Gilson contemplates a pig
Photo: Will Gilson
Your entries poured in for our contest to win tickets to tomorrow night’s StarChefs Rising Star Revue, with entrants singling out everyone from Jamie Bissonnette to Rembs Layman to Taberna De Haro’s Deborah Hansen as rising stars. In the end, we had to choose one winner, and, for his masterful combination of casual chat (Dude has range) and the proper pluralization of risotto, we went with James Slaby, who nominated Garden at The Cellar’s Will Gilson:
Wil Gilson of Garden at the Cellar is my pick for Boston’s best rising young chef. He does astonishing charcuterie (I had a gorgeous coppa di testa the other day, Italian-style pork head cheese), big and tasty flatbread pizzas, classic French bistro fare (like frog’s legs and a foie gras torchon), beautiful soups and salads, skillfully deep-fried stuff (like really excellent fries, his famous tater tots, all kinds of other fritters), handmade pastas and risotti, superb sandwiches (including a very fine burger) and tons of great little sides. Dude has range: he might be the most versatile young chef in town. He keeps the prices weeknight-friendly (most stuff in the high single digits to mid-teens, only a few things in the low 20s), and he does it all out of a kitchen that’s tinier than my condo galley kitchen: fucking miraculous! Probably didn’t hurt that he grew up on a farm (The Herb Lyceum): he’s got a real nose-to-tail, local-sourcing focus, and he puts fresh herbs in everything (including some of his bar’s specialty cocktails). And he’s, what, maybe 28? Chefs like Gilson make me green with envy at their skills, and grateful I can afford to give them my business regularly. My only complaint is that G@TC isn’t in my neighborhood, because thanks to this guy’s chops, it has to rate as one of the best neighborhood places in the city.
Congratulations, James! Not a winner? Don’t worry! There are still tickets available.
Rising Stars Revue [StarChefs]
