Food & Wine editor-in-chief Dana Cowin, as Grub Street pointed out, spent Monday tweeting clues about this year's gaggle of the magazine's Best New Chef award winners. The biggest leak, so to speak, was that the majority of the winners have penises. Sobrasada, anyone?
Let's see: this year's most notable and expected winner was Mission Chinese Food's Danny Bowien, who, in addition to concocting some of the finest food in all of the land, has the second best hair in San Francisco. Other noteworthy winners include Top Chef winner Michael Voltaggio (of Ink) and sole female honoree Jamie Malone (Sea Change).
The entire 2013 Food & Wine Best New Chef winners are:
Danny Bowien - Mission Chinese Food, New York, NY; SF, CA
Justin Cogley - Aubergine, Carmel, CA
José Enrique - Jose Enriqué, San Juan, PR
Matthew Gaudet - West Bridge, Boston, MA
Jamie Malone - Sea Change, Minneapolis, MN
Chris Shepherd - Underbelly, Houston, TX
Alex Stupak - Empellón Cocina, New York, NY
Andy Ticer & Michael Hudman - Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen, Memphis, TN
Jason Vincent - Nightwood, Chicago, IL
Michael Voltaggio - Ink, Los Angeles, CA
How are the winners selected? According to Food & Wine [PDF], "editors solicit nominations from restaurant critics, food writers and other trusted experts around the country, then travel incognito to taste the food themselves."