Vote Now For 2012 New Orleans' Chef of the Year

Next Monday, Eater will present the 2012 Eater Awards, our third annual celebration of all that's made America's restaurant world run—and run wild—in the past twelve months. Winners will be selected on both the local and national levels in five major categories, the voting for which begins right now.

Kicking off the competition is Eater NOLA's Chef of the Year. Yes, the people who actually plan the menus and cook all that glorious food. In a city with so much phenomenal talent, it was insanely difficult to narrow it down to just five, and certainly an argument could be made for many, many others. But these are the five that Eater believes have, quietly or not, established themselves as leaders in the New Orleans culinary scene.

As always, your votes will help narrow it down to three finalists, from which we'll determine the winner. The poll is open for 24 hours, and voting irregularities will be strictly enforced. So let's get a-voting.