Restaurants Chefs Best New Chefs The People's Best New Chef: Southwest 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 Food & Wine Editors Food & Wine Editors This is collaborative content from Food & Wine's team of experts, including staff, recipe developers, chefs, and contributors. Many of our galleries curate recipes or guides from a variety of sources which we credit throughout the content and at each link. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on May 23, 2017 Trending Videos Close this video player 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 Southwest Chefs Mat Clouser Omar Flores Terrence Gallivan & Seth Siegel-Gardner Matt McCallister Frederick Perez Paul Qui Steven Redzikowski Andrew Wiseheart Justin Yu Brian Zenner Photo © Kelsey Orr Mat Clouser Restaurant: Swift's Attic (Read a review) Location: Austin Why He's Amazing: Because he's bringing light, imaginative (and spot-on) small plates like charred edamame with chile oil and pop rocks to Austin's meat-centric restaurant scene. Culinary School: The New England Culinary Institute (Montpelier, VT) background: Vespaio, Uchi, Kenichi, Jeffrey's, Haddingtons (/sites/default/files/ustin) More on Mat Clouser Photo © Mike Itashiki Omar Flores Restaurant: Driftwood, Casa Rubia (Read a review) Location: Dallas Why He's Amazing: Because with his deft hand at both raw and cooked dishes, he's given Dallas both its best seafood restaurant ever as well as a stellar new Spanish tapas spot. Culinary School: New Mexico State University (Las Cruces, NM), the Culinary Institute of America (Hyde Park, NY) background: Abacus (/sites/default/files/allas) More on Omar Flores Photo © Julie Soefer Terrence Gallivan & Seth Siegel-Gardner Restaurant: The Pass & Provisions (Read a review) Location: Houston Why They're Amazing: Because they're turning out tasty, thoughtful American food in two restaurants (one rustic, one refined) under a single roof. Culinary School: Gallivan: The New England Culinary Institute (Burlington, VT); Siegel-Gardner: Self-taught background: Both: Maze, Alto (/sites/default/files/ew York City); Gallivan: The Modern, August, (New York City); Siegel-Gardner: Aquavit (New York City); C-House (Chicago); Kata Robata (Houston) More on Terrence GallivanMore on Seth Siegel-Gardner Photo © Kevin Marple Matt McCallister Restaurant: FT33 (Read a review) Location: Dallas Why He's Amazing: Because he's attracting crowds to his first solo venture with his modern locavore dishes. Culinary School: Self-taught background: Stephan Pyles (/sites/default/files/allas) More on Matt McCallister Photo courtesy of Frederick Perez. Frederick Perez Restaurant: Del Mar al Lago (Read a review) Location: Salt Lake City Why He's Amazing: Because he's serving up incredible ceviche and his takes on other classic Peruvian dishes in landlocked Utah. Culinary School: Le Cordon Bleu (Las Vegas) background: J&G Grill (/sites/default/files/ark City, UT); Trader Vic's (Las Vegas) More on Frederick Perez Photo © Jody Horton Paul Qui Restaurant: Qui (Read a review) Location: Austin Why He's Amazing: Because while solely based in Austin, he learned Japanese techniques, subtlety and flavor balancing, which, along with his Filipino heritage, he's now applying to American ingredients in wonderfully unpredictable ways. Culinary School: Le Cordon Bleu (Austin) background: Uchiko, Uchi (/sites/default/files/ustin) More on Paul Qui Photo © Justin Lee Steven Redzikowski Restaurant: Oak at Fourteenth, Acorn (Read a review) Location: Boulder, CO; Denver Why He's Amazing: Because after starting his career at Le Cirque at age 21, he's raising the bar on the Colorado food scene with his two seasonally focused restaurants—one centered around a unique oak-fired oven and grill (Oak), the other a super-hip shared-plates spot (Acorn). Culinary School: Schenectady County Community College (Schenectady, NY) background: Little Nell (/sites/default/files/spen, CO); Cyrus (Healdsburg, CA); Frasca Food & Wine (Boulder); Jean-Georges, Le Cirque (New York City) More on Steven Redzikowski Photo © Knox Photographics Andrew Wiseheart Restaurant: Contigo (Read a review) Location: Austin Why He's Amazing: Because at his restaurant—inspired by a south Texas hunting lodge—he's preparing terrific rustic dishes, like ox tongue sliders with pickled green tomato. Culinary School: Le Cordon Bleu (Austin) background: Brix (/sites/default/files/ountville, CA); La Toque, Angèle (Napa); Olivia (Austin) More on Andrew Wiseheart Photo © Paul Sedillo Photography Justin Yu Restaurant: Oxheart (Read a review) Location: Houston Why He's Amazing: Because he's leaving Texans speechless with his delicious, artistic renderings of vegetables. Culinary School: The Culinary Institute of America (Hyde Park, NY), University of Houston background: *17 (/sites/default/files/ouston); Green Zebra, Spring, C-House (Chicago); Ubuntu (Napa) More on Justin Yu Photo © Joy Zhang Brian Zenner Restaurant: Belly & Trumpet (Read a review) Location: Dallas Why He's Amazing: Because a passion for food that began with childhood travels with his family to Kenya, Asia and France is in the global flavors of his small and large shared-plates menu—and Dallas is loving it. Culinary School: Texas Culinary Academy (Austin) background: Oak, Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek (/sites/default/files/allas); Matchbox Lounge, Fenouil (Portland, OR) More on Brian Zenner Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit