Food & Wine USA - (08)August 2019

10 AUGUST 2019

THE SECRET INGREDIENT for success in the food biz? It’s

mentorship. On the red carpet at the James Beard Awards

in Chicago this spring, Senior Editor Kat Kinsman and

Editor in Chief Hunter Lewis asked winners about who they

consider mentors and why. Here’s what they shared.

F&W Best New

Chef and James

Beard Rising

Star Chef of the

Year Kwame

Onwuachi

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GREG WADE

(Outstanding Baker, Publican

Quality Bread, Chicago)

“I’ve learned a lot about a strong

work ethic and diligence from

Stephanie Izard. I learned about

being humble and constantly

improving from Paul Kahan. I

learned the importance of just

being a good person from my

farmer Marty Travis.”

LEE HANSON AND RIAD

NASR

(Best New Restaurant,

Frenchette, New York City)

“Daniel Boulud brought us

together. He’s been an inspira-

tion and a champion of ours

always, and a bit of a father

figure.”

JEN HIDINGER-KENDRICK

(Humanitarian of the Year, The

Giving Kitchen, Atlanta)

“My fifth-grade teacher, Mr.

Lloyd, who taught me and

many, many others that one

man’s drink is another man’s

poison—that there’s always two

perspectives to every story and

to allow the words in those sto-

ries to come out.”

BEVERLY KIM

(Best Chef: Midwest, with

Johnny Clark, Parachute,

Chicago)

“My first and ongoing mentor is

chef Sarah Stegner. She was a

James Beard Award winner in

1998, but she was the first chef

I reached out to when I was in

high school. She’s helped me

stay on track, and to believe in

myself, and to continue to push.”

KWAME ONWUACHI

(Rising Star Chef of the Year,

Kith/Kin, Washington, D.C.)

“Definitely my mother. She

taught me everything, you

know? She pushed me to be

the best. She never cut me any

slack, and she always taught

me you’re only as good as your

last plate.”

JODY WILLIAMS

(Best Chef: New York City, with

Rita Sodi, Via Carota)

“Alice Waters has always been

really supportive. Rita and I

were both self-taught, so we

know that a big part of learning

to cook is really a verbal tradi-

tion where someone says, ‘Hey,

I do this, and you do this.’ And

I worked with Thomas Keller,

who I think about every time

I’m organizing and cleaning.”

MICHAEL SOLOMONOV

(Outstanding Restaurant, Zahav,

Philadelphia)

“I’ve got two very important

mentors. One is Marc Vetri; the

other is Terence Feury. Marc

is the owner of Vetri Cucina,

where I was cooking as sous-

chef for a couple of years.

Terence was the executive chef

of Striped Bass restaurant,

which is no longer in existence,

but he’s an amazing chef.”

How I Got Here

Fostering

Mentorships

In our industry, men-

torships can develop

in the kitchen, after

work, or, in the case

of this year’s class of

F&W Best New Chefs

(revealed in our July

2019 issue), at 2011

BNC George Mendes’

restaurant Aldea, over

lunch with industry

veterans (and fellow

BNCs) like Tom Colic-

chio, Rocco DiSpirito,

and Missy Robbins.

We welcomed this

year’s class through

our BNC Mentorship

Program, which pairs

new BNCs with men-

tors in the industry to

help the chefs navi-

gate the challenges

of brand-building,

partnerships, and

taking care of their

mental and physical

health, as well as how

to handle media and

publicity. Our hope is

to equip today’s most

promising chefs with

the tools to become

the leaders of tomor-

row’s food industry.

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photography by RAMONA ROSALES