2021 Chef
Randy Rucker
There’s an ease about Rucker’s cooking, and a generosity, as if there’s nobody else eating at River Twice except you. His commitment to locality, to foraging, to pickling and fermenting everything so as not to waste anything — it all adds up to a singular experience. Every element of every dish, down to the house-made coffee vinegar in the beef tartare or the à la minute ricotta on the toast, is deeply considered, smartly placed, and creatively conceived, but in a way that still feels like food, not art.
1601 East Passyunk Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19148; rivertwicerestaurant.com