Food & Wine, CNN’s Eatocracy & 24 Diner Need Your Vote!

Food & Wine, CNN’s Eatocracy & 24 Diner Need Your Vote!

Andrew Curren in the Running for The People’s Best New Chef Award

AUSTIN, TX – February 15, 2011 – 24 Diner’s Andrew Curren has been nominated for a brand-new award created by Food & Wine magazine and CNN’s Eatocracy called The People’s Best New Chef Award. While the editors of the magazine have always selected past winners, they are asking the public to crown their own top chef for the first time ever. This is where you come in. We need your help to win this prestigious title!

The way the contest works is this: 10 innovative chefs in 10 regions who have run a kitchen for five years or less have been nominated. Votes can be cast from February 15 to March 1 via http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2011/02/15/food-wines-the-peoples-best-new-chef-southwest/. Drew will represent the Southwest. While each region will have a finalist, only the chef with the most votes overall will be featured in F&W magazine and crowned the winner.

If you have been to 24, chances are you have met Drew. Since we are open 24 hours and just celebrated our first birthday, Drew is on site a lot. Perhaps you’ve tried the 24 hash with a side of chili or a plate of chicken & waffles topped with brown sugar butter. Or wrapped your mouth around a bacon gorgonzola burger ground in house or his housemade veggie patty of beets, lentils, pumpkin seeds, golden flaxseeds and more.

Even if you are familiar with Drew, you may not know his pedigree. The Houston native attended Texas A&M with the intention of becoming a vet, but college cooking jobs and studies abroad ignited his passion for food. He was valedictorian at the Culinary Institute of America in New York and then worked as a line cook at Danny Meyer’s Tabla under chef Floyd Cardoz. When Jonathan Waxman came calling, he went on to Barbuto as a sous chef, worked up to chef de cuisine and earned the restaurant its first star from the New York Times. He and Waxman then opened Madeleine Mae on the Upper West Side, but Drew returned to Texas after completing his commitment to the fledgling business. He joined 24 Diner in Austin just as the restaurant’s focus was beginning to take shape.

In Drew’s words, “The concept started as an East Coast diner but evolved into a modern interpretation featuring seasonal and farm-to-table produce. It’s classic in the sense that we are open 24 hours and have milkshakes, burgers and a broad menu, but we have high attention to service and preparation, better food and are more conscious and thoughtful of everything from the environment and recycling to supporting other local and Texas businesses with our purchases.”

We hope that you’ll be supportive of our business and vote for us! Thanks in advance!

24 Diner: 600 N. Lamar Blvd., 512.472.5400, http://www.24diner.com/, twitter.com/24DinerATX.

For more information, contact: Evelyn Sher, 512.589.6596, 24DinerATX@gmail.com