The Chron Picks Its 2011 Rising Star Chefs

It's the 19th year Bauer and the Chronicle gang have been choosing "Rising Star Chefs" from the Bay Area pool: "young Bay Area chefs who we feel are making - and will continue to make - a national impact." This year's group of stars includes 28-year-old Danny Bowien of the recently 2-starred Mission Chinese Food, 26-year-old Aaron London of Ubuntu, 27-year-old recent Santa Cruz import Charlie Parker of Plum, 27-year-old Thomas McNaughton of Flour + Water and a two-person entry with Curtis Di Fede and Tyler Rodde of Oenotri in Napa. Each year, the editors try to find a common thread among the winners. They're calling it "passion" in 2011, whereas last year's group was all male. And so is this year's group, but nevermind. All in all, it's a solid list, and if you read the little bios you'll find an ex-Cheesecake Factory worker, culinary school drop-out and former prison inmate in the class. Any guesses? There's also a breakdown of what the 2010 classmates are up to now, mostly being good chefs, still working where they were this time last year. Congrats all around.

· Rising Star Chefs 2011: a passionate group [Chron]