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 counting, right?). What a fabulous night at the Aspen Meadows Resort – and what fabulous food and drink all around! The night started off with a few cocktails from festival sponsors Grey Goose and Beringer 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!