Please Stop Asking Me for Restaurant Recommendations — Use This Tool Instead

Dear Pros,

Hunter here. After so much time on the road lately, I'm cherishing my weekend back home in Birmingham, attending the Southern Foodways Alliance's Fall Symposium, and plotting a proper shrimp boil on my back patio tomorrow to feed dear friends who are in town visiting for the event.

Of course, I shared a list of some of my favorite local restaurants like Chez Fonfon, Bayonet, and Automatic Seafood with people new to the city. Like me, I'm sure you have some version of a list like the ones I store in the Notes app on my phone or the handy Google Maps my wife curates when we travel abroad. We're living in the age of The List. My algorithms are awash in influencers with tiny microphones interviewing celebrities and tastemakers about their top five places to eat and drink in a city. I wouldn't be surprised if The World's 50 Best franchise comes out with 10 more spin-off lists by the end of the year. Even the reservation platforms are in competition with their own lists. And yes, we've got a few of our own here at Food & Wine, too.

But there's no other list like the roster of 399 F&W Best New Chefs who have earned the accolade in the past 37 years. To identify candidates for each year's Best New Chefs, our restaurant scouts spend months out on the road to discover the most dynamic up-and-coming culinary talent in the United States. After careful deliberation, we winnow that list down to a class of 10 or so chefs. Then we run background checks, conduct bilingual kitchen culture surveys with their staffs, and get to know them better as we support them through the BNC Mentorship Program. Our track record speaks for itself — most BNCs have shaped or will shape the arc of cuisine in America.

So it made all kinds of sense to tap these pros to cut through the clutter, stop the endless scrolling, and help you decide confidently where to eat. The new Best New Chefs Restaurant Guide is an insider pass to where BNCs cook — and the local spots where they love to eat. We launched the guide with 66 BNCs and 335 restaurants in 10 cities: Austin, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.

Each BNC featured in the guide shares their own "Perfect Order" at the restaurants they love. You can filter your options by city, chef, or style of restaurant. There's also a "Perfect Match" tool that helps you find your ideal restaurant in a few easy steps.

2023 BNC Edgar Rico of Nixta Taqueria in Austin shared his favorite local joints for the guide, including food trucks Discada and Side Eye Pie. He had this to say about the guide on Instagram: "This list isn't from critics or PR — it's built from local chefs in each city, sharing where they go when they're off the clock. And if there's one thing we know…chefs always know the spots…it's your cheat sheet to looking like a seasoned pro who knows their way around a menu."

Enjoy your weekend. Take the new guide out for a spin, and let me know where it takes you. What cities do you want us to roll out next?

Warmly,
Hunter