Greg Denton & Gabrielle Quiñónez Denton

Restaurant Ox (Read a review)

Location Portland, OR

Why They’re Amazing Because they’re giving true credence to the term “grill masters” at their meat-focused Argentinean restaurant, where they even char the radicchio for their updated Caesar salad.

Culinary School Greg: Coursework at Paul Smith’s College (Paul Smiths, NY); The Culinary Institute of America (Hyde Park, NY); Gabrielle: California Culinary Academy (San Francisco)

Background Greg: Externship at Central Intelligence Agency (Langley, VA); Bouchon (Yountville, CA), Terra (St. Helena, CA), Mala Ocean Tavern (Lahaina, HI), Metrovino (Portland, OR); Gabrielle: Terra (St. Helena, CA), Lahaina Yacht Club (Lahaina, HI), Metrovino (Portland, OR)

Quintessential Dish Beef skirt steak

How Greg Got Into Cooking Professionally His dad was the manager of a family-style restaurant (which Greg describes as “like Friendly’s”) called Lums in Rutland, Vermont. Greg started helping out there at age nine.

Change of Heart Gabrielle ate a vegan diet for a while during college. “I went to UC Berkeley and I was taking a lot of environmental classes, so it just made sense, philosophically, to stop eating any form of meat.” Traveling in Latin America later motivated her to reintroduce meat to her diet, though. “It was too hard,” she says. “Even if you said you were not eating meat, there was still a good chance that your beans were fried with some sort of animal fat.”

What Makes That Steak So Good A trough at the bottom of Ox’s huge wood-fired grill catches the meat drippings. The chefs add lemon, onion, garlic and herbs to the drippings and use the mix to baste their steaks as they cook.

Insider Tip While waiting for a table at Ox, customers can pass the time at the Whey Bar, the Dentons’ new cocktail-focused spot adjacent to the restaurant.

Chris DiMinno

Restaurant Clyde Common (Read a review)

Location Portland, OR

Why He’s Amazing Because his terrific, adventurous cuisine marries farm-to-table cooking with the trendy vibe of one of Portland’s hottest bars.

Culinary School The Culinary Institute of America (Hyde Park, NY)

Background Blue Hill at Stone Barns (Pocantico Hills, NY), Telepan (New York City)

Quintessential Dish Seasonal pastas such as pappardelle with Calabrian chiles, leeks, shrimp and lemon

Alternative Career Choice “If I weren’t a chef, I would be a bicycle mechanic. Hands down. I will never sit behind a desk as long as I live.”

Food Aversion “Canned tuna. No matter how ‘good’ any brand is, it is always terrible.”

Sunny Jin

Restaurant Jory (Read a review)

Location Newberg, OR

Why He’s Amazing Because he’s enriching the Willamette Valley’s culinary scene by pairing his exceptional dishes with the region’s inspiring wines.

Culinary School Western Culinary Institute (Portland, OR)

Background Tetsuya’s (Sydney), The French Laundry (Yountville, CA)

Quintessential Dish Trio of rabbit—braised leg, loin roulade and rabbit bacon cassoulet

On His Internship at El Bulli “I miss it. I wish I was back there. At the time it was such a grind, and I had a hard time accepting certain things about it. But having lived through it, I see it now as a really valuable experience.”

Alternative Career “I started going to school for forestry and management. I didn’t like it.”

How He Got Into the Food Business “I used to cook at a country club for free golf, but I wasn’t serious about it.”

Brian McCracken & Dana Tough

Restaurant Spur (Read a review)

Location Seattle, WA

Why They’re Amazing Because they’re shaking up the naturalist Seattle dining scene with molecular gastronomy techniques and novel flavor combinations.

Culinary School McCracken: Western Culinary Institute (Portland, OR); Tough: South Seattle Community College

Background McCracken: Earth & Ocean, Mona’s (Seattle); Tough: Tilth, Earth & Ocean (Seattle)

Quintessential Dish Sous vide butterfish with foaming fish fumé, chanterelles, black kale and white beans

How They Decided to Open a Gastropub “People here are geared toward being comfortable,” says Tough, “so why not take the [avant-garde] tools we’ve learned and put them into a bar setting?”

The Origin of the Restaurant Name They were going for an urban Western feel. “It was a spur-of-the-moment thing,” McCracken says.

Ken Norris

Restaurant Riffle NW (Read a review)

Location Portland, OR

Why He’s Amazing Because as a skilled and innovative chef with a fierce dedication to sustainability, he’s the answer to fish-lovers’ dreams in the Northwest.

