(Credit: Hayden Spears)
Emmer & Rye chef-owner Kevin Fink has been named one of the Best New Chefs in America by influential Food & Wine magazine. Fink, who moved to Austin from Arizona, opened the restaurant in November on Rainey Street and has impressed with his attention to heritage grains and from-scratch processes like fermentation.
Among the standouts at the restaurant are the homemade pasta dishes. I wrote in a February review: “Ancient white Sonoran wheat was used to fashion wavy ribbons of tensile pappardelle spun with juicy pork cheek and creamy straciatella in a fresh and mild arrabiata ($16).”
Fink joins 10 other chefs across the country in receiving the honor and will be featured in the July issue of Food & Wine magazine and appear at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen in June. Read about Fink’s stage at Noma in Copenhagen and how he started cooking at this link on FoodAndWine.com.
“I am honored to be named one of Food & Wine Magazine’s Best New Chefs. This honor belongs to the team at Emmer & Rye, their passion and dedication to the farmers and products we work with drives us everyday,” Fink said. “We are lucky that Austin is such a strong culinary community, we’ve really felt embraced by our peers and community over the past six months.”
It is the second consecutive year Austin has had representation on the list. Last year, Olamaie, where Fink worked briefly while waiting for his restaurant to open, received the honor.
The editors at Food & Wine select “talented, creative chefs who have been in charge of a kitchen for five years or fewer,” according to a release. Previous winners include Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller, April Bloomfield, Nancy Silverton, David Chang and Tom Colicchio.
- Related: My February 25 review of Emmer & Rye
