Iliana Regan Named Best New Chef By Food & Wine

By Anthony Todd in Food on Apr 4, 2016 1:59PM

Chef Regan with some foraged goodies.

It's culinary awards season, everyone. First, we get Food & Wine's Best New Chef rankings and, in a few short weeks, the James Beard Awards are coming. Get excited!

This year, Chef Iliana Regan, of Michelin-starred Elizabeth and the new Bunny, The Microbakery, has been named one of Food & Wine's 2016 Best New Chefs. As always, a reminder that the "new" moniker doesn't literally mean they are new to the business (Regan has been cooking for quite some time, and Elizabeth has been open since 2012). It's more like, new to the national stage such that F&W notices you exist.

No matter what the definition, it's a really good group to be part of. Last year, Jake Bikelhaupt of 42 Grams made the list, and in 2014, Dave Beran of Next was the Chicago chef featured. It's pretty much a group of culinary royalty, and we can't think of anyone who deserves it more than Regan.

Her entire profile is here, but our favorite part? Her guilty pleasure: "I love hot dogs from The Home Depot. I get a Chicago Dog with everything on it."

We'd highly recommend booking tickets for Elizabeth now—they're only going to get harder to come by. Check out our review of Elizabeth.