2013 Top 5 Rising Chefs in the U.S. " Oliveto

Jonah Rhodehamel, 29, is something of a late bloomer as chefs go --- he learned to cook in his 20s when he left waiting tables to sign up at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. His natural ability soon blossomed, and within months he was hired by La Folie restaurant; after two years he was promoted to sous chef. He went on to sharpen his knives --- and his sensibilities --- at Quince, the now-closed Zinnia and Americano at Hotel Vitale. In 2010 he joined Oliveto in Oakland as executive chef, and the accolades started as his unfettered culinary imagination set to work on Italian regional classics. Deeply involved in the Bay area food scene, Rhodehamel has established relationships with local farmers and purveyors; his ongoing kitchen projects include a special aging cave for house-cured charcuterie, whole-animal dinners, handmade pastas made with specially milled local flours and unique heirloom tomatoes bred specifically for Oliveto's kitchen.

 Read GAYOT.com's restaurant review of Oliveto