Tinfoil Swans

How did Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs go from an idea sparked by a chance lunch to one of the culinary world’s greatest honors? The award’s creator, former Food & Wine editor Malachy Duffy, and restaurant editor Erika Adams take you behind the scenes of nearly four decades of scouting, secret deliberations, surprising misses, hard-earned lessons, and the one year there were no Best New Chefs at all.

For more info visit: ⁠⁠⁠foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans⁠⁠⁠

Episode art courtesy of Food & Wine / Russell Maynard (Malachy Duffy) & Celina Colby (Erika Adams)
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Food & Wine editor in chief Hunter Lewis, restaurant editor Erika Adams, and executive features editor Kat Kinsman go behind the scenes of the search for the 2026 Best New Chefs. They reveal what scouts look for in a standout meal, the “goosebump test” that can seal the deal, and the chefs and restaurants that made this year’s class unforgettable.

For more info visit: ⁠⁠⁠foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans⁠⁠⁠

Episode art courtesy of Food & Wine
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Chef and writer Lane Regan left Chicago for the remote woods of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and built a life beyond their wildest dreams. They joined Tinfoil Swans for a conversation about sobriety, grief, gender, kitchen culture, finding softness as a leader, and creating Milkweed Inn at the end of nine miles of logging road. Plus: pigs, year-long ferments, and the beavers determined to make life interesting.

For more info visit: ⁠⁠⁠foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans⁠⁠⁠

Episode art courtesy of Food & Wine / Lane Regan
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Nina Compton grew up in Saint Lucia marking time by fruit seasons, dreaming of becoming a chef, and learning to cook alongside her mother and grandmother. The Top Chef fan favorite talked about the intense kitchens that shaped her, why she took a chance on putting goat curry on the menu in New Orleans, the advice that taught her to say no, and her dream of opening a culinary school back home.

For more info visit: ⁠⁠foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans⁠⁠

Episode art courtesy of Food & Wine / Kasimu Harris
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Alex Stupak has built a career by questioning what food can and should be. The Empellón chef and restaurateur and 2013 Food & Wine Best New Chef talks about rebellion as a creative force, what pastry taught him about transformation, and why he thinks we all want the cheeseburger right now. He also digs into David Lynch, punk rock, the lessons of a restaurant that broke his heart, the tension between recognition and individualism, and why the restaurants we return to are about much more than what’s on the plate.

For more info visit: ⁠foodandwine.com/tinfoilswans⁠

Episode art courtesy of Food & Wine / Evan Sung

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