Eater Young Guns Kickoff Party at the Victor South Beach

Grid View

• The entryway frames Eater Editorial Director Amanda Kludt.
• Top Chef Dave Martin gets peck on the cheek from Le Rivage's Paul Collange.
• Team Eater, l to r: Eater National's Gabe Ulla, Eater Editorial Director Amanda Kludt, Eater co-founder Lockhart Steele, Eater LA editor Kat Odell, and Eater co-founder Ben Leventhal.
• Los Angeles represent! Eater LA's Kat Odell, Picca owner Stephane Bombet, and Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival honcho Carol Chinn.
• Eddie Huang, Restaurant Girl Danyelle Freeman, and Restaurant Man Drew Nieporent.
• Publicist Jesse Gerstein and the man behind LA's The Gorbals, Ilan Hall.
• Catch owner Mark Birnbaum and Shell Jenkins.
• Lure chef Josh Capon, who makes a mean burger, with La Frieda's Mark Pastore.
• Jeff Zalaznick and Mario Carbone of Torrisi Italian Specialties.
• Eater co-founder Lockhart Steele introduces Team Eater to the crowd.
• Eater co-founder Ben Leventhal unleashes Young Guns on the world.
• Eater LA editor Kat Odell and her NY counterpart Amanda Kludt.
• Eater Miami's hottest chef Todd Erickson and his date espy the Young Guns nomination postcards.
• Eddie Huang, Drew Nieporent, Lockhart Steele.
• Young Guns nomination postcards—postage included!—fan out through the crowd.
• Coppa's Jamie Bissonnette is flanked by bearded men.
• Top Cheffer Dave Martin and friend.

Last night at the Hotel Victor, a Thompson Hotel in South Beach, all matter of chefs, restaurateurs, and industry pros received first word of Eater Young Guns at a party to launch the new undertaking. To emphasize the democratic nature of Young Guns, stamped postcards addressed to Eater HQ were distributed, containing an abridged version of the Young Guns nomination form.

Among those to hear the big news first were a bevvy of New Yorkers: Drew Nieporent, who rocked the early (come to think of it, late, too) shift, meat maven Mark Pastor, Lure chef Josh Capon, Torrisi/Parm's Mario Carbone and Jeff Zalaznick, Mark Forgione, and the indefatigable Eddie Huang. Other cities represented well too: Spike Mendelsohn rolled in with his expansion crew; Daniel Holzman, Stephanie Izard, Ilan Hall, Dave Thomas, Jamie Bissonnette, and Eater Miami hottest chef Todd Erickson sipped free booze while finding themselves strangely drawn to the Eater Young Guns official logo. Have at 'em.

· Eater Young Guns Official Nomination Form [-E-]
· All Young Guns Coverage on Eater [-E-]