You've heard it said, again and again: chefs are the new rock stars. the country's most vibrant original restaurant scenes, full of great food, fresh young talent, and a future so bright we ought to wear shades. Who's in this Generation Next? Turn the page and find out. And keep this issue handy for 20 years, because these are the chefs who will define the next taste of Minnesota.

Jamie Malone! 29

CHEF DE CUISINE, SEA CHANGE

806 S. SECOND ST., MPLS., 612-225-6499

Bom: St. Paul Raised: North St. Paul

Education: Le Cordon Bleu, Minneapolis-St Paul

Famous for: Deftly helming one of the country's premier sustainable seafood restaurants

Surprising restaurant Job: Working as a server during the first year of Jean-Georges Vongerichten 's former restaurant at the Chambers hotef. "They flew fn corporate trainers. We had to know everything about the restaurant; every ingrethent in every dish," Malone says. "I realized how refined you could be without being overbearing. You learn so much at the table. As cooks, we may think something is great, but If it doesn't translate to the guest, you've dropped the ball."

Top non-fish Ingrethent: "Jidori [chicken] eggs. They've got a super-bright-orange yolk, and a rich farmy flavor."

On being a female chef In a notoriously male profession: "it's been a non-issue, i grew up in a neighborhood that was all boys, and my first job was in a caddy shack. The one challenge is that it's easier for people to call me a bitch than if I were a man. Lateiy I've been thinking a lot about [New York City restaurant magnate] Danny Meyer's [dictum of] constant, gentle pressure. It works both ways: it keeps me calm and sends a clear message of expectations."

BARRAMUNDI WITH A JIDORI HEN'S EGG AND SQUARES OF BROWNBUTTER SEARED KINGOYSTER MUSHROOMS

Sameh Wadi, 28

CHEF AND OWNER, SAFFRON

123 N. THIRD ST., MPLS., 612-746-5533

Born: Kuwait Raised: Kingdom of Jordan; Blaine

Education: Art Institutes International Minnesota

Famous fon Being the youngest contestant to compete on /ran Chef at the time (he lost to Morimoto, barely), and for his fresh, 'innovative approach to Middle Eastern cooking- his lamb-bacon BLT is a must-try.

How It all began: "Right after we fled Kuwait [because of the first Guff War], we didn't have much going on. but we still ate," Wadi says. "Some meals were very traditional, but my mother would also make dishes like steak au poivre, instead of going and playing soccer with my friends, I would sit and cook with my mom. I loved doing things with my hands, and my family was very supportive."

Lucky break: "My iob ai Sofera. The menu had flavors I recognized- preserved lemon, pimentón- and I got to work with chef Tim McKee. who's a rock star and an absolutely down-to-earth guy. That's when I started to develop as a chef. Jason Ross ran the kitchen, and it was impeccable, the most organized kitchen system I'd ever seen in my life. It changed me."

Favorite dish on his current menu: "The green beans. That's a dish I wouldn't have had the guts to put on my menu five years ago. It's just green beans, tomatoes, olive oil, and spice, cooked till they're soft. There are no foams, nothing to hide under, no ridiculous reductions: just the beans and handmade pita bread."

BLUE PRAWNS WITH HARISSA VINAIGRETTE ON AN ORANGE, MEDJOOL DATE. AND ALMOND SALAD

Mike DeCamp, 33

CHEF DE CUISINE, LA BELLE VIE

510 GROVELAND AVE., MPLS., 612-874-6440

Bom: Minneapolis Raised: Wayzata

Education: First job was dishwashing at a Medicine Lake pizzeria when he was 13; started working for Tim McKee at D'Amico Cucina when he was 17, and has been cooking professionally ever since.

Famous for Running the show at La Belle VIe. the fegion'stop fine-dining restaurant, and for his supremely delicate, routinely flawless cooking.

Where does TIm McKee, La Belle VJe's chef and owner, end, and where does Mike DeCamp begin? "I've done all the menus here for the past few years, but I know what he likes and whafche wants," DeCarnp says. "I am a little version of Tim, "Sometimes you want to be the guy. and sometimes you want to be the guy that guy counts on."

