For 25-plus years, Restaurant Hospitality editors have been identifying the industry's best and brightest culinary talent for our Rising Stars program. Long before they became household names, Restaurant Hospitality declared Emeril Lagasse (1987), Jose Andres (1998), Todd English (1991) and Mary Sue Milliken (1987) all Rising Stars. And long before anyone knew what an Iron Chef is, Restaurant Hospitality put the spotlight on several future Iron Chefs as Rising Stars, including Bobby Flay (1991), Michael Symon (1997), Jose Garces (2004) and Marc Forgione (2008). Here is where you'll find who Restaurant Hospitality declared a Rising Star and our reasons for doing so.
Age: 37. Why she's rising: Bought four flagship restaurants from Restaurant Development Group to form Chicago's largest woman-owned restaurant organization. Concentrated within a three-block radius, the restaurants (Club Creole, Kinzie Chophouse...
Age: 48. Why she's rising: Triple Creek Ranch was recently named one of the top 10 Small Resorts in the U.S.; was named 1998 Woman of the Year by the Network of Executive Women in Hospitality; was recently named president and c.e.o. of the...
Age: 43. Why is she rising? Since joining Avado in 1985, Waldrep played a significant role in the development of more than 240 Applebee's Restaurants. After Avado sold off Applebee's, Waldrep continued her development efforts for Avado's other...
Age: 37. Why he's rising: Tuttleman opened a Kahunaville nightclub in Wilmington in the early 1990s. He's since developed the concept into a five-unit theme restaurant chain. He's expanding the concept by targeting second-tier restaurant markets...
Age: 34. Why he's rising: Adjey is not a cook, he's an artist whose beautiful food is surpassed only by the sophistication of his flavors. Background: A native of Toronto, Adjey is a CIA graduate who cooked at several high profile Toronto...
Age: 30. Why he's rising: This ranch-trained chef prepares simple, flavorful food in the tradition of chuckwagon cooking gone upscale. The restaurant is named for the ranch in Edna Ferber's book, Giant, (also made into an Academy Award-winning...
Age: 31. Why he's rising: The 40-seat Rouge 99 (it opened as Rouge 98 and adds a digit each year) is an intimate room on Philadelphia's historic Rittenhouse Square that oozes with turn-of-the-century European ambiance, but whose cuisine is New...
