10 Up-and-Coming Chefs to Keep on Your Radar

Who's the next David Chang? We've got some ideas.

Jamie Feldmar

There was a time, in the not-so-distant past, when the life of a chef was simple: spend years toiling away anonymously in an someone else’s kitchen, learn everything you can from the masters, and then, maybe—if you were supremely driven, freakishly talented, and just straight-up lucky—get out and make a name for yourself.

Needless to say, the game has changed.

These days, young chefs are still working nose to the grindstone—80-hour workweeks are the norm—but the road to notoriety isn’t as one-track as it used to be. Some of today’s hottest up-and-comers are breaking out on their own early on, skipping a decade of apprenticeship in exchange for complete creative control. Some are even nixing the professional kitchen entirely, instead hosting pop-ups or supper clubs in nontraditional venues like, say, their living rooms. And some are kicking it old-school, working their way up under the gurus until they feel ready to spread their wings and fly solo.

Who will be the next David Chang? We’ve got a few ideas. Here’s a look at 10 of the most exciting young chefs in the country—kitchen stars simmering with talent and ambition, all just shy of hitting the mainstream. Remember these names: You’ll be hearing a lot more from them soon.

Written by Jamie Feldmar (@jfeldmar)

There was a time, in the not-so-distant past, when the life of a chef was simple: spend years toiling away anonymously in an someone else’s kitchen, learn everything you can from the masters, and then, maybe—if you were supremely driven, freakishly talented, and just straight-up lucky—get out and make a name for yourself. Needless to say, the game has changed. These days, young chefs are still working nose to the grindstone—80-hour workweeks are the norm—but the road to notoriety isn’t as one-track as it used to be. Some of today’s hottest up-and-comers are breaking out on their own early on, skipping a decade of apprenticeship in exchange for complete creative control. Some are even nixing the professional kitchen entirely, instead hosting pop-ups or supper clubs in nontraditional venues like, say, their living rooms. And some are kicking it old-school, working their way up under the gurus until they feel ready to spread their wings and fly solo. Who will be the next David Chang? We’ve got a few ideas. Here’s a look at 10 of the most exciting young chefs in the country—kitchen stars simmering with talent and ambition, all just shy of hitting the mainstream. Remember these names: You’ll be hearing a lot more from them soon. Written by Jamie Feldmar (@jfeldmar)
Thai Dang

Executive chef at Embeya, Chicago, IL The deal: Don’t let the restaurant’s name, which translates to “little one” in Vietnamese, fool you—at a sprawling 7,000 square feet, Dang’s eight-month-old ode to modern Southeast Asian cuisine is anything but diminutive. Dang, who came up under Eric Ziebold at the Mandarin Oriental and Laurent Gras at L20, puts it simply: “For my first restaurant, I wanted to go big or go home.” Signature dish: Braised baby octopus with green garlic and marinated green mangoes. “We slow-cook the octopus to get it really tender, and then sear it crisp on one side, so you get two totally different textures,” says Dang. “It’s all about combining Southeast Asian flavors with more refined technique.” What’s next: More Embeya—“right now the focus is just on making it bigger and better.”
Tim Maslow

Chef/co-ower at Strip T’s, Watertown, MA The deal: In 2011, Maslow, former chef de cuisine at Momofuku Ssäm Bar, left New York to return to his dad’s working-class lunch joint outside of Boston. Two years later, Strip T’s 2.0 is one of the hottest tables in town, with a revamped menu of off-the-wall American fare courtesy of the young prodigal son. Signature dish: The menu changes constantly, but a current favorite is the grilled romaine salad with braised oxtail, a poached egg, and roasted-chili vinegar. “It’s a very hedonistic way of cooking,” says Maslow. “There isn’t a lot of menu planning. If we want to cook something, we do it.” What’s next: A second restaurant in Brookline, tentatively called Ribella (“rebel”), serving modern American fare and pastas, scheduled to open this summer.
Joe Cicala

