Top 100 Culinary Vote Winners Announced at Chef2chef.net

Chef2Chef.net has published the results of its first-ever Top 100 competition. For more than two years--from Feb. 2007 through April 2009--visitors to Chef2Chef.net voted for their favorite culinary schools, cooking sites, restaurants, wines, and favorites in other culinary categories.

Top 100 Culinary Finalists Can Claim a Website Badge

In all 11 categories, Top 100 finalists are invited to download a free website badge announcing their final ranking in the competition.

The #1 Culinary School chosen by voters is the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, whose famous alumni include Cat Cora, Sara Moulton, Charlie Palmer, and John Besh. The #1 Cooking Site was MyDigitalKitchen.com, the #1 Chef was TV personality Jamie Oliver, and the #1 Restaurant was Acacia, in Richmond, VA.

Top 100 of 2009 Will Include Additional Criteria

In the voting round completed in April (designated as Top 100 Culinary Awards 2008), site visitors could vote once every 24 hours. The next round of Top 100 culinary awards for 2009 will begin August 1 and end December 31, allowing users to annually recognize their favorites.

Chef2Chef has developed an improved voting system that allows visitors to select their culinary favorites. Visitors will be able to vote only once, but may change their vote at any time. Plans are underway to develop an algorithm-based ranking system that that includes criteria such as previous Chef2Chef.net ranking, web search popularity (where applicable), and, for culinary schools, their programs and degrees, graduation rates, and available financial aid.

Some of the Top 10 winners are listed below. A complete list of Top 100 Culinary Award winners is available at Chef2Chef.net.

Top 10 Culinary Schools

1. The Culinary Institute of America (Hyde Park, NY)
2. Texas Culinary Academy (Austin)
3. Institute of Culinary Education (NYC)
4. DCT--Swiss-European Culinary & Pastry Chocolate Art Center (Vitznau-Lucerne, Switzerland)
5. Scottsdale Culinary Institute in Arizona
6. Johnson & Wales University (Charleston, SC)
7. San Diego Culinary Institute
8. Johnson & Wales University (N. Miami, FL)
9. JNA Institute of Culinary Arts (Philadelphia, PA)
10. Liaison College (Hamilton, Ont., Canada)

Top 10 Cooking Sites

1. MyDigitalKitchen.com
2. Online-Cookbook.com
3. RestaurantEdge.com
4. American Personal Chef Institute & Association
5. Turner New Zealand Gourmet Food
6. ItalianChef.com
7. Vanilla.com
8. Earthy Delights
9. Awesome Chef
10. Crisco.com

Top 10 Chefs

1. Jamie Oliver
2. Christian J. Fischer
3. Bobby Flay
4. Candy Wallace
5. John E. Clark
6. Bobo Bergstrom
7. Ming Tsai
8. Janos Wilder
9. Wolfgang Puck
10. George Morrone

Top 10 Restaurants

1. Acacia (Chef Dale Reitzer, Richmond, VA)
2. Rivertown Bistro (Mr. and Mrs. Darren Smith, Conway, SC)
3. Evans Street Station (Chef Alan Merhar, Tecumseh, MI)
4. The Wolf's Lair (Owner Dana Theis, Dobson, NC)
5. Marcellino Ristorante (Chef Marcellino Verzino, Phoenix, AZ)
6. Sidewheeler Restaurant (Chef Michael McLaurin, Conway, SC)
7. Leon de Lyon (Chef Jean-Paul Lacombe, Lyon, France)
8. Mesa Grill (Chef Bobby Flay, NYC)
9. Emeril's (Chef Emeril Lagasse, New Orleans, LA)
10. March (Chef Wayne Nish, NYC)

Top 10 Wine Sites

1. TableWine.com
2. WineOfTheWeek.com
3. Mark Squires' E-zine on Wine
4. WeekendWinery.com
5. Rogov's Ramblings
6. Verema.com
7. FreeTheGrapes.org
8. Wine-Pages.com
9. Cook Prairie Wines
10. Logabottle.com

Top 10 Beer Sites

1. Beer Brotherhood
2. BeerPal.com
3. Malted Barley Appreciation Society Home Page
4. BeerTutor.com
5. Promash.com
6. Zymico.com
7. Club Sjarèl International
8. BelgianStyle.com
9. Kalamazoo Brewing Company
10. Breweries on the Web

Other Top 100 Culinary Winners

• #1 Wine: Vision Cellars Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, CA '02
• #1 Beer: Yuengling
• #1 Instructor: Pierre Pilloud (Valencia Community College)
• #1 Chef Book: Ice Sculpting the Modern Way (by Robert Garlough et al.)
• #1 Recipe: Leg of Lamb with Garlic Sauce (Chef June Jacobs, CCP)