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New York City's dining scene, like most of its scenes, is constantly changing. It can be hard to keep up with who's cooking where and what they're currently serving. And just when you think you've got a handle on things, there's a new name to learn. Fortunately, we're here to keep you in the ever-evolving conversation. These are the names to memorize: 15 NYC Chefs You Should Know.
Harold Dieterle
Notable Restaurants: Perilla, Kin Shop
Twitter Handle: @harolddieterle
Top Chef detractors can squawk all they want, but there is no denying that the cooking competition show produces stars. Harold Dieterle, the reality show’s first winner in 2005, is living proof. Just two years after snagging the title of Top Chef, Dieterle went on to open West Village American restaurant Perilla, a well-conceived neighborhood joint that cemented his place on the culinary scene. Dieterle has took an entirely new direction with his latest venture, Kin Shop, earning accolades for his modern interpretations of Thai, and putting his name of the short-list of serious contenders in NYC’s increasingly competitive dining scene.
Alex Stupak
Notable Restaurants: Empellón Cocina, Empellón Taqueria
Twitter Handle: @alexstupak
Alex Stupak is (sort of) the new chef on the block. Before he ventured into ambitious manipulations of Mexican cuisine at Empellón, he had a choke hold on pastry arts, making a name for himself as one of the most creative pastry chefs in the nation. Stupak first aligned himself with the avant-garde gastronomy of Chicago’s Alinea, making his mark with creative sweets before moving to wd-50, where he mastered molecular desserts, and became “literally one of the best pastry chefs in the world,” according to wd-50 chef Wylie Dufresne. Now Stupak has two Mexican restaurants straddling downtown Manhattan (Empellon Cocina in the West and Empellon Taqueria in the East) where his loose, ultra-inventive take on country's cuisine is garnering praise in spades.
Gabrielle Hamilton
Notable Restaurants: Prune
Twitter Handle: n/a
Gabrielle Hamilton’s East Village restaurant Prune, which she opened in 1999, is the archetypal Manhattan restaurant: tiny, holding only 30 people at capacity, and reservations are near impossible to secure. How she came to exemplify that trend was by dispensing with the business of setting trends entirely, opting instead to cook food that is honest, personal, and authentic in its simplicity. Instead of reinventing NYC’s way of eating, she re-imagined her favorite comfort foods, serving them in large portions in an intimate, unassuming setting. Or, as Hamilton put it in a 2011 interview with the New York Times, “The love song was already written, man. I’m just singing it.” Her approach earned her the James Beard distinction of Best Chef in 2011, and was detailed in her bestselling memoir Blood, Bones and Butter.
Andrew Carmellini
Notable Restaurants: The Dutch, Locanda Verde
Twitter Handle: @andrecarmellini
Cleveland-born Andrew Carmellini first earned accolades for his stylish take on French cooking at Café Boulud, when he was handed the keys to kingdom by none other than Daniel Boulud himself. Luckily for Carmellini (and Boulud), he didn’t take the opportunity lightly, and launched the then restaurant to acclaim with a three-star review from the New York Times. Carmellini went on to perform the same impressive tricks at A Voce, earning a Michelin star before finally branching out with his own venture in 2009, the much-loved (and it should be noted, much more sceney) Tribeca Italian joint Locanda Verde. But it’s Carmellini’s latest effort, raucous SoHo hot spot The Dutch, which takes Carmellini from an up-and-comer to a bona fide culinary force on the New York scene.
Missy Robbins
Notable Restaurants: A Voce
Twitter Handle: @missyarobbins
Missy Robbins is President Obama’s favorite chef. While working in Spiaggia in Chicago, the Obamas regularly visited the Italian restaurant where Robbins trained under Tony Mantuano, one of only a handful of four-star Italian chefs in the nation. It wasn’t until five years later that Robbins would secure the position that would win her much-deserved praise—executive chef at A Voce. At A Voce, Robbins revamped much of the menu and earned a Michelin Star for her elegant take on Italian cuisine. Robbins attributes her success to allowing food to speak for itself, and keeping things simple rather than giving into the food fad of the moment. "You know I’m not really a trendy girl," Robbins admits. "I cook what I like to eat. I like to focus on ingredients and make them shine."