Executive chef at Le Virtu, Philadelphia, PA The deal: After a brief stint in the pro hockey minor leagues, Cicala traded in his jersey for chef’s whites, decamped to his homeland of Italy, and cooked his way across the country, learning the secrets of old-school nonna recipes and Michelin-starred chefs along the way. It was a fitting decision for a kid who grew up working at his mom’s catering company and eschewed art school for the kitchen, figuring “you can move more people through food than with a painting.” At Le Virtu, he turns out authentic Abruzzo fare—rustic pastas, real-deal minestrone, and housemade sausages—straight out of the Old World. Signature dish: Maccheroni alla mugnaia, a single strand of hand-pulled pasta dressed with garlic, olive oil, hot peppers, and pecorino cheese. “We went to dozens of tiny villages looking for this dish, because only a few families know how to make it. We wanted to bring back the old man who finally taught us, but he’d never been on a plane and had no interest in leaving his farm to cook in America,” says Cicala. What’s next: Plans for a second restaurant, an enoteca with a wood-fired oven and extensive wine and beer lists, are in the works for late 2013.
Thomas Madrecki

Chef/founder at Chez Le Commis, Washington, D.C. The deal: Can’t find the Yelp page for Chez Le Commis? That’s because it’s a weekly dinner party held in Madrecki’s living room. The UVA grad, who staged at Noma and Le Chateaubriand but works a nine-to-five for a DC lobbyist, started the dinners in March 2012 because “I’ve always loved to cook and I was bored on weekends.” Barely a year later, his high-minded dinners—seven courses inspired by seasonal New Nordic cuisine and paired with biodynamic-natural wines—have become the talk of the town. Guests (capped at 15 per dinner) reserve a spot via e-mail, and they are encouraged to linger in Madrecki’s house until “your friends become sworn enemies, you meet the girl of your dreams, or we run out of wine.” Madrecki says of his double life: "My chef friends joke that I’m like the daywalker in Blade—I can move between two totally different worlds and get along in both.” Signature dish: Popcorn ice cream with brown sugar caramel sauce and dehydrated cheddar cheese powder, a dessert inspired by the Garrett popcorn Madrecki grew up eating in Chicago. What’s next: A D.C. event with Kinfolk magazine in June and a dinner at the City Grit culinary salon in New York in November.
Johanna Ware

Chef/owner at Smallwares, Portland, OR The deal: Ware, who cooked under Brad Farmerie (Public, Saxon + Parole) and David Chang (Momofuku) in New York, proudly bills the small plates at her buzzy self-titled debut as “inauthentic Asian cuisine.” “It’s hard to describe,” Ware says of her style in the kitchen. “I use a lot of Asian ingredients but also a lot of local products. I think it can read a little weird on the menu, but it’s not weird to me. There are no boundaries as long as it tastes good.” The same philosophy extends to Barwares, the bar-within-the-restaurant that Ware opened earlier this year, whose drinks are grouped by flavor rather than alcohol type. Signature dish: Tempura-fried kale salad with bacon-fish sauce vinaigrette and mint. “I definitely use aggressive flavors and a lot of spice,” Ware says. “It’s not the kind of cuisine the Pacific Northwest is typically known for.” What’s next: “A day off?” laughs Ware. “I’m still in the kitchen every day here and I’m not quite ready to give that up.” She has no plans to expand (yet).
Phillip Lopez

Executive chef/owner at Root, New Orleans, LA The deal: Lopez was born in the Big Easy, but thanks to a military dad, his passport and his palate clocked considerable mileage by the time he was a teen. Lopez returned to his hometown after Katrina and spent six years working with John Besh before striking out on his own in 2011, with a menu melding Crescent City classics with ethnic flourishes and advanced technique. “New Orleans has always been known as the city of a thousand restaurants and one menu. I thought it was time to do something new and exciting,” he says. Signature dish: Cohiba-smoked scallops, served in a cigar box with chorizo dust, caramelized cauliflower, pimento patas bravas, and black garlic fennel choucroute, inspired by the Cuban cigars Lopez’s dad kept in the family dining room. What’s next: A sister restaurant, dubbed Square Root, with only 16 seats and a chef’s tasting menu, opening this summer. “I want give Michelin a reason to come down here,” Lopez says.
Bradley Herron