On managing complications: "What's hard about working here isn't the ideas, it's that every single thing you cook has to make someone's night. That might take five pans, a couple squirt bottles, and more. If you're organized and good, you're fine. A lot of people realize they're over their heads and bow out gracefully. We get almost no intern applications. They're afraid."

On VIPs: OeCamp has cooked for the king and queen of Norway, Rod Stewart, Nancy Pelosi, and countless local bigwigs. The most stressful? Vice-Président Joe Biden. "We had to have background checks, they made us leave for the bomb-sniffing dogs, and when he came into the kitchen, all the knives had to go into a drawer."

PAN-ROASTED SQUAB WITH FREGOLA, SAUTEEO CAULIFLOWER. PRESERVED ORANGE. AND MICRO OPAL BASIL

Mike Brown, 26, James Winberq, 33, & Bob Gerken, 30

CHEFS AND CO-OWNERS, TRAVAIL 4154 W. BROADWAY AVE., ROBBINSDALE, 763-535-1131

MIKE BROWN

Born: San Diego Raised: Savage

Education: Winona State and Le Cordon Bleu. Minneapolis-St. Paul

Career highlight: Tt avail was named by Bon Appetit magazine as the fourth-best new restaurant in the United States in 2011

Career lowlight: Working the grill at Stampede Steakhouse in Camp Snoopy at the Mall of America. Outing one shift, Snoopy led a conga line of children into t he kitchen "Suddenly Snoopy's giving me a back rub and the whole dining room is watching." Brown recalls with chagrin. "I'm like, 'Can I move these steaks, or will that burn all the small children?'"

JAMES WINBERG

Born and raised: Grand Rapids.

Education: Bellingham Technical College's Culinary Arts Program

Lucky break: "I was working at this old-school French restaurant in Tahoe, and I wanted out," Winberg recalls. "I faxed my resumé to Bouchon. Every day. About 10 resumes later, they called me."

On Bouchon: Working there changed me. It was understood that nothing you did could ever approach being good enough. The standards were past human understanding."

BOB GERKEN

Born and raised: Springfield, Missouri

Education: Le Cordon Bleu. Scottsdale, Arizona

On working with so many chefs: "The biggest positive is that you have three different opinions," Gerken says. "If you get stuck on a menu idea, you look over your shoulder and ask, 'What should I do with this rabbit?' They shout ideas at you, and you use them or you don't."

Day-off fave: The Blue Door Pub

FOIE GRAS WITH PARSNIP CAKE, CARDAMOM CANDIED PARSNIPS PARSNIP PAPER, BLUEBERRY, AND SERRANO PEPPERS

Landon Schoenefeld, 30

CHEF AND OWNER, HAUTE DISH

119 WASHINGTON AVE. N., MPLS., 612-338-8484

Born and raised: Aberdeen, South Dakota

Education: Art Institutes International Minnesota

Famous for: Soul-stirring, layered flavors that derive inspiration from, of all things, 1 97Os and 1 98Os Midwest-Americana.

How it all began: "As a single parent, my mom made a lot of hot dish. Actually, the name Haute Dish was her idea."

Career turn: Working for Brian Crouch (now at La Belle Vie) at Marimar. "He told me. ? chef works fast. You work slow.' I got better out of spite."

Lucky break: Squirting mustard at a bartender at the Bulldog and getting fired, which turned into national news. "I don't think there was much going on in the news that week. People freak out at work all the time- the chef after me ended up crying in a fetal position on the line. But from that day, everyone knew who I was."

Why Minneapolis: "I love this city. It's my town. There's an art scene, a music scene. 1 like being part of the food scene.... I can call Steven Brown or Alex Roberts or Isaac Becker, ask them stuff, and they help me out. It's not like that everywhere."

A "STUFFED MUSHROOM FILLED WITH CRAB AND GRUYERE, SERVED WITH TOMATO BROTH AND TARRAGON AIOLI

Erick Harcey, 30

CHEF AND OWNER, VICTORY 44

2203 44TH AVE. N.. MPLS.. 612-588-2228

Born and raised: Cambridge

Education: Le Cordon Bleu. Minneapolis-St Paul

Famous for: Founding the local idea of an avant-garde restaurant with no servers (much of his original ciew departed to form similarly organized Travail), and for an ultra-rich style of cooking in which classic preparations are amplified with whiz-bang techniques and fearless grill-cook bravado.

