So what happens after you become a Best New Chef?

Dear Pros,

You've got Kat this week. Food & Wine Best New Chefs is my Roman Empire. I could be having a fully engaged conversation with someone on the topic of chain mail, heirloom okra, mayoral politics, or Twin Peaks, and some cluster of cells in my brain will be trying to recall how many duos (31) and trios (1) of BNCs there have been since 1988, how many have been named Melissa (3 — Perello, Miranda, and López), and how many were living in Rhode Island when they got the call (2 — Johanne Killeen and her late husband George Germon in the very first class). Perhaps my favorite leaf to pluck from this family tree of 413 Best New Chefs is who worked for and with whom, and where I could see the branches bifurcate and take on growth of their own.

This was the case Wednesday night as I walked into Ci Siamo for the New York celebration of Danny Meyer's new book What Could Possibly Go Right?. It made sense to see 2002 F&W Best New Chef Michael Anthony in attendance as he's helmed Gramercy Tavern for such a long time (taking the reins from 1991 BNC Tom Colicchio and currently sharing them with 2025 BNC Aretah Ettarh). Then I started noticing Best New Chef alumni around the packed room — Junghyun Park (2019), Missy Robbins (2010), and Jess Shadbolt (2018) immediately came into view — and I began thinking about all the BNCs who have passed through Union Square Hospitality Group's kitchens. Off the top of my head, Dan Kluger (2012), Michael Romano (1991), Gabriel Kreuther (2003), Daniel Humm (2005), Nicole Cabrera Mills (2024), Jonathan Benno (2004), and surely countless others I couldn't recall in the moment. (Meyer's signature Mortoni cocktails were flowing freely.)

So much of Meyer's book — and his recent onstage conversation with F&W editor in chief Hunter Lewis that kicked off the 2026 Best New Chefs launch in New York — is about establishing a workplace culture that sets people up for sustainable success.

And it delighted — but didn't surprise — me when I turned around to find my own mentors, editor and author Dorothy Kalins and former F&W editor in chief Dana Cowin, at the party. All of these people are thinkers, doers, and leaders who take the time to nurture the talent around them, share what they know, be honest about their failures, and think about what the future can and should be for the industry they hold so dear.

This is why the annual Best New Chefs Mentorship Program is vital. The 2026 class of Best New Chefs listened to a panel discussion with Shadbolt, 2026 F&W Restaurant of the Year co-owners Tom Rogers and Adam McFarland, and restaurant lawyer Jasmine Moy about what sustainable growth looks like, moderated by my colleague Melanie Hansche. Chief partner officer at Resy, Tock, and Amex Global Dining, Aaron Ginsberg, led a conversation with restaurateur and sommelier Annie Shi and BNC alumni Kwame Onwuachi (2019) and Rick Bayless (1988) about what they wish they'd known when they were just starting out. Southern Smoke co-founders Lindsey Brown and Chris Shepherd (2013) told the group about the emergency grants and free mental health resources their organization provides and which they founded to ensure a healthy future for the industry. You can learn more about the program here.

I've had the privilege of participating in every Best New Chefs Mentorship event since it started in 2018. While I love the glam and excitement of the reveal party that takes place after mentorship wraps, those precious, private hours with the new class, alumni, and trusted experts are perhaps the most sacred to me. Most times, I've led a short breathing meditation with the group. The words change from year to year, but the sentiment is always this: Be here in this room. Take in what you hear, learn, and feel, because these are the only other people who understand what it is like to receive this accolade. If you are in this room, you belong here because of what you do and how you conduct yourself in the world. You are the future.

Hopefully,
Kat

P.S. It stands to reason that in the most recent Tinfoil Swans episode with 2025 BNC Telly Justice, she cites previous employers, BNC alumni Linton Hopkins (2009), Hugh Acheson (2002), and Wylie Dufresne (2001), as some of the driving forces behind her development as a chef. And it absolutely thrills me that our show is nominated for a Signal Award, which recognizes excellence in podcasting. This nomination also makes us eligible for the Listener's Choice Award in the Food and Drink category, and I'd be so grateful if you'd cast a vote for Tinfoil Swans here.

The F&W Pro Mailbag

Last week, restaurant editor Erika Adams asked for your thoughts about the industry's increasingly unreasonable costs and, more importantly, how folks are defining an "unreasonable" cost in this chaotic economy. Chef, TV host, and Food & Wine contributor Andrew Zimmern happened to be giving a speech on food prices in the same week, and sent over some initial thoughts. Keep an eye out for more on this in the future.

"The $60 loaf of bread is funny. And sad. And scary. I think it is also a distraction.

I don't begrudge anyone selling an extraordinary product for an extraordinary price if people are willing to buy it. There have always been luxury foods. There always will be. A restaurant charging $40 for half a chicken isn't necessarily ripping you off either. What kind of chicken? Where was it raised? What are they paying their cooks? What is their rent? What does it cost to insure the restaurant, keep the lights on, replace the broken compressor and pay the credit card company for the privilege of taking your money?

Price and value aren't the same thing. For me a price becomes unreasonable when it has become disconnected from the cost, labor, quality and experience behind the product. A $60 loaf of bread designed partly to generate attention is one thing. A $24 sandwich from a small restaurant paying good wages, buying great ingredients and operating on a 5% margin may be a bargain. These are the margins that are getting murdered."