F&W's People's Best New Pastry Chef 2013 Starts Today F&W's People's Best New Pastry Chef 2013 Starts Today

It's time for Food & Wine's second annual People's Best New Pastry Chef, in which the people (that's you) can vote for their favorite pastry chef in East, Central, and West regions. The 50 nominees below are sort of/kind of/maybe a long list for the editorial Best New Pastry Chefs, which will be announced at a later date. But for now, you can vote for your favorites until April 8th. The winner will be announced April 9 and will appear in the magazine's July issue.

Last year, Chris Ford of Wit & Wisdom in Baltimore won People's Best New Pastry Chef. And in March, Brendan McGill of Hitchcock on Bainbridge Island, Washington was announced Food & Wine's People's Best New Chef. Meanwhile, editor Dana Cowin is still tweeting out sphinxy riddles concerning this year's editorial Best New Chefs list. It's a busy day for new chefs of all stripes. Below, the full list of noms and a press release.

The full list. >>>

East

· Emma Bengtsson, Aquavit, New York City
· Noah Carroll, Cafe Boulud, New York City
· Aggie Chin, Palena, Washington, DC
· Stephen Collucci, Colicchio & Sons, New York City
· Melanie Durant, Empire State South, Atlanta
· Caitlin Dysart, 2941, Falls Church, Virginia
· Monica Glass, Clio, Boston
· Andrea Litvin, The Spence, Atlanta
· Brian Mercury, Harvest, Cambridge, Mass.
· Laurie Jon Moran, Le Bernardin, New York City
· Tracy Obolsky, Esca, New York City
· Katy Peetz, Blanca, New York City
· Lauren Resler, Empellon Cocina, New York City
· Caryn Stabinsky, Elm, New Canaan, Connecticut
· Bob Truitt, Ai Fiori New York City
· Ryan Westover, Poste, Washington, DC
· Eric Wolitzky, Cakes & Ale, Decatur, Georgia

Central

· Matt Danko, The Greenhouse Tavern, Cleveland, Ohio
· Victoria Dearmond, Underbelly, Houston
· Melinda Dorn, L'Etoile, Madison, Wisconsin
· Jodi Elliott, Foreign & Domestic, Austin, Texas
· Meg Galus, NoMI Kitchen, Chicago
· Jennifer Jones, Topolobampo, Chicago
· Sarah Jordan, Boka, Chicago
· Karen Man, Oxheart, Houston
· Kyle McKinney, Barley Swine, Austin, Texas
· Leigh Omilinsky, Café des Architectes, Chicago
· Anna Shovers, The Publican, Chicago
· Callie Speer, Swift's Attic, Austin, Texas
· Erica Waksmunski, Congress, Austin, Texas
· Tandra Watkins, Ashley's at the Capital Hotel, Little Rock, Arkansas
· Bronwen Wyatt, La Petite Grocery, New Orleans
· Katie Wyer, Telegraph, Chicago
· Robert Zugmaier, Sidney Street Cafe, St. Louis

West

· Frances Ang, Fifth Floor, San Francisco
· Laura Cronin, Perbacco, San Francisco
· Baruch Ellsworth, Canlis, Seattle
· Jessica Entzel, Morimoto, Napa, California
· Joshua Graves, Ray's and Stark Bar, Los Angeles
· Rachel King, Searsucker, San Diego
· Robin Kloess, Incanto, San Francisco
· Christina Olufson, Lucques, Los Angeles
· Lynette Pflueger, Chef Mavro, Honolulu, Hawaii
· Stephanie Prida, Manresa, Los Gatos, California
· Laura Pyles, Revel, Seattle
· David Rodriguez, Providence, Los Angeles
· Alissa Rozos, St. Jack, Portland, Oregon
· Jill Severson, MistralKitchen, Seattle
· Matthew Tinder, Coi, Plum, San Francisco
· Megan Vargas, Andina, Portland, Oregon

VOTING NOW OPEN FOR FOOD & WINE'S THE PEOPLE'S BEST NEW PASTRY CHEF 2013

50 NOMINEES FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY COMPETE FOR THE PRESTIGIOUS TITLE

New York, NY (April 1, 2013) – Beginning today, FOOD & WINE is turning to the dining public to select The People's Best New Pastry Chef®, in the second annual online poll presented by GODIVA. The award honors innovators who have run a restaurant pastry kitchen for five years or fewer. Readers can select their favorite up-and-coming pastry chef from a list of 50 nominees in three regions: East, West and Central. Voting is now live at foodandwine.com/the-peoples-pastry through April 8th at 5:00pm EDT. (To join the conversation readers are urged to promote their favorite pastry chef on Twitter using #PeoplesPastry.)

"We are so pleased to be turning to our loyal readers and pastry devotees for their help in selecting The People's Best New Pastry Chef®," says FOOD & WINE Editor in Chief Dana Cowin. "The amount of talent out there is staggering, I can't wait to honor the men and women behind the most brilliant desserts."

"GODIVA is proud to support the next generation of pastry chefs through this unique program that recognizes extraordinary talent from around the country," says Jeri Finard, President, North America, GODIVA. "GODIVA has a long history of encouraging passionate chefs to excel in the industry, and we look forward to introducing this talented group of pastry chefs to the GODIVA community."

FOOD & WINE editors determined the 50 nominees for The People's Best New Pastry Chef® title with help from their national network of journalists, chefs and other trusted sources. The pastry chef with the most votes in each region will be named a finalist, and the finalist with the most votes overall will be named The People's Best New Pastry Chef®. The People's Best New Pastry Chef® finalists and winner will be revealed on April 9th on www.foodandwine.com. The winner will also be featured in the July issue of FOOD & WINE, on newsstands June 14.

· People's Best New Pastry Chef 2013 [F&W]
· All People's Best New Pastry Chef Coverage on Eater [-E-]