AJ Capella, Summit House
Unabashedly in love with the Garden State’s abundant and diverse ingredients, the newest inductee into TPW’s chef-picks-chef society of top toques isn’t shy about speaking out on behalf of New Jersey’s glorious foods.
Tom Valenti, Jockey Hollow Bar + Kitchen
Long a resident of Sussex County but more recently head of the kitchen at this mecca in Morristown, the newest inductee into TPW's chef-picks-chef society of top toques made humble foods haute and, in turn, influenced new generations of both chefs and diners.
Andrea Lekberg, The Artist Baker
The newest inductee into TPW’s chef-picks-chef club of top toques in the Garden State is multitalented in various art forms, an activist with commitment and passion for her community, and has a background as diverse as her culinary crafts. She’s the consummate Renaissance woman.
Ethan Unick, Aunt Chubby’s/The Chubby’s Project
The newest inductee into TPW’s chef-picks-chef club of top toques in the Garden State takes good in its many forms to its many ends as part of his work – and his work ethic. It’s a philosophy with deep roots, grounded in the respect the Hopewell-based chef has for all his mentors and teachers.
Tommy Pollio, The Pasta Shop
The newest inductee into TPW’s elite chef-picks-chef club of top toques in the Garden State proved his mettle as a teen and never stopped playing it forward in the kitchen. Today at his self-described “neighborhood restaurant” in Denville, Tommy Pollio takes the philosophy of Italian cuisine and applies it to local ingredients and deeply rooted heritage.
Andre deWaal, Andre’s Lakeside Dining
The newest inductee into TPW’s elite chef-picks-chef club of top toques in the Garden State may be justly revered for his haute French approach to seasonally specific dishes. But, then again, he’s got a ramen/soft-serve thing going in an old filling station. More to love about this Sparta-based virtuoso.
David Felton, Wonder
The newest inductee into TPW’s elite chefs-pick-chefs club of top toques in the Garden State has left his distinguished mark on some of New Jersey’s most acclaimed restaurants. Today, he’s also one of the anointed at Wonder, a food-tech enterprise looking to revolutionize dining.
Kara Decker, 100 Steps
The newest inductee into TPW’s elite chef-picks-chef club of top toques in the Garden State hails from the same Union County community where she’s leading a kitchen today – and pushing boundaries to deliver detail-centric takes on the modern seasonal vernacular.
Uttam Rawat, Swadist
The newest inductee into TPW’s elite chef-picks-chef club of top Garden State toques came from India to head kitchens for the Moghul group of restaurants. In 2019, he struck out on his own with a modest storefront in Jersey City’s India Square in which he serves bold, personalized dishes and dazzling renditions of classics that mesmerize his selector, Rakesh Ramola of Indeblue.
Rakesh Ramola: Indeblue
The newest inductee into TPW’s elite chef-picks-chef club of top Garden State toques juggles tradition with innovation masterfully at the modern Indian restaurant he first opened in Collingswood, then reincarnated last year in Cherry Hill, according to his selector and admirer Elias Bitar. It’s what happens when a well-traveled explorer unleashes a worldly command of spices.
Elias Bitar: Norma’s
The newest inductee into TPW’s elite chef-picks-chef club of top Garden State toques “does it all” at his family’s Eastern Mediterranean mecca in Cherry Hill, his selector Danny Childs notes, “from making his own pita, pickles and labneh to donating thousands of meals to refugees to “uniting community” through a very special farm partnership.
A Talented Twenty
As 2022 draws to a close today, we take stock of those honored by their peers with induction into TPW’s chef-picks-chef society of top toques.