Brendan McGill

Hitchcock • Bainbridge Island, WA

Photo courtesy of Hitchcock

Why He’s Amazing Because his cooking is the best possible version of a refined and well-traveled French grandmother, making as much by hand and using as many local ingredients as possible.

Culinary School The Art Institute of Seattle

Background Il Bistro, The Apartment Bistro & Martini Lounge, Harvest Vine, Crémant (Seattle)

Quintessential Dish Manila clams with sweet cream, house-cured bacon, Yukon Gold potatoes, celery and herbs

Earliest Cooking Memory Growing up in Alaska, “our annual trip to Chitina, where we fished the Copper River for chinook and sockeye salmon. We held a little fish camp to process the 50-plus fish we could come back with, and we filleted, smoked and canned our catch.”

His Cooking Style “The farmers really drive the menu. I just buy what they give me... It’s of the moment.” Truly, though, “This is more like what Jacques Pépin’s mom did than some kind of revolution.”

Quirky Tasting Menu It reads, “Name your price.” Once you do, McGill works from there to create dishes within the designated budget.

Recent Project A next-door deli and mercantile where shoppers can purchase soups and sandwiches as well as McGill’s cured meats and other local products.

The People's Best New Chef 2013 Regional Winners

New England

Andrew Taylor
& Mike Wiley

Voting starts on 3/11/13 and ends on 3/18/13 at www.foodandwine.com/thepeoples-bnc. One vote per IP address per region. As determined by American Express Publishing Corporation in its sole discretion, votes from any automated means or intended to disrupt the voting process will be void and may subject vote(s) recipient to disqualification. Chefs with the highest eligible votes per region will become regional winners (10 total). The People’s Best New Chef title will be determined based on highest number of eligible votes received during the voting period irrespective of region. All votes subject to verification.