Rules for Best New Chefs, From the People Who’ve Been There

On Tuesday, Food & Wine announced the highly anticipated list of 2025 Best New Chefs. Ever since it was established in 1988, this accolade has had a profound impact on the lives of those who are named to it. It brings emerging chefs into the national spotlight and honors the work that got them there. It also prepares them for the road ahead in the food and beverage industry. It is one of the highest honors that a chef can achieve — and it’s more than just an award. Best New Chefs is a community of culinary professionals who have helped to transform the foodways of our country. Daniel Boulud, Nancy Silverton, Thomas Keller, Katie Button, David Chang, and 394 others are all part of this elite club, and I am honored to be one of them as a member of the BNC Class of 2013.

With this recognition comes a lot of responsibility, and it comes at you fast. The accolade might bring more customers to the restaurant, more media inquiries, potential restaurant expansions, brand partnerships, or book deals. It’s a lot to handle. This is where the team at Food & Wine comes in to help with the Best New Chef Mentorship program, which helps these young chefs figure out this new landscape and lean into the powerful BNC network to ask questions, get access to other chefs’ counsel and resources, and build a community that will grow along with them.

On Tuesday when the 2025 class was announced, the chefs were behind closed doors, getting ready to dive into a morning-long mentorship session where BNC alumni and other industry experts would share insights and answer questions that will help them navigate what’s next.

Here are some highlights from the conversation.

Untether yourself

“You can’t grow if you’re tied to the stoves every day. We made a conscious decision early on to step off the line so we could spread modern English cooking to New York. It gave us the chance to create new concepts and gave our team opportunities to grow in their careers rather than being stuck behind us.” — 2023 F&W Best New Chef Ed Szymanski, Dame, Lord’s, and Crevette

Enjoy the journey together

“I want to build teams that can grow with us and eventually open their own restaurants, following the same path we did. And I want to enjoy the journey. The time we cook together in the kitchen is just as important as the time we run a restaurant together. There’s no end goal. Even construction can be enjoyable. You want to savor the bad things and the good things so you can enjoy the openings as much as everything else.” — 2023 F&W Best New Chef Isabel Coss, Pascual and Lutèce

There are growing pains

“Going from one to two restaurants is very hard, and one to three is even harder. As soon as you step out of the first restaurant, you have to become someone different. You lose the physical connection to cooking every day, but you also have to give up a piece of your soul to make it work.” — Isabel Coss

Or go your own way

“Partnerships are just a form of relationships. If something doesn’t work out, I keep the connection because in hospitality there’s so much emotion, care, and trust. I only pursue partnerships I can genuinely stand behind, with people I trust. Sometimes it doesn’t work, and that’s okay, but when it does, the joy and hope you’ve built is much deeper.” — Aaron Ginsberg, chief partner officer at Resy, Tock, and American Express

Tinfoil Swans

Get out if you need to

“Find your get-out number, read your contracts, and know your kill switch. Rates vary — what I get paid is not what someone else gets paid. But if I sign a contract and feel good about it, then it’s worth it. Don’t compare yourself to others; learn what makes you happy and stick to it.” — 2021 F&W Best New Chef Paola Velez

Growth happens on its own timeline

“We stumbled into a much larger organization without any intention of doing so. Some opportunities we definitely should have taken and were successful, and some we shouldn’t have. In New York, real estate drives everything. Unless you have money and partners with connections, timing depends on what spaces are available.” — 2000 F&W Best New Chef Andrew Carmellini 

Always be looking ahead

“Real estate is such a huge component in New York that you lose out if you’re not always looking. Ed once found the Lord’s space just by walking by and texting brokers before it even hit the market. Negotiating takes so long that by the time we’re signing, I’ve come around and it feels like the right time. If you want to grow quickly, you have to be looking before you’re ready.” — Patricia Howard, partner at Dame, Lord’s, and Crevette

Learn to delegate

“I tell my cooks: when you’re young, treat it like being an athlete. Learn, learn, learn, and take care of yourself, because there will come a time when you can’t just cook all day. At some point you’ll have to become a mentor, and that’s a responsibility you need to prepare for.” — Isabel Coss

Protect the assets

“Your brand, your face, and the face of your restaurant are worth more today than they were yesterday. Brands will want to be associated with you. Please don’t sign anything without a lawyer looking at it. Contracts can include clauses that give away your name, image, and likeness forever.

When evaluating brand partnerships, the hardest thing is knowing whether you’re being paid enough. The money matters, but so do your time and your non-negotiables. If the company needs more than you can give, the conversation should end. Know what you’re worth and what you’re willing to do.” — Jasmine Moy, restaurant lawyer

Set yourself apart

“If you don’t know how to run your business and you don’t know how to tell your story, you’re not going to make it far. Everybody can cook, but what cuts through the noise is how you invest in your photography, your pitch, your story, and that one line that makes a difference.” — Paola Velez

Value your own time

“One of the biggest lessons I learned in PR is that no is more powerful than yes. Saying no more often means that when you do say yes, it matters.” — Lindsey Brown, co-founder of Southern Smoke

Stay the course

“I think all cooks learn to put boundaries all the time. Our careers are all over the place, and it’s our responsibility to say, no, I don’t do this, or I do this my way. Our main goal is to create successful restaurants that last. I don’t want to do something that closes in a year; I want to do something people still talk about in 10 years.” — Isabel Coss

Don’t mind the gaps too much

“If you’re going to open a second space, you have to accept that your first one will get a little worse. Even with the best team, once you remove yourself, some of the magic goes away. It won’t turn into a bad restaurant, but you’ll notice things. You have to decide if you’re okay with that in order to grow.” — Ed Szymanski 

Concentrate your energy

“You have to value your time and energy. I’ve said no to big, lucrative opportunities that someone else will take, but I’m focused on my team, our product, and keeping it local. It’s a rough time in hospitality, so concentration is more important than expansion for its own sake.” — Andrew Carmellini

Keep your eyes on your own paper

“Let go of the perception of how you want people to see you. Listening and accepting information is probably the biggest journey you’re going to go through. Make sure you are collaborating with people instead of forcing people to work with you. As somebody who has extreme anxiety and depression, I’ve put unnecessary pressure on myself to succeed. This is a moment where you’re being celebrated for your uniqueness, and that includes the bad, the ugly, and the complicated. Perception is not reality — learn how to live in the moment.” — Paola Velez

A final word from Chris

With open conversations, we can all make this hard and stressful industry just a little easier to navigate. Take care of each other out there, and don’t be shy about asking for help or giving advice when someone needs it.

Also, as editor in chef, I’m the lucky guy who gets to mentor the BNCs as they navigate their first few F&W events like the BNC announcement party and the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. I’m excited to welcome the 2025 Best New Chefs to Houston on October 4 to cook together for the first time at our Southern Smoke Festival, raising money for crisis relief and mental health support for food and beverage workers.

Tickets are on sale now. Come for the flavors, stay for the cause.