Executive chef at Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink, Miami, FL The deal: Herron, a self-described SoCal “punk kid,” started clocking 80-hour restaurant weeks as a teen, graduated top of his class at culinary school, and worked his way up the L.A. restaurant totem before decamping to Miami on a whim and starting at the bottom as a line cook at Michael’s Genuine. Within months, Schwartz promoted Herron to chef de cuisine, and eventually to executive chef of the entire Genuine Hospitality Group. “I just put my head down and work,” he says. “Whatever it takes to get it done.” Signature dish: “Our menu changes every day according to what’s fresh, and I go through phases—one month I’ll be really into fish, and the next month it’s charcuterie, then it’s tasting menus or pasta. Right now I’m really into whole-roasted fish, with a nice citrus salad on the side.” What’s next: More Michael’s—Herron is now responsible for hiring and training all new cooks for the restaurant group.
Dakota Soifer

Chef/owner at Café Aion, Boulder, CO The deal: Soifer, raised by “hippie parents” in rural Maine, left his training as an architect behind for a career in the kitchen, cooking in Café Zuni and the Napa Valley before bringing his DIY ethos to this quirky Spanish-North African tapas joint. “I like the idea of a meal being centered around something you share with companions,” Soifer says. “My approach is to have people come together and snack on tapas or gather around a huge tagine with little mezzes and pickles and mix it all together.” Signature dish: Paella with housemade Linguiça sausage, chicken, and mussels. “I love combining nuts and fruits and spices with burnt edges and crispy bits and fresh herbs,” he says. What’s next: A Café Aion cookbook, plus a potential future move to a larger location.
Katy Peetz

Pastry chef, New York City, NY The deal: Peetz cut her teeth making desserts at Brooklyn’s favorite gonzo pizzeria, Roberta’s, before upping her game at Blanca, the restaurant’s experimental fine-dining counterpart, where she turned out playful, boundary-pushing finales that dovetailed neatly with the restaurant’s innovative tasting menus. Not bad for a culinary school grad who studied savory and “never in a million years thought I’d be working as a pastry chef.” Signature dish: Foraged beach-rose gelato with chickpea-quinoa crumble. “I don’t like overly sweet things, so to me the perfect ending is something cold, acidic, and refreshing, like ice cream,” says Peetz, who’s also fond of mixing vegetal, earthy ingredients in with the sweet. What’s next: Peetz recently left her post at Blanca. Following a brief stint in Thailand, she will return to host a series of pop-up dinners in Manhattan with former Roberta’s chef Max Sussman, and she will be helping fellow Roberta’s alum Yuji Haraguchi open a ramen restaurant in Williamsburg.
Kris Yenbamroong

Chef/owner at Night + Market, Los Angeles, CA The deal: A film school grad who grew up in the kitchens of his parent’s old-school L.A. Thai restaurant, Yenbamroong snapped up the tiny space adjacent to his family’s spot three years ago and turned it into a self-described “temple of regional Thai street food [mixed with] a makeshift dinner party in an empty gallery annex.” Drawing on his family’s recipes, Yenbamroong—who grew up partially in Bangkok—whips up Northern and Northeastern Thai snacks not often found on these shores, from a kitchen he still shares with his parents' original restaurant. “We’re a scrappy operation,” says Yenbamroong, “but it gives me a place to cook what I know and what I love.” Signature dish: The highlights of Yenbamroong’s small, booze-happy menu are the handmade sausages—one made with fermented pork and served with raw cabbage, chile, and peanuts; another jam-packed with fresh herbs and served with a chile relish called nahm phrik noom. What’s next: A second location, dubbed Night + Market Song (“two” in Thai), is slated to open this summer in Silver Lake, with a similar menu and a handful more seats.

10 Up-and-Coming Chefs to Keep on Your Radar

Thai Dang

Tim Maslow

Joe Cicala

Thomas Madrecki

Johanna Ware

Phillip Lopez

Bradley Herron

Dakota Soifer

Katy Peetz

Kris Yenbamroong

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