2010 TOP 5 RISING CHEFS IN THE U.S.
Dana Tough & Brian McCracken

This duo of 28-year-old chefs and good friends Dana Tough and Brian McCracken opened Spur in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood in 2008.  The two first met at local New American restaurant Earth & Ocean. McCracken got his culinary education at the Western Culinary Institute, and trained at New York’s Eleven Madison Park, San Francisco’s Silks and Washington D.C.’s Restaurant Nora. At one point, he owned his own catering business called Flyte. Tough was educated at South Seattle Community College and got his professional start opening Seattle’s Waterfront Seafood Grill and later went on to Tulio Ristorante, also in Seattle. Their collaboration at Spur is equal parts gastropub and mixology cocktail lounge.