StarChefs Rising Stars returns to a resurgent Bay Area

StarChefs Rising Stars named 23 honourees from San Francisco and Oakland on September 18, its first Bay Area class since 2022, spanning kitchens, pastry, bars, coffee and the cellar.

StarChefs staff met roughly 100 culinary professionals in person over nearly a month before settling on the list, which spans 11 categories. Seven chefs made the cut, including Anthony Salguero, Spencer Horovitz, Genoa Pieron, Kaylin Lloyd, Harrison Cheney, Emmanuel Galvan and Ashwin Oon, alongside pastry chefs Yesenia Castanon and Ellie Estrada-Londo and restaurateur Alexander Hong.

The list stretches beyond the kitchen: bartenders Garrett Marks and Evan Williams, sommelier Parker Story, baker Nasir Armar, chocolatier Mark Lieuw, ice cream maker Sydney Arkin and coffee roasters Fernando and Hannah-Love Diaz all made the class, alongside a game-changer award for James Yeun Leong Parry and a mentor award for Richard Lee.

The impact they're going to have on the hospitality community.

StarChefs Rising Stars marks a city on a run

The timing lines up with a run of accolades for Bay Area dining. Michael Tusk of Quince won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef this year, and Californios earned a third Michelin star, evidence that a city written off during the pandemic is rebuilding its reputation one kitchen at a time.

StarChefs chief executive Will Blunt said the list is built around potential rather than technique alone, judging honourees on "the impact they're going to have on the hospitality community" over the years ahead, a different bar than a tasting menu review or a starred guide, closer to the scouting work behind a cookbook launch like Kwame Onwuachi's forthcoming All Hours than to an awards gala.

Where to try the class's cooking

The honourees will show their food at San Francisco Rising Stars Restaurant Week, running September 30 through October 14, when each chef prepares a signature dish and StarChefs distributes complimentary copies of its magazine while supplies last.

For a class chosen for where its members are headed rather than where they have already arrived, the restaurant week doubles as an early look at names likely to anchor the Bay Area's next wave of openings.