Horn, Kroll Among Eater Young Gun Semi-Finalists

After months of poring over thousands of nominations, interviewing chefs, grilling local Eater editors, and examining supporting material, the shortlist for the 2013 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 the United States. They must show extraordinary promise.

Some will be complete unknowns and others perhaps have enjoyed a hint of public attention already. All will have distinguished themselves in the eyes of co-workers, chefs, and customers. Starting this week, Eater National 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 2013 will be unveiled.

Without further ado, here are the 50 Eater Young Guns Semi-Finalists for 2013, including three from Washington:

The 50 Eater Young Guns Semi-Finalists for 2013
1. Shion Aikawa, director of operations, Ramen Tatsu-Ya, Austin
2. Kevin Ashworth, executive chef, MilkWood, Louisville
3. Tristan Aitchison, chef de cuisine, Providence, Los Angeles
4. Marco Bahena, line cook, Everest, Chicago
5. Heidi Brown, culinary liaison, The Restaurant at Meadowood, Saint Helena, CA
6. Mike Brown, chef/co-owner, Travail and Pig Ate My Pizza, Robbinsdale, MN
7. John Chester, James Mark, and Tim Shulga, bar manger and chefs (all owners), North, Providence*
8. Nick Coffey, chef de cuisine, Sitka & Spruce, Seattle
9. Douglas Constantiner, founder and brewer, Societe Brewing Company, San Diego
10. Jen Davidson, general manager, Barbuto, New York
11. Alyssa Di Pasquale, manager and advanced sake professional, O Ya, Boston
12. Bobby Domenick, general manager, Vetri, Philadelphia
13. Julian Goglia, beverage director and partner, The Pinewood, Atlanta
14. Nicole Grimes, chef de cuisine, Rao's, Las Vegas
15. Sam Hellman-Mass, sous chef/partner, Barley Swine, Austin
16. Jeremy Hoffman, chef de cuisine, Restaurant Eve, Alexandria
17. Duncan Holmes, chef de cuisine, Sons & Daughters, San Francisco
18. James Horn, general manager, Daikaya, Washington DC
19. Sabrina Hunt, pastry sous chef, FT33, Dallas
20. Carlin Karr, sommelier, Frasca Food & Wine, Boulder
21. Brent Kroll, wine director, Neighborhood Restaurant Group, Washington DC
22. Ryan Lachaine, sous chef, Underbelly, Houston
23. Matt Lackey, executive chef, Flyte, Nashville
24. Jessica Largey, chef de cuisine, Manresa, Los Gatos, CA
25. Mitch Leinhard, sous chef, Grace, Chicago
26. Maya Lovelace, sous chef, Beast, Portland, OR
27. Tyler Malek, head ice cream maker, Salt & Straw, Portland, OR
28. Matt Marcus, Ryan Soroka, and Alex Vassilakidis, co-owners, The Eatsie Boys, Houston*
29. Steve Martin, sous chef, Harry's Pizzeria, Miami
30. Andrew McCabe, chef de cuisine, Proof on Main, Louisville
31. Jayce McConnell, bar program manager, Snackbar, Oxford, MS
32. Charlie Parker, executive chef, Freddy Smalls, Los Angeles
33. Cappie Peete, beverage director, McCrady's, Charleston
34. Alex Pemoulie, co-owner and GM of Thirty Acres and Corporate Controller at Momofuku, Jersey City and New York City
35. Ryan Pernice, owner/operator, Table & Main, Atlanta
36. Jennifer Petrusky, most recently chef de cuisine, Yusho, Chicago
37. John Poiarkoff, sous chef, The Pines, New York
38. Brooks Reitz, general manager, The Ordinary, Charleston
39. Alissa Rozos, pastry chef, St. Jack, Portland, OR
40. Peter Roumanis, proprietor and chef, Vellum, Ann Arbor, MI
41. Jessica Rupert, kitchen supervisor, East Side King, Austin
42. Hourie Sahakian, pastry chef, Short Cake, Los Angeles
43. Mark Schieber, kitchen manager and cook, Forequarter Underground Food Collective, Madison, WI
44. Michael Serpa, executive chef, Neptune Oyster Bar, Boston
45. Henri Schock, owner, Bottlehouse, Seattle
46. Corey Siegel, rounds cook, The Greenbriar, White Sulfur Springs, WV
47. Travis Swikard, executive sous chef, Boulud Sud, New York
48. Cara Stadler, executive chef and owner, Tao Restaurant, Brunswick, ME
49. Jason Wang, president, Xi'an Famous Foods, New York
50. Grant Waters, sous chef, Maurepas Foods, New Orleans

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* The Eatsie Boys (Houston) and North (Providence) both have teams of three that are nominated, so it's actually 54 semi-finalists.