Vote For New Orleans’ Chef of the Year

Welcome to day two of the 8th annual Eater Awards , honoring the most talented restaurant and bar industry gurus in cities across the world. Here’s how the Eater Awards work: All 24 Eater cities and the national site will award prizes in multiple categories, including but not limited to Restaurant of the Year, Chef of the Year, and Design of the Year. In each category, editors will choose an editor’s choice winner and readers will vote for a reader’s choice winner — all to be announced on December 5, 2017. Editor’s choice winners will receive an illustrious tomato can trophy, as is the tradition around here. This year Eater will further the fanfare, running a splashy feature about every editor’s choice winner throughout the course of the coming year.

Now, without any further ado, it’s time to vote for the reader’s choice winner in the Chef of the Year category. Polls will be open for 24 hours and will be strictly policed for funny business. Choose wisely:

The finalists include some of New Orleans’ most buzz-worthy chefs of the year: Nina Compton, whose restaurant Compère Lapin has been getting major attention as it brings the Caribbean contributions to New Orleans to the forefront of the culinary conversation in Crescent City. Carl Schaubhut, who has been bending the rules around Cajun food at DTB as he battles cancer and highlights the importance of moderation and healthy eating as Ochsner’s Eat Fit NOLA chef ambassador. Amy Sins, who organizes chefs and restaurants to help hospitality workers affected by disasters. Kristen Essig and Michael Stoltzfus, whose teamwork at Coquette has made it one of the most exciting and reliably good restaurants in New Orleans. Plus, Essig has been outspoken about sexual harassment in the restaurant industry, making sure that conversation continues. Michael Gulotta, whose restaurant Maypop blends the flavors of Southeast Asia and the American South in an exciting way while he and his co-owner brother contribute meaningfully to Liberty’s Kitchen.