Meet the 2024 Best New Chefs

Dear Pros,

Hunter here. One of the great pleasures of this job is walking into a restaurant, sitting down for a meal, and discovering a Food & Wine Best New Chef. Or two.

So it was earlier this year when I ate at Kisser, a tiny Nashville restaurant from chefs Brian Lea and Leina Horii, who turn out soulful, sunny Japanese food in dishes like inari (little tofu skins stuffed with sushi rice and shrimp salad), ethereal beef tartare mounded on crispy-creamy rice cakes, and onigiri that I'd have for lunch every day if I could. In my rave to the Food & Wine editorial team, I tried to convey the electricity of the experience: "Their food has so much energy. It's comforting and precise. Simple and technical. Super fresh!"

It was thrilling to read similar reports from my fellow scouts, led for the first time this year by restaurant editor Raphael Brion. From Goldee's in Fort Worth, Texas, he weighed in: "Jonny White, Jalen Heard, and Lane Milne have created one of the true, iconic, great new spots for Texas barbecue. The food is phenomenal; it's worth getting up early and driving across the state to be in line at 8 a.m." (That's three hours before they open, by the way.) Executive features editor Kat Kinsman, after eating Silver Iocovozzi's lumpia, Brunswick stew, and hand-pulled noodles at Neng Jr.'s in Asheville, North Carolina, wrote: "I'm rocked to my marrow. Felt it the second I walked in."

Fast-forward to this week. I got to spend quality time with Brian, Leina, Jonny, Jalen, Lane, Silver, and their peers who comprise the 2024 class of Best New Chefs this week in New York City. They are the goods, and you too can "meet" them in our Best New Chefs Digital Issue and the new October Restaurant Issue on newsstands September 20. Be sure to book a reservation at their spots while you're at it.

We started the festivities this week with a welcome dinner sponsored by Yeti and hosted by 2022 BNC Calvin Eng at his playful Cantonese restaurant, Bonnie's, that continues to get better with age. The conversation continued at our seventh annual Best New Chefs Mentorship Program designed to help the BNCs build their brands and careers. Giving out an accolade is not enough; we want to support their personal and professional growth for years to come and connect them to a network of hospitality veterans.

2013 BNC and Southern Smoke Foundation co-founder Chris Shepherd moderated a Mentorship Program panel on brand building and partnerships, and I was reminded by 2020 BNC Tavel Bristol-Joseph about why every leader needs a North Star to orient themselves when making decisions. For Tavel and his business partners, including 2016 BNC Kevin Fink of Emmer & Rye Hospitality Group, that guiding light is "Passion, People, and Profit." If a partnership doesn't align with those three pillars, then, "We don't say yes to an opportunity," Tavel told the 2024 class. Chris also shared this gem: "Personal capital — time, health, well-being — matters more than financial capital." You'll read more lessons from the sessions in associate editor Amelia Schwartz's F&W Pro story in the coming week.

There are now 389 Best New Chefs dating back to 1988, and I've had the privilege of witnessing dozens of their careers change overnight with the award. I've also seen the magic that happens when the generations come together like they did Tuesday night at 1988 BNC Daniel Boulud's stunning midtown Manhattan restaurant Le Pavillon. Like a proud uncle, Daniel welcomed the Class of 2024 into the gleaming kitchen with its Rolex clock and skybox private dining suite for a tour and bite of suckling pig.

2011 BNC George Mendes cooked for the party, as did 2016 BNCs Jeremiah Stone and Fabian Von Hauske and 2023 BNC Eunji Lee. Eunji's classmates Isabel Coss and Amanda Shulman took the train into NYC to join their classmate Ed Syzmanski in the celebration, too.

BNC alumni have twined themselves into the DNA of Food & Wine — and by extension, many of your home kitchens — with their stories and recipes, while playing outsize roles as the shapers of cuisine in America. Think for a moment about the impact that talents such as Boulud, Thomas Keller (1988), Nancy Silverton (1990), David Chang (2006), and Kwame Onwuachi (2019) have had on the way we dine out today.

These are just a few of the reasons why this legendary accolade matters. Please join me in welcoming the 2024 class of Best New Chefs into the fold here at Food & Wine.

Warmly,
Hunter