2010 Best New Chefs' Simplest Recipes

By Food & Wine
Updated May 24, 2017
Credit: © Anna Williams
This year, we located exceptional chefs all over, from a remote corner of Virginia to the streets of Los Angeles, where Roy Choi presides over a revolutionary Korean taco truck. Here, the 2010 class of Best New Chefs and their simplest recipes.
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Mike Sheerin: Twice-Glazed Asian Barbecued Chicken

Credit: Anna Williams
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Instead of the usual smoky-sweet tomato-based barbecue sauce, Mike Sheerin of Chicago's Blackbird bases his Asian-style version on oyster sauce, soy sauce and roasted garlic, with toasted black peppercorns added for heat. The sauce is superb glazed on chicken, but it would also be great on pork or steak.

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Roy Choi: Midnight Tortas

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This spectacular torta (Mexican sandwich) is Kogi chef Roy Choi's gift to Los Angeles's late-night partiers. The over-the-top combination of fried eggs, spinach, pork belly and roasted jalapeños is a little Mexican and a little Asian—a uniquely Choi hybrid.

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Missy Robbins: Orecchiette with Marinated Eggplant, Burrata and Chiles

Credit: © Anna Williams
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At New York City's A Voce, Missy Robbins makes this elegant, decadent pasta dish with burrata, the creamy cow's-milk cheese from Italy. She says, "I absolutely love burrata, but this recipe also includes my trifecta of favorite ingredients: marjoram, lemon and chiles."

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Jonathon Sawyer: Foie Gras-Steamed Clams

Credit: © Anna Williams
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At the Greenhouse Tavern in Cleveland, Jonathon Sawyer uses a little bit of foie gras to create a luscious sauce for clams. "It's such a simple recipe," he says. "I just put the clams, foie gras and vinegar in a pot and just let them get to know each other for a while."

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Clayton Miller: Hush Puppies with Green Zebra Tomato Jam

Credit: PHOTO © ANNA WILLIAMS
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At Trummer's On Main in Clifton, Virginia, Clayton Miller makes a highly seasoned, Indian-inflected tomato jam with ginger, cinnamon, cumin and cayenne. It's a terrific accompaniment to his hush puppies—cheekily nicknamed "shut-your-piehole puppies" by the cooks in his kitchen.

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John Shields: Salmon with Cantaloupe and Fried Shallots

Credit: © Anna Williams
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John Shields of Town House in the small town of Chilhowie, Virginia, composed this dish from ingredients he picked up at his local supermarket. The magic is in the play of textures and flavors: The salmon skin and shallots—both potato-chip crisp— are wonderful with the tender, flaky fish and sweet pieces of melon.

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Alex Seidel: Grilled Green Bean Salad with Lentil Vinaigrette

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Most cooks boil, steam or sauté green beans, but grilling them—as Alex Seidel of Denver's Fruition does here—gives them a delicious char that's superb with the lentils, pancetta and baked tomatoes in this salad.

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Jason Stratton: Zucchini Carpaccio with Salt-Broiled Shrimp

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In this clever recipe, Jason Stratton of Seattle's Spinasse makes a simple, creamy sauce by simmering toasted pine nuts with lemon zest and chicken stock, then pureeing them. His other smart trick: cooking shrimp on a superhot bed of coarse salt flavored with bay leaves and lemon zest.

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James Syhabout: Green Tomatoes with Pistachio Relish

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Relishes typically contain cooked and pickled vegetables; the one here is mouth-tinglingly tangy. James Syhabout of Oakland, California's Commis makes it by pickling shallots, capers, pistachios and pink peppercorns overnight in Champagne vinegar and olive oil. It's awesome on tomatoes, but he also likes using it on fish.

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Matt Lightner: Grilled Squid and Torpedo Onions with Sorrel

Credit: © Anna Williams
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For this unexpectedly fun dish, Matt Lightner of Castagna in Portland, Oregon, tosses grilled torpedo onions (a sweet heirloom variety from Italy) with grilled squid bodies. Since the onions and the squid resemble each other so much in color and shape, each bite is a small surprise.

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