2026 Young Chef Candidates
Alexander Sanchez-Carrillo (Spoon and Stable, Minneapolis, MN)
Barrett Simmons (Garrison, Austin TX)
Bradley Waddle (PRESS Restaurant, Napa, CA)
Justin Weinstein (Enclos, Sonoma, CA)
Mario Prevosti (Per Se, NYC, NY)
William Emery (Rose's Restaurant Group, Washington, D.C.)
2026 Commis Candidates
Gregory Lodato (The French Laundry, Napa, CA)
Jed Anezil (The Charter Oak, St. Helena, CA)
Philip Liu (Selby’s, Atherton, CA)
RJ Smith (Ocho Supper Club, Philadelphia, PA)
Taya Pierce (Atria, Flagstaff, AZ)
These impressive young cooks competed on April 16 in front of an esteemed group of culinary leaders at UNLV. Thank you to all the chefs who helped make this an extraordinary and memorable competition: Chefs Thomas Keller, Jérôme Bocuse, Gavin Kaysen, Thomas Allan, Paul Bartolotta, William Bradley, Gerard Craft, Maxime Delangle, Olivier Dubreuil, Steven Greene, Devin Hashimoto, Jeffery Hayashi, Timothy Hollingsworth, E.J. Lagasse, Alex Lee, Angie Mar, Mawa McQueen, Kevin Meehan, Roland Passot, Mathew Peters, Melissa Rodriguez, Richard Rosendale, Dr. Tim Ryan, Mark Sandoval, Robert Sulatycky, Philip Tessier, and Ming Tsai.
We also want to thank all of our sponsors and supporters — especially UNLV Hospitality and The Venetian Resort — for making this milestone event a very special one.
