Preeti Waas
At her acclaimed eatery Cheeni, chef Preeti Waas serves up authentic, home-cooked Indian dishes that foster a sense of community. Preeti, a semifinalist for the esteemed Best Chef: Southeast accolade in both 2023 and 2024 for Cheeni’s now-shuttered Raleigh outpost, showcases her culinary prowess at the Durham location with seasonal menu items like pork aam kasundi, a delectable fusion of heritage pork, green mango and Bengali mustard. Cheeni’s beverage program, The Bar Beej, spearheaded by Preeti and her daughter Amy Waas, was named a James Beard Award semifinalist in the Best New Bar category in 2025.
Cheetie Kumar
Mediterranean meets the Middle East at Ajja, where chef Cheetie Kumar and partner Paul Siler invite you to discover diverse cultural foodways. Delight in dips and spreads like warm Moroccan hummus, or indulge in the richness of lamb seekh for your main course. Ajja offers a variety of vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free options, so there is sure to be something to satisfy everyone’s appetite. Come hungry and see why it was named a James Beard Award semifinalist for Best New Restaurant in 2024. (Esquire also named it one of “50 Best New Restaurants in America” in 2023!)
Christopher Prieto
Texan Christopher Prieto, named a James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef: Southeast in 2025, cut his teeth teaching barbecue classes and traveling around the country cooking competitively before settling in the Triangle to open Prime Barbecue in Knightdale. In 2024, he opened Primo Latin Cuisine adjacent to that space. A nod to Christopher’s Puerto Rican heritage, Primo serves a fusion of Latin flavors and traditional barbecue, which meld in dishes like the “Tripleta Taco” featuring pork lechon, brisket, ham, cilantro, pickled onion, sour cream sauce, plantain strips and salsa verde, all wrapped up in a handmade flour tortilla. Christopher’s next venture, Prime STQ, will combine his expertise in barbecue with a focus on steak and is set to open at Durham’s Horseshoe at Hub RTP in fall 2025.
Scott Crawford
2025 James Beard Award semifinalist for Outstanding Restaurateur Scott Crawford’s empire grew by leaps and bounds in 2024: he opened Brodeto, an eatery inspired by the culinary traditions of the Adriatic Sea, at Raleigh Iron Works in the spring; underground cocktail bar Sous Terre took over the former Atlantic Lounge space adjacent to Scott’s flagship eatery, Crawford and Son, a few months later. In addition, Crawford’s Genuine opened inside Terminal 2 of Raleigh-Durham International Airport in September, and Crawford Brothers Steakhouse opened in Cary’s Fenton district in December.
Bhavin Chhatwani
Bhavin Chhatwani has garnered national attention during his tenure as executive chef at Tamasha Modern Indian, including recognition as a semifinalist for the James Beard Award for Emerging Chef in 2025. Tamasha’s vibrant, elevated take on Indian cuisine brings flavorful and imaginative bites to North Hills, such as the “Kerala Pork Belly Bao,” plus classics like butter chicken. Bhavin cultivated his skills as a senior sous chef at San Francisco’s Taj Campton Place, at the time the only Indian restaurant in the world to earn two Michelin stars.
Ricky Moore
Dive into oceanic wonders at Saltbox Seafood Joint, a spot focused on fresh catches from the North Carolina coast. It was curated by James Beard Award-winner Ricky Moore, who took home the Best Chef: Southeast award in 2022 and was named a semifinalist for Outstanding Chef in 2025. The chalkboard menu changes daily, and the availability of fish varies depending on what the skilled fisherfolk are catching, but you can always expect a choice of crispy fried or sizzling spiced griddled fish or shellfish.
Michelle Vanderwalker and Sean Umstead
Michelle Vanderwalker and Sean Umstead co-created Durham’s “ground-to-glass” cocktail haven Kingfisher – nominated for a James Beard Award in 2023 for Outstanding Bar. Here, patrons embark on a sensory journey through farm-driven seasonal menus, most of which also offer nonalcoholic options. The pair also collaborate on Queeny’s, located in the space above Kingfisher, and their newest venture, QueenBurger, took up residence at American Tobacco Campus in 2022. Queeny’s offers a more laid-back version of Kingfisher’s thoughtful bar offerings, plus a full food menu with plenty of vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options, like the “Mt. Airy Sandwich,” composed of either chili-rubbed pork loin or tofu topped with pickled and fresh veggies and herby mayo.
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