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The Daily Meal released a behemoth list today, naming their picks for the60 (Plus) Coolest People in Food & Drink. Los Angeles is well-represented, between chefs and food personalities who call the City of Angels home, and a few whose empires extend to our fair city.No surprise, (Pulitzer Prize-winning) critic Jonathan Gold and Border Grill/STREET and over all Hot Tamale Susan Feniger make the list. Joining them in this impressive roster of food hipness are folks like Chris Cosentino, whose porcine-influenced cuisine has finally touched L.A. via UMAMIcatessen, and high-profile super chefs like Thomas Keller and Mario Batali, who are behind area hotspots like Bouchon and Osteria Mozza.
While there are some usual suspects on the list (particularly when it comes to Los Angeles, sigh), the site explains that compiling a list of "cool" food and drink folks is decidedly different than a list of powerful or popular people. "Cool is elusive, subjective, ephemeral," they elaborate, noting that "cool" to them is "an aesthetic, a way of behaving, an attitude; it has to do with self-confidence, self-assurance, aplomb, imperturbability, and quite possibly a nonironic sense of irony."
Oh, and, by the way, says The Daily Meal, "hipsters aren't cool."
They've sorted their full lists slideshow-style, organized into food and drink, and published alphabetically.
