James Petrakis, co-chef and co-owner, with his wife, Julie, of The Ravenous Pig, is in the running for Food & Wine magazine’s People’s Best New Chef. Petrakis is listed with nine other chefs in the Gulf Coast region. Really? Miami, New Orleans, Birmingham — Gulf Coast? Whatever.

I could find nothing on the site that stated the criteria for “new” chef. Petrakis has been around for a few years now, but whatever helps get some attention to the fact that Orlando has some terrific culinary talent is OK by me.

Food & Wine has divvied up the country into 10 regions. Again, I don’t know what the criteria were for selecting the finalists, but in all those 10 regions, F&W managed to find only nine women to put up for votes. In several regions, one entry features two chefs who share cooking duties. Seems to me the magazine could have added another woman to the roster by featuring both Petrakises. To vote for James Petrakis, and to show your support for one of our top chefs, follow this link to Food & Wine’s poll.

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