Cesar Ramirez
Notable Restaurants: Brooklyn Fare
Twitter Handle: n/a
Every industry has its rebel, and Cesar Ramirez has unblinkingly earned the title. The chef was mentored by David Bouley at Chicago’s Tru, and was the chef at Bar Blanc prior to venturing to Brooklyn to do the unthinkable— fine dining in a grocery store. Brooklyn Fare is essentially a chef’s table where Ramirez serves an ever-changing 20-plus course tasting menu to anyone who can afford the $220 price tag. Ramirez takes the task of wooing diners seriously, requiring guests to refrain from texting, taking notes, and yes, bless his soul, even taking pictures. Brooklyn Fare is the only restaruant in the borough that can claim three Michelin stars. Instagram that.
Carlo Mirarchi
Notable Restaurants: Roberta's, Blanca
Twitter Handle: n/a
Carlo Mirarchi made waves when he opened a pizza joint in Bushwick. Of course, Roberta's is much more than a pizza joint. The casual spot, which the New York Times memorably described as "a rural-urban-hippie-punk food Utopia" became Miararchi's magician's hat, a place from which he could pull elaborate culinary feats disguised as something else: simple Italian food. Mirarchi continues to amaze at Blanca, a chef's table hidden in the back of Robert's, where he serves a more conspicuously impressive 22-course tasting menu, and confirmed what critics already suspected—Mirarchi was a real creative force, and one to watch.
Michael White
Notable Restaurants: Marea, Ai Fiori, Osteria Morini
Twitter Handle: @Chefbianco
Wisconsin-raised Michael White became a chef by accident, as many great chefs have. An injury at age 19 sent him into the kitchen at Chicago's Spiaggia, where he nurtured his passion for Italian cooking. Since then, White has been gathering praise like trading cards, cultivating an impressive stack of some of the city's most successful restaurants, and accolades that include many Michelin stars, and a James Beard award for Best New Restaurant for his ultra-fancy shrine to Italian seafood, Marea. White's pursuits, happily, aren't confined to the white tablecloth type (take for example his East Village pizza spot, Nicoletta) but his best are, and truly, it's hard to imagine Italian food in Manhattan without him.
April Bloomfield
Notable Restaurants:The John Dory Oyster Bar, Spotted Pig, The Breslin
Twitter Handle: n/a
A Girl and Her Pig is the title of this Bloomfield's new cookbook, and also a very accurate one-line biography. After a stint in London’s River Café, Bloomfield crossed the pond, where she was wooed by Spotted Pig owners Mario Batali and Ken Friedman. She went on to make her mark as the Executive Chef of the West Village gastropub, winning the casual eatery a coveted Michelin star. Bloomfield has since expanded her empire to include brine shrine the John Dory Oyster Bar, and most recently, at the Breslin, which is also tucked inside the impossibly cool Ace Hotel. At the latter, Bloomfield lets her devotion to “nose to tail” cuisine come through in every imaginable incarnation, from the small plates like peanuts fried in pork fat, to the restaurant’s famed whole roasted suckling pig. She was paid for her work with a Michelin star.
David Chang
Notable Restaurants: Momofuku Ssäm Bar, Má Pêche, Momofuku Ko
Twitter Handle: @davidchang
David Chang's habit is to make the simple exceptional. He is doing for the humble pork bun what Nutella did for white bread. That is to say, making the everyday awesome. Aside from a slew of wildly popular restaurants scattered around the city (where reservations are near impossible to snag) and the James Beard Foundation Award for Rising Star Chef under his belt, Chang is also known for being a single-minded pork fanatic. He may not be vegetarian-friendly, but luckily for the less-meat-inclined, Chang’s empire also includes Momofuku Milk Bar, which has three Manhattan locations (and one in Brooklyn) serving up cereal milk ice cream, which in itself in a small triumph.
