The People's Best New Chef: Gulf Coast Contenders

At F&W, we name America’s 10 most brilliant up-and-coming chefs every year. Now we want to know who you think is the most talented new chef in America.

By F&W Editors

Updated on May 23, 2017

At F&W, we name America’s 10 most brilliant up-and-coming chefs every year. Now we want to know who you think is the most talented new chef in America.

Regions:
California, Great Lakes, Gulf Coast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, New England, New York Area, Northwest & Pacific, Southeast, Southwest Gulf Coast Chefs

Cory Bahr
Michael Doyle
Juan Carlos Gonzalez
Jeffrey Hansell
Alex Harrell
Phillip Lopez
Jose Mendin
Chris Newsome
Giorgio Rapicavoli
José Santaella

Photo courtesy of Restaurant Cotton

Cory Bahr

Restaurant: Cotton (Read a review)

Location: Monroe, LA

Why He's Amazing: Because he's sourcing the best ingredients—from cornmeal and sweet potatoes to rabbits, venison and duck eggs—from friends and neighbors for his updated and spectacular Southern dishes.

Culinary School: Self-taught

background: Sage (/sites/default/files/onroe, LA); internships at Commander's Palace and Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse (New Orleans)

Michael Doyle

Restaurant: Maurepas Foods (Read a review)

Location: New Orleans

Why He's Amazing: Because he's redefining modern Southern cooking with audacious dishes such as butternut squash with snails, pickled peanuts and spiced whiskey butter.

Culinary School: Self-taught

background: Dante's Kitchen (/sites/default/files/ew Orleans)

Juan Carlos Gonzalez

Restaurant: SoBou (Read a review)

Location: New Orleans

Why He's Amazing: Because his dishes inspired by Creole and Puerto Rican street food—like shrimp-and-tasso pinchos [bar snacks]—take pub food to a new level.

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

background: Internship at Le Bernardin (/sites/default/files/ew York City); Commander's Palace, Café Adelaide (New Orleans); Bistro Alex (Houston)

Jeffrey Hansell

Restaurant: Veranda on Highland (Read a review)

Location: Birmingham, AL

Why He's Amazing: Because he's revamped the menu at a Birmingham mainstay with the kind of dishes you'd find at an amazing Southern dinner party—like fried pickles with garlic remoulade, and shrimp and grits made with local beer.

Culinary School: University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast (Long Beach, MS)

background: Commander's Palace, Lüke (/sites/default/files/ew Orleans); The Little Nell (Aspen, CO)

Alex Harrell

Restaurant: Sylvain (Read a review)

Location: New Orleans

Why He's Amazing: Because his thoughtfully prepared gastropub menu has locals in the touristy French Quarter queuing up for a seat.

Culinary School: Self-taught

background: Mustard Seed (/sites/default/files/harleston, SC); Galatoire's, Gerard's Downtown, Martinique Bistro, Bayona (New Orleans)

Phillip Lopez

Restaurant: Root (Read a review)

Location: New Orleans

Why He's Amazing: Because he's making New American food that's unabashedly postmodern. For instance, a dish of scallops with chorizo dust and caramelized cauliflower, served in a cigar box with Cohiba smoke piped in, is an ode to his Mexican-Cuban father's leathery-smelling cigars.

Culinary School: Self-taught

background: Coastal Grill (/sites/default/files/irginia Beach), Citronelle (Washington, DC); August, Lüke, American Sector, Rambla (New Orleans)

Jose Mendin

Restaurant: Pubbelly (Read a review)

Location: Miami Beach

Why He's Amazing: Because he's revitalizing Miami Beach's Sunset Harbour neighborhood with this boisterous, Asian-inspired gastropub.

Culinary School: Johnson & Wales University (North Miami)

background: Mercadito, Nobu, Veranda (/sites/default/files/iami); SushiSamba (Las Vegas)

Chris Newsome

Restaurant: Ollie Irene (Read a review)

Location: Mountain Brook, AL

Why He's Amazing: Because he's given his hometown its first gastropub, named in honor of his home-cooking sharecropper grandmother—and it's awesome.

Culinary School: Coursework at Johnson & Wales University (Charleston, SC)

background: Bottega Café, Highlands Bar & Grill, Hot and Hot Fish Club (/sites/default/files/irmingham, AL); Pizzeria Delfina, Spruce (San Francisco); FIG (Charleston, SC)

Giorgio Rapicavoli

Restaurant: Eating House (Read a review)

Location: Coral Gables, FL

Why He's Amazing: Because he's translated his devotion to slow food, graffiti and childhood treats like Oreos into a wildly successful pop-up that's now a brick-and-mortar restaurant.

Culinary School: Coursework at Johnson & Wales University (North Miami)

background: Chispa (/sites/default/files/oral, FL), 660 at The Angler's (Miami Beach)

José Santaella

Restaurant: Santaella (Read a review)

Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico

Why He's Amazing: Because after years of working with some of the world's best European and American chefs, he's redefining cocina criolla—the cooking of his home, Puerto Rico.

Culinary School: Self-taught

background: Le Bernardin New York City); Chez Michel, Gary Danko (/sites/default/files/an Francisco)