Lucky break: "I had worked with BT McElrath [the chocolatier], filling molds with chocolate, making toffee, that sort of thing," Harcey says. "So they hired me at Nicollet Island Inn as a pastry chef. All of a sudden everyone quit except me and Eric Sather [now of Bar La Grassa]. Then he left for Clancey's. I was the chef. I could do anything I wanted."

Best restaurants besides his own: "Every meal I have at Piccolo I feel is the best meal of my life. And Pizzeria LoiaI can't get enough of that."

On raising four kids [ages 6,4,3, and Z]: "My wife's a superwoman. When she leaves me home with them, I start crying, 'What's happening?' Also, they're all dairy snobs now. They won't drink anything but Autumnwood milk, and they're always grabbing the Rochdale hand-rolled butter to put on graham crackers. I can't figure out if I'm supposed to be pissed off or proud."

"BEET TEXTURES. WITH 10 PREPARATIONS OF BEET. INCLUDING RED BEET, WALNUT AND GRANOLA "SOIL." PLUS BLACK-OLIVE PRESSED MOZZARELLA

ADAM VICKERMAN, 26

CHEF. CAFÉ LEVAIN

4762 CHICAGO AVE. S.. MPLS., 6?2-823-7111

Bom: Illinois Raised: Lakeville

Education: Le Cordon Bleu, Minneapolis- St. Paul Famous for Intricately built but seemingly simple dishes, like short ribs and deeply caramelized Brussels sprouts served on savory oatmeal enhanced with garlic, onions, caramelized-onion puree, and poached-andpureéd veal bone marrow.

Pet peeve: "Harvey [McLain, Café Levain's owner] won't let us use pork or duck right now. It's like telling a painter you can't use blue or green. Sut I've become a bigger fan of vegetables, and realized that grains are wildly underappreciated. Barley can be like risotto, faut it doesn't overcook as easily, and It takes flavor beautifully, I put in caramelized pear puree which makes It so rich."

Favorite local eats: "I've been to Piccolo, Alma, Black Sheep Pizza, and La Belle Vie in the past two weeks- they're all fantastic. And Brasa. I get the rôtisserie chicken and spinach and go heavy on the pigeon peas and yellow rice. And Brasa's butterscotch pudding is amazing. It's the best $3 you can spend in Minneapolis, no question."

SHORT RIBS WITH BONE MARROW-OATMEAL AND CHARRED-KALE-AND-NAPA CABBAGE SALAD

ANN KIM, 38

CHEF AND OWNER, PIZZERIA LOLA

5557 XERXES AVE. S., MPLS., 612-424-8338

Born: Busan. South Korea Raised: Apple Valley

Education: Columbia University, Tony Qemignanl's International School of Pizza

Famous for Leaving a career as a professional actor (she toured with the Guthrte In Othello) to go to pizza school and open a restaurant- a restaurant that became the talk of the Twin Cities for its deeply ftavorful crust and surprising toppings, like Guanciale, cheese and soft eggs, and spicy homemade kimchi.

How acting fs like cooking: "There are lots of similarities. You're working when everyone else is relaxing, and every night is new. You have your script/recipes, but the audience Is different, the members of the company might be different, and you're only as good as your last line or pizza. We purposefully designed the restaurant with the hearth as the centerpiece; this Is my new stage."

KIM AND LOLA'S WOOD-FIREDOVEN

MARSHALL PAULSEN, 32

HEAD CHEF, BIRCHWOOD CAFÉ

BIRCHWOOO CAFÉ, 3311 E. 25TH ST., MPLS,, 612-722-4474

Born and raised: St Paul

Education: University of Wisconsin-Stout

Famous for: Making clean, good food at one of Minneapolis'5 busiest sustalnable restaurants,

Lucky break: "! was working at the Creamery when the chef left, So my friend Mark [Buley. now of Oak in Aspen] and I went lotte owner and said, 'This is what we can do, this is how much we want to get paid.' tt was pretty much s playground. We were kids In the kitchen with no supervision. Pius, we met Maurice and Gail from Dragsmith Farms at the farmers' market before they were doing much with restaurants. So when I went to the Birchwood, I didn't know much about technical cooking, but I knew a lot about farms and how to make customers happy."

