Danny Bowien is either the most innovative chef in the past decade or simply the ballsiest. His new-style Sichuan food at the wildly popular Mission Chinese Food has garnered a slew of awards: Bon Appetit named it as one of the best new restaurants in the country in 2011 and in 2013 Bowien took home the James Beard Rising Star Chef award. He focuses on fresh ingredients, relying on classic techniques to build complex stocks and sauces that are the backbone of his craft. Expect a lot of Chinese-ish dishes, such as kung pao pastrami, tea-smoked eel and General Tso’s spit-roasted veal rib.