Qui and Bufalina Both Boast a Young Guns Semi-Finalist

After months of poring over thousands of nominations, interviewing chefs, grilling local Eater editors, and examining supporting material, the shortlist for the 2014 class of Eater Young Guns is complete and ready for its debut. The only real question is: Are you ready?

As previously mentioned, Eater Young Guns aims to identify the most promising up-and-coming talent in the restaurant industry, whether they're working as chefs or line cooks, wine and cocktail pros, restaurateurs, or maître d's. The criteria are simple. Nominees must be under 30 years of age (or have worked in their chosen field for less than five years) and must be currently employed in the hospitality industry in North America. They must show extraordinary promise.

Some will be complete unknowns and others perhaps have enjoyed a taste of public attention already. All will have distinguished themselves in the eyes of co-workers, chefs, and customers. Starting Monday, Eater will present profiles of many of the 50, including recommendations from the selection committee, video profiles, and much more. And in late June, our Young Guns Class of 2014 will be unveiled.

Without further ado, here are the 50 Eater Young Guns Semi-Finalists for 2014. Spoiler alert: Austin's own Rob Jacob Drennan of Qui and Bufalina's Steven Dilley are among them.

The 50 Eater Young Guns Semi-Finalists for 2014
1. Nora Antene, Pastry Chef, Le Pigeon, Portland
2. Mary Attea, Chef de Cuisine, Annisa, New York
3. Mitch Bates, Chef de Cuisine, Shoto - Momofuku, Toronto
4. Jon Bautista, Chef de Cuisine, George's California Modern, San Diego
5. Sieger Bayer, Chef/GM, Leghorn, Chicago
6. Kirstyn Brewer, Executive Chef, Victor Tangos, Dallas
7. Carlin Carr, Sommelier, Frasca Food & Drink, Boulder
8. Steven Dilley, Owner/Pizza Cook/Wine Manager, Bufalina, Austin
9. Rob Jacob Drennan, Chef de Partie, Qui, Austin
10. Christina & Pamela Dylag, Co-Owners, Velveteen Rabbit, Las Vegas
11. Patrick Feges, Founder of Feges BBQ and Pitmaster at Killen's BBQ, Houston
12. Buck Friend, Bar Manager, Bambudda, Vancouver
13. Meredith Gallagher, General Manager, Menton, Boston
14. Aaron Gottesman, Chef de Cuisine, Fat Ham, Philadelphia
15. Chris Hathcock, Sous Chef, Two Boroughs Larder, Charleston
16. Lieu Hoang, Sous Chef, Brimmer and Heeltap, Seattle
17. Doug Hopkins, Service Director, Sushi Nakazawa, New York
18. Joseph "JJ" Johnson, Chef de Cuisine, The Cecil, New York
19. Sara Justice, Lead Bar, Holeman + Finch, Atlanta
20. Bradley Kilgore, Chef de Cuisine, J&G Grill, Miami
21. Sam Kincaid, Pastry Chef, Fork, Philadelphia
22. Elise Kornack, Owner/Executive Chef, Take Root, New York
23. John Lasater, Executive Chef/GM, Hattie B's Hot Chicken, Nashville
24. Maxwell Leer, Wine Director, Bestia, Los Angeles
25. Irene Li and Max Hull, Co-Owners, Buyer and Chef, Mei Mei Food Truck and Restaurant, Boston
26. Garrett Lipar, Garrett Lipar, Chef, Torino, Ferndale, MI
27. Mei Lin, 28, Sous Chef, Ink, Los Angeles
28. Steven Martin, Chef de Cuisine, Harry's Pizzeria, Miami
29. Marc-Alexandre Mercier, Chef, Hôtel Herman, Montreal
30. Sarah Mispagel, Pastry Chef, Nightwood, Chicago
31. Nick Muncy, Pastry Chef, Coi, San Francisco
32. Josh Nebe, Cook, Radiator Whiskey, Seattle
33. Christina Nguyen and Birk Stefan Grudem, Co-Owners/Chefs, Hola Arepa, Minneapolis
34. Johnny Ortiz Sous Chef, Saison, San Francisco
35. Peter de Pentheny O'Kelly, GM, Benu, San Francisco
36. Doug Petry, Beverage Director, Rye, Louisville
37. Amy Racine, Wine Director, Sons & Daughters and The Square, San Francisco
38. Camila Ramos, Retail Manager/Barista, Panther Coffee, Miami
39. Felipe Riccio, Bartender at Camerata and founder of MangiaMaccheroni, Houston
40. David Schmidt, Owner, Maïs, Café Sardine/Iwashi, Datcha, Montreal
41. Craig Schoettler, Property Mixologist, Aria, Las Vegas
42. Leighanne Smith, Head Butcher, Cochon Butcher, New Orleans
43. Jarrett Stieber, Chef, Eat Me, Speak Me, Atlanta
44. Joel Stocks, chef, Holdfast Dining, Portland
45. Fabian von Hauske, Co-Owner and Pastry Chef, Contra, New York
46. Briana Warner, Owner, Maine Pie Line, Maine
47. Liz Williams, Pastry Supervisor, The Barn, Blackberry Farm, Walland, TN
48. Nick Wiseman, Partner, DGS Delicatessen, Washington, DC
49. Joe West, Executive Chef, The Cincinnatian Hotel, Cincinnati
50. Shannon "Sam" Wynne, Jr., Co-Founder, Braindead Brewing and partner at Rodeo Goat, Dallas/Fort Worth

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* The Velveteen Rabbit crew, the Hola Arepa truck, and the Mei Mei truck all have teams of two that are nominated, so it's actually 53 semi-finalists.