Here Are Nola's People's Best New Chef Nominees

Voting starts today for Food & Wine's People's Best New Chef award, and this year's Gulf Coast nominees includes these four New Orleans area chefs: Michael Doyle of Maurepas Foods, Juan Carlos Gonzalez of SoBou, Phillip Lopez of Root, and Alex Harrell of Sylvain. Cory Bahr of Monroe-based restaurant Cotton is also nominated. Go here to vote from now until March 31. The Gulf Coast region also includes chefs from Puerto Rico and Miami, among other places, and the regional winner goes on to compete nationally. You may recall that Doyle, Gonzalez and Lopez were all nominated last year too.

Here's what F&W has to say about why each of New Orleans' nominees are downright amazing...

· Michael Doyle: Because he's redefining modern Southern cooking.
· Juan Carlos Gonzalez: Because his dishes take pub food to a new level.
· Phillip Lopez: Because he's making new American food that's unabashedly postmodern.
· Alex Harrell: Because his thoughtfully prepared gastropub menu packs the house.

· The People's Best New Chef: Gulf Coast Contenders [F&W]
· All Awards Season Coverage [-ENOLA-]