The James Beard Awards are the Oscars of the culinary world. The awards celebrate chefs and industry leaders making America’s food culture more delicious, diverse and sustainable for everyone.
S.Pellegrino is a longstanding presenting sponsor of the Rising Star Award, one that celebrates the next-generation of great chefs and future luminaries. To be eligible for this award, contending chefs must be age 30 or younger and display impressive talent and potential, likely to make a significant impact on the industry for years to come.
This year, to introduce the nominees to those outside of their kitchens and enhance their James Beard Award moment, we enlisted Tan France - best known as the fashion guru of Netflix’s Emmy-award winning series Queer Eye - to help the six nominees ready themselves for the big event.
Watch as Chef Ana Castro of Coquette, Chef Alisha Elenz of mfk, Chef Alex Hong of Sorrel, Chef Jesse Ito of Royal Izakaya, Chef Kwame Onwuachi of Kith/Kin and Chef Jon Yao of Kato get ready carpet ready and tell their stories - how they got started, who motivates them, what makes them tick... and cook!