeping notes, right?). A fabulous annual event at the Aspen Meadows Resort – and what fabulous food and drink all around! The night started off with cocktails from festival sponsors Grey Goose and Beringer Winery as guests mingled from floor to floor, tasting the offerings from the ten Food & Wine Best New Chefs of 2009. Special Guest Chef for the night? New York’s David Chang, of Momofuku, with a yummy Pea Soup.
The Best New Chefs and their offerings included:
- Nate Appleman, of San Francisco’s A16 and SPQR, with A16 Pork Meatballs
- Bryan Caswell, of Houston’s Reef, with a Crab Cocktail Shooter
- Kelly English, of Memphis’s Restaurant Iris, with Fried Boudin
- Mark Fuller, of Seattle’s Spring Hill, with a British Sea Scallop
- Linton Hopkins, of Atlanta’s Holeman & Finch, with a Grilled Pimento Cheese and Bacon Sandwich
- Christopher Kostow, of St. Helena’s Meadowood, with a Roasted Corn Custard
- Paul Liebrandt, of New York’s Corton, with Uni
- Barry Maiden, of Boston’s Hungry Mother, with Smoked Trout
- Naomi Pomeroy, of Portland’s Beast, with a Charcuterie Plate
- Vinny Dotolo and Jon Shook, of LA’s Animal, with Pork Belly
The crowd favorites were clearly the Pork Belly from Vinny & Jon, the Roasted Corn Custard from Christopher, and the Crab Cocktail Shooter from Bryan. Alas, only one chef was organized enough to have a great deal of folks voting for him via text messaging.
The Best New Chef for 2009? San Francisco’s Nate Appleman.
~Jennifer Heigl
The Crab Shooter was definitely my favorite in terms of new, adventurous and fun… But the meatball may have been the best darn meatball I’ve ever had. I felt like the winner for getting to taste it all.
You are the awesome, BLENDER!