Culinary School Coursework at Kendall College (Chicago)

Background Saks Fifth Avenue flagship restaurant, August, internships at Daniel and Charlie Palmer (New York City)

Quintessential Dish Petrale sole with fried bones and sea urchin sauce

On Culinary School “I left and went back to the school of Daniel [Boulud]. Hands-on experience is much more valued than most classroom [work].”

On Seafood He “used to work the line with Daniel Boulud in New York, always on the seafood side. To me, it’s the most elegant and romantic position in a kitchen.”

Why He Moved to Portland “The amazing food scene happening right now, and the lifestyle.”

Recycled Design Much of the exposed wood at Riffle NW was reclaimed from the docks at the Port of Portland. Room dividers and chair slipcovers are made from old sails. They even “converted an old elevator into a private dining room.”

Sarah Pliner

Restaurant Aviary (Read a review)

Location Portland, OR

Why She’s Amazing Because she’s injecting fun and creativity into Portland’s already successful farm-to-table model. Her unexpected yet winning ingredient combinations include fried chicken skin, bitter greens, watermelon and baba ganoush.

Culinary School Self-taught

Background Alain Ducasse at the Essex House, Tocqueville, Tabla, Socialista, Aldea (New York City)

Quintessential Dish Crispy pig’s ear with coconut rice, Chinese sausage and avocado

Favorite Condiment Sriracha

Advice for Young Chefs “Cook as much as you can at home, play with spices and flavors, and try things that you don’t think would work... You need to hone your palate on what works together and why it works together. Every time you make something bad, you’ll come up with an idea for something that’s good.”

Second Chances The original Aviary was badly damaged in a fire on July 4, 2011, (victim of an illegal firework) after being open only a few months. With help from other local chefs, Pliner and her partners, Jasper Shen and Kat Whitehead, reopened the restaurant just five months later. Less than a year after that, Willamette Week, a local newspaper, named Aviary Portland’s Restaurant of the Year.

Sheldon Simeon

Restaurant Star Noodle (Read a review)

Location Lahaina, HI

Why He’s Amazing Because he’s meshing his Hawaiian background with Asian ingredients and techniques to make a progressive, phenomenal noodle house.

Culinary School Maui Culinary Academy (Kahului, HI)

Background Aloha Mixed Plate, Old Lahaina Luau (Lahaina, HI)

Quintessential Dish Vietnamese crêpe with shrimp, pork and bean sprouts

Influences “My main influence in cooking stems from the Hawaii Regional Chef Team, particularly Alan Wong and Roy Yamaguchi.”

Favorite Dish Pohole (fern) salad. Growing up, Simeon ate it at luaus and parties at his grandparents’ house. “I knew I wanted something on the menu that ties to my roots.”

Best Known For Being one of the final three contenders on Top Chef Season 10, where he was the first Hawaii chef to compete in the series.

Johanna Ware

Restaurant Smallwares (Read a review)

Location Portland, OR

Why She’s Amazing Because she’s shaking up the Portland food scene with her fiery, Asian-accented small plates.

Culinary School Self-taught

Background Public, Momofuku Noodle Bar, Momofuku Ssäm Bar (New York City); Nostrana (Portland, OR)

Quintessential Dish Scallop sashimi with miso, shallots and puffed rice

On Skipping Culinary School “I’d signed up to get into the French Culinary Institute [in New York City], but there was a waiting list. While I waited, I got a job at Public.” When the opportunity to go to school finally arrived, the people at Public “told me, ‘Don’t go... we’ll teach you.’”

What She’d Be if She Wasn’t a Chef A poet. “I’m probably a better cook, but I would love to do food writing later on in my career.”

How She Describes Her Cooking “Inauthentic Asian.”

Why She Opened Her Own Restaurant “I just wanted to work for myself. It was time to do my own food. I’m a bit of a natural leader.”

Chris Weber

Restaurant The Herbfarm (Read a review)

Location Woodinville, WA

Why He’s Amazing Because in just four years, Weber went from line cook (at age 21) to head chef of one of the Northwest’s most lauded and pioneering farm-to-table restaurants.

Culinary School Johnson & Wales University (Providence)

Background Crosswater (Sunriver, OR)

Quintessential Dish Rotisserie Muscovy duck breast with pumpkin-farro risotto, seared duck leg confit, caramelized onion, lavender-quince jam and black-truffled duck jus

Shared Birthday Both he and the restaurant were born in May 1986.

Favorite Kitchen Tool “Our wood-burning oven.”

Guilty Pleasure French fries. It “almost doesn’t matter where they come from. I love fried potatoes.”

Favorite Website Ulteriorepicure.com. “The author travels to every corner of the globe. It’s a great way to see what’s happening in other parts of the world.”