I hope I’m not alone when I say that I couldn’t care less to hear where “Famous Movie Star XYZ” or “Who the hell is that person and why do I care who they are ABC” happen to be at any given moment. I care even less about where they eat, especially in our city. Still, if that’s your bag baby then I’m not really hear to harsh on you.
However, I do become inquisitive when someone notable in the food world comes to Atlanta with a real purpose. Such is the case with Star Chefs, a culinary industry magazine/website that you may not have heard about, but you probably should know. They’re in Atlanta right now … and here’s why.
StarChefs.com doesn’t have the household power of James Beard; but, chefs try very hard to get a spot on their Rising Star list. It’s a yearly thang and Star Chefs considers people from all over the country. There’s an event here in Atlanta on June 14th to promote this years awards, but the details have yet to be announced.
In the meantime, the SC peeps have been in town over the past few days (*I think they’re here through the weekend but what do I know*) and they’ve been testing the waters in both food and beverage. In addition to their cavorting, they are also checking out six Atlanta chefs specifically to see if they are worthy of a “Rising Chef 2012” tag. For the competition, each chef had to prepare three dishes off their regular menus and one additional dish of their choosing. No this isn’t Top Chef, so everyone gets to cook a real meal. It’s not a bunch of folks in one kitchen. There’s a bit more to it than that, but you can find that info elsewhere.
So you want to know who’s up for consideration? Well, here’s who I know *cough* think is up for consideration:
Cyrille Holota of BLT Steak, Guy Wong of Miso Izakaya, Robert Phalen of One Eared Stag, Ryan Smith of Empire State South, Steven Satterfield of Miller Union, and Zeb Stevenson of Livingston.
My understanding is that Star Chefs starts with a list of 40 before pairing it down to 10 winners; so we’ll just have to guess as to which of these guys will make the cut. It’s cool to see, especially since a few of these guys are in for some other big awards. Honestly though, I wish we had some female chefs in a position to get some bling.
Is this public info? Well, maybe not officially … but it’s pretty much being passed around like flap jacks at a funeral (I know that doesn’t make any sense – but it would make for one heck of a going away party). Regardless, if you are curious about all-things chef, check out the Rising Stars landing page to see what it’s all about. Also, give @Star_Chefs a follow on the thing these kids call the tweeter. They’ve already talked about visits to Latitude and Southern Art (tip of the hat to the beverages and such). Who knows what they’ll say next.
[via I’m Not Telling]