Wylie Dufresne
Notable Restaurants: wd~50
Twitter Handle: n/a
Wylie Dufresne is considered the mad gastronomist of NYC's food scene, and for good reason. When he opened his signature Lower East Side restaurant wd~50 in 1999, he took the classic techniques he had perfected at Jean Georges, and turned them on their head with a little science, yielding Willy Wonka-esque creations. For his inventive, molecular gastronomy efforts, he was awarded a Michelin star and nominated as Best Chef by the James Beard Foundation in 2007. Dufresne's quirky ways have also made him a coveted guest star on television, where he has appeared on everything from Iron Chef America (where he lost a tilapia battle to Mario Batali), to several guest judge appearances on Top Chef, and even appearing as himself on HBO's Treme.
Daniel Humm
Notable Restaurants: Eleven Madison Park
Twitter Handle: n/a
At age 14, Swiss-native Daniel Humm quit school to pursue his culinary dreams. It would have been a rash move, had Humm not been so damn good. Humm's talent materialized quickly, and the chef was awarded Michelin star while still in his 20s. Humm's early accolades, particularly a four-star review of San Francisco's Campton Place caught the eye of restaurateur Danny Meyer, who appointed Humm to his iconic space at Eleven Madison Park. Under Humm's direction, Eleven Madison scored its first three star review, and Humm has since become co-owner of the classic establishment, ensuring it's place among the top of NYC's dining game.
Mario Batali
Notable Restaurants: Casa Mono, Babbo, Del Posto
Twitter Handle: @Mariobatali
Arguably the biggest celebrity chef (in terms of achievements, and probably in size too) on this list, Batali’s star status doesn't diminish his reputation as one of NYC’s most significant chefs. With nine perpetually packed restaurants in NYC, from Italian standbys Babbo and Del Posto, to Spanish small plate tavern Casa Mono, to more casual outposts like Otto Pizzeria, to the game changing Italian marketplace Eataly, Batali is a king. His playful, robust cuisine dominates the city’s culinary landscape, and his cherubic face is ubiquitous on the airwaves, whether he's competing on Iron Chef, appearing in one of his regular segments on cooking talk show The Chew, taking road trips across Spain with Gwyneth Paltrow, or doing his thing on whatever cooking show he happens to helm at the moment.
Daniel Boulud
Notable Restaurants: DB Bistro Moderne, Café Bolud, Daniel
Twitter Handle: @DanielBoulud
To talk about eating in NYC and not mention Daniel Boulud would be incorrect. With eight restaurants in Manhattan, including the eponymous Daniel, (which almost any New Yorker would name as easily one of the best in the city, if not the world; it's currently the only restaurant in NYC with three Michelin stars), the accomplished chef and restaurateur isn’t part of the conversation, he's been creating the conversation for well over a decade. Aside from dominating the city's fine dining scene, Boulud also made a handful of successful forays into the casual end of the spectrum, notably his accessible East Village gastropub DBGB Kitchen & Bar and his Lincoln Center shrine to charcuterie, Bar Boulud. Boulud is also a media connoisseur, having recently landed his own TV series, After Hours with Daniel, which gives an insider’s view into the late night dining scene frequented by (and created by) chefs.
Éric Ripert
Notable Restaurants: Le Bernardin
Twitter Handle: @ericripert
Greek mythology tells us that Poseidon is God of the sea, but we beg to differ. Anyone that's enjoyed a meal at Le Bernardin can make the argument that Ripert has stolen the title. The French chef shows off his culinary prowess with a deceptively straightforward menu where he uses modern French technique to let his subject—mostly barely cooked creatures of the sea—shine. Even if you haven’t crossed Ripert’s shrine to seafood off your bucket list (and at $190 per person, you might not anytime soon), you can enjoy Ripert’s expertise on Top Chef and Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations, where he occasionally lets the world take notes on his flawless French technique.
