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FOOD & WINE’s Best New Chefs 2012
Benu is one of FOOD & WINE’s Best New Chefs 2012.

1. Benu

7.7
22 Hawthorne St (at Howard St), San Francisco, CA
Asian Restaurant · SoMa · 93 tips and reviews

Food & WineFood & Wine: Chef Corey Lee combines Asian-inspired flavors to create dishes like his must-try faux shark’s-fin soup. He loves to work with unusual ingredients, like pine needles from the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Read more.

Spice Table is one of FOOD & WINE’s Best New Chefs 2012.

2. Spice Table

114 S Central Ave (at E 1st St), Los Angeles, CA
Vietnamese Restaurant · Little Tokyo · 59 tips and reviews

Food & WineFood & Wine: Chef Bryant Ng “caught the bug to cook” while growing up washing dishes at his parents’ Chinese-American restaurant. His lightly fried cauliflower with turmeric and fiery fish sauce is a hit. Read more.

Madison Park Conservatory is one of FOOD & WINE’s Best New Chefs 2012.

3. Madison Park Conservatory

1927 43rd Ave E, Seattle, WA
Restaurant · Madison Park · 25 tips and reviews

Food & WineFood & Wine: Protégé of Best New Chef ’07 Matthew Dillon, chef Cormac Mahoney has made a name for himself in the Northwest food scene with standout dishes like smoked clam risotto with uni butter. Read more.

The Willows Inn is one of FOOD & WINE’s Best New Chefs 2012.

4. The Willows Inn

9.0
2579 W Shore Dr, Lummi Island, WA
Hotel · 13 tips and reviews

Food & WineFood & Wine: Delectable dishes like prawns with leeks, mussels and toasted bread (if you’re so lucky, as it is seasonally available) draw diners out to this little island, where chef Blain Wetzel works his magic. Read more.

Lincoln Restaurant is one of FOOD & WINE’s Best New Chefs 2012.

5. Lincoln Restaurant

3808 N Williams Ave (at NE Failing), Portland, OR
New American Restaurant · 19 tips and reviews

Food & WineFood & Wine: Chef Jenn Louis attributes her minimalist approach to delicious menu items like baked eggs with cream, castelvetrano olives and herbed bread crumbs to her days cooking for the staff at Outward Bound. Read more.

ABC Kitchen is one of FOOD & WINE’s Best New Chefs 2012.

6. ABC Kitchen

9.2
35 E 18th St (btwn Broadway & Park Ave S), New York, NY
New American Restaurant · Flatiron District · 720 tips and reviews

Food & WineFood & Wine: Chef Dan Kluger met boss Jean-Georges Vongrichten at the Union Square farmers’ market, where he buys local ingredients for his sustainable menu. The farfalle with kasha and veal meatballs is perfect. Read more.

Torrisi Italian Specialties is one of FOOD & WINE’s Best New Chefs 2012.

7. Torrisi Italian Specialties

250 Mulberry St (at Prince St), New York, NY
Italian Restaurant · NoLita · 140 tips and reviews

Food & WineFood & Wine: Their backgrounds are Italian, but chefs Rich Torrisi and Mario Carbone insist on using domestic ingredients. The must-try dish here, per availability, is the island duck with mulberry mustard. Read more.

Equinox is one of FOOD & WINE’s Best New Chefs 2012.

8. Equinox

818 Connecticut Ave NW (at 17th St NW), Washington, D.C.
American Restaurant · Connecticut Avenue - K Street · 32 tips and reviews

Food & WineFood & Wine: Chef Karen Nicolas’s savory chestnut flan with roasted porcini mushrooms, coffee syrup and coffee soil is one example of how she is shaking up this iconic DC power restaurant with creative touches. Read more.

Ria is one of FOOD & WINE’s Best New Chefs 2012.

9. Ria

11 E Walton St (3rd floor, Waldorf Astoria Chicago), Chicago, IL
Restaurant · Near North Side · 5 tips and reviews

Food & WineFood & Wine: Chef Danny Grant calls Best New Chef ‘03 Bruce Sherman his mentor. At Ria he cultivates subtle yet complex flavor combinations in dishes like his popular rabbit terrine with carrot, turnip and potato. Read more.

Catbird Seat is one of FOOD & WINE’s Best New Chefs 2012.

10. Catbird Seat

8.3
1711 Division St, Nashville, TN
New American Restaurant · 21 tips and reviews

Food & WineFood & Wine: Those lucky enough to try the seasonally available, supercrispy chicken—brushed with sorghum and seasoned with paprika—will be thrilled with the work of chefs Erik Anderson and Josh Habiger. Read more.