A New York Bash for Food & Wine’s 2011 Best New Chefs

Amid the hustle and bustle of New York’s already hopping food scene, chefs, restaurateurs, and media descended on the Upper East Side last night to celebrate the announcement of Food & Wine’s annual Best New Chefs. Hosted at the beautiful Bohemian National Hall, Best New Chef alumni, including Tom Colicchio, Missy Robbins, and Jonathan Benno, kept guests happy with dishes of olive oil poached bigeye tuna with chickpeas, spice roasted duck, and taleggio fonduta while everyone met, mingled, and welcomed the 2011 inductees.

And the 2011 Food & Wine Best New Chefs:

• Bowman Brown & Viet Pham, Forage (Salt Lake City, UT)
• Jason Franey, Canlis (Seattle, WA)
• Bryce Gilmore, Barley Swine (Austin, TX)
• Stephanie Izard, Girl & The Goat (Chicago, IL)
• James Lewis, Bettola (Birmingham, AL)
• George Mendes, Aldea (New York, NY)
• Carlo Mirarchi, Roberta’s (Brooklyn, NY)
• Joshua Skenes, Saison (San Francisco, CA)
• Kevin Willmann, Farmhaus (St. Louis, MO)
• Ricardo Zarate, Mo-Chica (Los Angeles, CA)

Pours for the evening included drinks from Belvedere, Stella Artois, and a selection of wines from the E&J Gallo Winery, with chocolates from Green & Black to close the night.

A big congrats to all of the 2011 Best New Chefs and many thanks to editor Dana Cowin, publisher Christina Grdovic, and the entire Food & Wine staff! See you at BNC 2012!

~Jennifer Heigl

*Photo credit: Jennifer Heigl / Daily Blender