On cookbooks: "I've got maybe 300-1 like Alice Waters and Alton Brown. I love Eric Ripert's On ine Line. But as far as the most mileage, I must be on my third copy of Trie Flavor Bibfe. It's really helpful when you're cooking from what the farmer brings."

RIVERBEND CORNMEAL-CRUSTED CATFISH IN A COCONUT-BASIL BROTH, AND FUTURE FARM TILAPIA MOUSSELINE WITH THYME OIL, POACHED CARROT. AND MINEÓLA HONEY GLAZE

BEN PICHLER, 31

CHEF DE CUISINE, GRAND CAFÉ

3804 GRAND AVE. S., MPLS., 612-822-8260

Born and raised: Marshfield. Wisconsin

Education: Le Cordon Bleu. Minneapolis- St. Paul

Famous for. A cuisme that seems French (it's not) due to deep locavore souioing and classical techniques which rely on painstaking made-from- scratch everything.

Restaurant secret: "We're a chicken-stock-heavy kitchen " Pichlersays. 'We use all oui chicken carcasses, as well as turkey feet from Wild Anes- they add collagen and make the stock realiy silky. One sauce we used to make looked like a heavy motor-oil reduction and took about five gallons of stock to make a quart. But It was work it "

Home cooking secret: "My Swedish pressure cooker I love it, I can make beef stew in an hour, and for corn on the cob, I |ust put a couple Mason jar rings on the bottom so the corn isn't m i Im water, and let it go for five minute It's awosurne"

Last great restaurant meal, not his own: "I gc>sep[hBad dief] [i rie Satherat Bai La Grassa and let him send us whatever h<; wants. Last time we had the rabbit orecchiette and the saffron chicken- so guoc!.'

PORK SHANK "OSSO BUCCO WITH GREMOLATA AND SPINACH

STEPHANIE KOCHLIN, 30

HEAD CHEF, PIG & FIDDLE

3812 W. 50TH ST., MPLS., 952-955-8385

Born: St. Paul Raised: White Bear Lake

Education: Le Cordon Bleu. Minneapolls-St Paul

Famous for: Being Lenny Russo of Heartland's right-hand chef for seven years. Now she 's doing locavore braises and pub food at new gastropub Pig & Fiddle.

Culinary school tip: "I went to Hawaii for my internship to cook at Roy's Nicotina, Roy Yamaguchi's restaurant. I rolled the plane ticket Into my student loan and stayed for a yearand-a-harf." Kochlin says. "It was excellent. I only came home because I missed my family."

On beer: "I didn't even really like beer before I took this job. I underestimated it as an ingredient. Here, any beer In the 36 taps can be mine. Mussels cooked entirely in Wittekerke beer with a little bacon and butter? There's nothing better."

Food hero: "I was a line chef when Bar La Grassa opened, and I have so much respect for Isaac Becker. He's uncompromising: he'll take a dish, work on it for weeks, and if it's not perfect it won't run. People say it's a waste of money, but he'll reply, 'How much does it cost to put an imperfect product out?' It's one thing to say that, but another to see It done."

DERIK MORAN, 25

KRISTIN TYBORSKI, 31

CO-CHEFS DE CUISINE, THE DAKOTA

1010 NICOLLET AVE. S., MPLS.. 612-332-1010

DERIK MORAN

Born: Colorado Springs, Colorado Raised: Birchwood. Wisconsin

Education: On the job. "I started working in a friend-of -the-family 's restaurant when I was ?. peeling potatoes and cleaning the kitchen. I moved to a local pizza place when I was 13. then got my first fine-dining job at 14." Moran says. "I feel like it's more valuable to learn hands-on."

Famous for: Seemingly effortless, sensual, molecular, locavore gastronomy at Nick and Eddie, where he was head chef until this fall

First act on taking over the Dakota: Installing sous-vide equipment. "It's the most efficient way to get good food out, quickly"

In his fridge: A three-year-old sourdough starter. "I make a lot of baguettes, dark rye, and. of course, soda bread- I come from a very Irish family. Someone with the family name still has the old castie in Ireland."

