Ashley Shelton of Pastaria took the top prize in Eater’s Young Guns competition, becoming the first St. Louis chef to win. The winners were announced on June 28, 2016.
“It’s inspiring,” said Shelton. “It’s great to be noticed and it’s humbling because it takes a whole team to do what we do every day. I have to thank them the most.”
Shelton was one of 4,000 nominees in this year’s competition. The nomination process is open, with anyone invited to send in a name for consideration.
All the vetting and judging for the contest was done via email and personal interviews. As Shelton moved into the final rounds, she answered questionnaires and submitted references.
“I got the email [notifying the first place win] at home and the dog started freaking out because I was screaming,” she said.
Shelton spent the weekend in Los Angeles where the 19 finalists, their families, media and industry pros were invited to a party celebrating the best of the best. It only took two hours for Shelton to run out of the 700 portions of the andouille arancini she cooked for the occasion.
With recognition on a national stage, this is not the last we’ll hear of Shelton.
This article appears in Readers’ Choice 2016.