Best chef: Jeremy Fox
Ubuntu, 1140 Main St., Napa, 707-251-5656

Because: He brings a carnivore’s perspective to vegetarian cooking.
Born: Cleveland, 1976
Résumé: Rubicon, Charles Nob Hill, Manresa
Not in his kitchen: “No brown rice. We’re a different kind of vegetarian restaurant.”

“Business changed instantly after the New York Times named Ubuntu the second-best restaurant in America. The phone started ringing that morning and hasn’t stopped since.”

“Before Ubuntu, I was really into pigs. I’d see the animal and think of what I’d do with all the different parts. Now I look at kohlrabi that same way and imagine what I’ll do with the root, the stalk, the leaves.”

“When I go out to eat, I order a steak.”

Rising star: Jessica Boncutter
Bar Jules, 609 Hayes St., S.F., 415-621-5482

Because: She borrowed every cliché from the small/seasonal/local hand­book to create a restaurant that feels completely fresh.
Born: Monterey, 1976
Résumé: Zuni Café, The River Café (London), Hog Island Oyster Company
Not in her kitchen: “No oysters. After three years at the Hog Island Oyster Company, I never want to see a bag of oysters again. I’ll eat them, but I won’t serve them.”

“My parents took me to Zuni when I was 14, and it changed my life. I had the hamburger and I thought, ‘This is the way food should be.’ I decided then that I would work there one day. But once I gradu­ated from the California Culinary Acad­emy, they told me they didn’t hire culinary students. I had to beg them for a job.”

“I won’t be opening a series of restaurants. That’s a guy thing. They like to spread their seed around. Women plant themselves in one place and stay there.”

“On my day off, I go to International Orange. I get a massage and read the paper on the deck. It’s the perfect day.”

Best pastry chef: Deanie Fox
Ubuntu, 1140 Main St., Napa, 707-251-5656

Because: She’s created a dessert menu in which nostalgia meets innovation, with startlingly delicious results.
Born: Palo Alto, 1976
Résumé: Rubicon, Manresa
Not in her kitchen: “No gelatin. As a pastry chef, making the transition to a vegetarian restaurant has been easy. It’s the only real change I’ve had to make. I just use agar-agar instead.”

“A lot of my desserts are inspired by what I ate when I was a kid. The bowl of frosted feuilletine (a sweet French wafer) with bananas, Kaffir lime ice cream, and warm parsnip milk is an homage to the cereal I ate so much of when I was a teenager.”

“To say that my desserts are seasonally driven is a cliché—but when the ingredients are constantly changing, it forces you to be flexible. It’s heartbreaking to have the blackberries disappear just as I’ve figured out how I want to use them.”

“Jeremy [Fox] and I stop by the restaurant’s garden at least once a week on our way to work. I find I have a stronger connection to ingredients when I pick them myself.”

Best bar manager: Thad Vogler
Beretta: 1199 Valencia St., S.F., 415-695-1199
Camino: 3917 Grand Ave., Oakland, 510-547-5035

Because: He spearheaded a renaissance of traditional cocktails and small-batch artisanal spirits.
Born: Santa Cruz, 1969
Résumé: Bourbon & Branch, Coco500, Farallon, Flora, Jardinière, The Slanted Door
Not at his bar: “No spirits distilled from industrially grown ingredients. I think Camino probably has the only bar in the country where that’s true.”

“I’m cynical about the celebration of bartenders. It’s a workaday gig. It can take years of training for someone to become a competent cook or sommelier, but you can become the best bartender in the world in less than six months.”

“When I started tending bar back in the early 1990s, I had just grad­uated from Yale with a literature degree. The economy was terrible, and I couldn’t find another job. I wrestled with it for 10 years or so, but now I love it. Once you get used to the pace of working in restaurants, every other job seems flat.”

“Cocktails are evolving in the same way that food has. Five years ago, a restaurant like Camino would’ve focused on their wine list. They would’ve never had a bar.”