Jeremiah Stone and Fabian Von Hauske of NYC's Contra and Wildair are 2016 F&W Best New Chefs (original) (raw)

Why Stone and von Hauske are amazing: With Wildair, the two young chefs have redefined what a wine bar can be, serving deceptively simple, outstandingly flavorful dishes like crispy potato tart with uni and jalapeño. Meanwhile, at their flagship restaurant, Contra, they serve exquisite five-course tasting menus and host some of the world’s top chefs for inspired collaboration dinners.

© Contra

Quintessential dishes:
Wildair: beef tartare with smoked cheddar, and the warm, well-crusted loaf bread with olive oil.

Von Hauske: Born: Mexico City, 1990 (he was raised there, too)

Education: French Culinary Institute, NYC

Rèsumè: Noma, Copenhagen; Fäviken, Järpen, Sweden (visiting pastry chef); Attica, Melbourne, Australia

Side project: Helped launch the avant-garde Momofuku bar Booker and Dax in New York City

Stone: Born: Gaithersburg, MD, 1984

Education: French Culinary Institute, NYC

Rèsumè: Isa, Brooklyn; Rino, Paris; The Modern, New York City

Other job: Sous-chef for events at the French Culinary Institute

Culinary style:
Stone: "I rely a lot on the simplicity of the ingredients. I hold back on a lot of heavy sauces and spices. My food is lighter and more reliant on just barely cooked vegetables or raw vegetables, and the meats and fish are always gently cooked well.

Favorite leftovers dish: For staff meals at Contra, von Hauske likes to serve dessert. "I don’t like keeping things in the freezer for too long, so every Saturday night, I’ll take every single leftover from the week and turn them into a Sunday Staff Sundae. Recently we had a toasted buckwheat mousse with yogurt sorbet and grains covered in chocolate and caramel, and a custard with pistachios. We mixed it all together and made this humongous, delicious thing."

© Wildair

Guilty-pleasure food:
Von Hauske: McDonald’s French fries—"I think they have the best fries just plain." Stone: Cheez-Its

Hobbies:
Von Hauske: "I like playing music. Before I started cooking, I wanted to be a graphic designer, so now I use those skills to make fliers and stuff like that for any special events that we have.

Alternative career:
Stone: "I was trying to be a DJ when I was in high school, so I would do something music-related. When I wasn’t cooking I was working in records and DJ’ing."

Follow @wildairnyc and @contrany on Instagram.