KRISTIN TYBORSKI

Born: Tacoma. Washington Raised: Fargo, North Dakota

Education: Colorado Mountain College Culinary Institute

Famous for: Delicate, sculptural dishes like her "tuna scape" (as in "landscape"), in which segments of sushi-grade ahi are rolled in pulverized norl seaweed, seared, and set like little skyscrapers all in a row.

Surprising Job: Working as a cocktail server one night a week at Solera- before she was named sous chef. "I felt guilty: I would walk out of there with so much more money than I'd make as a cook- but I'd always rather have been back there with the boys."

Favorite restaurant to visit with her slx-month-old son: Be'wiched in Minneapolis. "I'm a sucker for theif tuna sandwich. I can't get enough of it. Sometimes I finish it, and I'm mad because I can't eat it anymore."

PAUL BERGLUND. 35

CHEF AT BACHELOR FARMER

50 SECOND AVE. N., MPLS., 612-206-3920

Born: Minsdale. Illinois Raised: St. Louis. Missouri

Education: After graduating from the University of Michigan ano spending four years in the Navy, Berglund started in the café of the Oakland, California, restaurant Olívelo. Five years tater, he was promoted to chef de cuisine.

Famous for: Immediately striking a chord with locals with his Nordicinspired restaurant Bachelor Farmer, going from opening day to the Sfor Tribune's restaurant of the year in a few short months.

Similarities between running B ship and running a restaurant1. "The most Important thing you can have at both jobs is the ability to convince everyone that if you all put your heads down and do whatever it takes, you will get the job done. The Navy taught me everything I needed to know about running a kitchen, except the creative and cooking aspects."

Secret Ingrethent: Apple cider. "We use apple cider where other kitchens might use white wine. It adds a lot of dimension and makes sense in Nordic and Midwestern cooking."

Favorite non-chef hangout: Al's Breakfast in Dinkytown. "They have the best pancakes I've ever had. My wife gets the whole-wheat blueberry, but I like the buttermilk. What a great way to start the day."

GRAVLAX, PICKLES, MUSTARD SAUCE AND TOAS, MADE WITH HOUSE-MADE WHEAT BREAD

JASON SCHELLIN, 33

CHEF DE CUISINE, MUFFULETTA

2260 COMO AVE., ST. PAUL, 651-644-9116

Born and raised: Brainerd

Education: Art Institutes International Minnesota

Famous for: Making the something-for-everyone Muffuletta a beacon of fresh, healthy, creative appeal.

Cooking school as a mid-career move: "I started as a dishwasher at Madden 's when I was 1 5 and climbed the ranks, eventually working in Tahoe at a resort." Schelltn says. "When I went to culinary school, I'd already been running kitchens for five years, so it was really more of a networking thing for me. But it clarified a lot of what I thought."

On locavore cooking: "People say I'm iocavore. but really it's inevitable: when you're thinking about the quafity and freshness of a product, you end up going local. It's very hard to make a piece of celery taste good if it's not good to begin with. I'll always go for the high-quality, fresh ingrethent that was picked that day as opposed to one that's been sitting on a truck, or multiple trucks. for a week."

MUSTARD-CRUSTED SALMON WITH WINTER VEGETABLES

LISA HANSON, 36

CHEF AND OWNER, MONA RESTAURANT & BAR (FORTHCOMING)

Born: Eau Claire. Wisconsin Raised: Winona

Education: Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, New York

Famous for: Her star resumé- L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, chef de cuisine at Corner Table- has everyone buzzing about her forthcoming restaurant.

On a second career as a chef: "1 had a business degree and worked in software, but I wanted a change, I took a train up from New York to the CIA campus, saw everyone walking around with bags of knives on their backs, and knew that was it. They frown on accepting someone without professional cooking experience, so I volunteered In a soup kitchen to meet the requirement."

PANCETTA-WRAPPED HALIBUT WITH POTATOES AND PARSLEY-GARLIC SCAPE BROTH