Food and Wine Announces Best New Chefs 2008

Look for Food and Wine's "Best New Chefs" issue coming soon. The magazine announced the chosen 10 yesterday. Notables in the Region include one St. Louis and two Chicago chefs (including Koren Gieveson of Avec, yea!) They all partied down in NYC last night to celebrate with chefs Daniel Boulud and Tom Colicchio:

Gerard Craft, Niche, St. Louis, MO

The chef and owner of Niche and the adjoining Veruca Bakeshop & Café, Gerard Craft, 28, began his career washing dishes in a pool hall in Salt Lake City. His love of cooking led him to take a job at Bistro Toujours, one of the city’s top restaurants, under Bryan Moscatello (a Best New Chef 2003). Craft held positions at Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles under Mohammad Islam and the Metropolitan in Salt Lake City under Perry Hendrix. He moved to St. Louis in 2005 to open Niche, which is in a converted warehouse in the Benton Park area. Menu standouts are a “Bacon and Eggs” sandwich of braised pork belly, buttery brioche and an oozing poached egg.

Koren Grieveson, Avec, Chicago, IL

Influenced by the cuisine of Europe’s wine regions, South African-born chef Koren Grieveson, 36, helped launch the wine bar Avec in October 2003 with her mentor, chef Paul Kahan (a Best New Chef 1999). Grieveson, who lived in Angola, Iran, England and Brazil as a child, was a caterer for the entertainment industry and a solider in the United States Army for nine years before attending the Culinary Institute of America. Prior to opening Avec she worked with Kahan for five years as sous chef at his restaurant Blackbird and also worked at San Francisco’s Aqua under chef Michael Mina.

Giuseppe Tentori, Boka, Chicago, IL

As a boy, Giuseppe Tentori helped out on his grandmother’s farm in a small town outside of Milan. At the age of 19, while at Antica Osteria la Rampina in Milan, he was invited by chef Gabriel Viti (a Best New Chef 1991) to work at Carlos’ in Highland Park, Illinois. He went on to become sous chef at the Metropolitan in Salt Lake Cityand chef de cuisine at Chicago’s Charlie Trotter’s before becoming executive chef at Boka in March 2007. Tentori, 35, has created an innovative menu revolving around seasonal squid stuffed with baby spinach, spicy pineapple and black tapioca.