ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WGHP) — An Asheville chef was recently dubbed one of the best by Food & Wine.
Silver Iocovozzi joined Food & Wine’s most recent class of Best New Chefs, being recognized for his restaurant Neng Jr.’s where “exuberant, high-touch, queercore dining marries Filipino and Southern foodways in vivid, gutsy, full-flavored cooking.”
According to Food & Wine, this year’s group of Best New Chefs is the largest class yet. Together, they represent the future of cooking in America.
“They are leaders at the stove, creating food that is innovative, disruptive, highly personal and delicious—and also leaders in the kitchen, creating more sustainable and welcoming workplaces for their teams,” a press release from Food & Wine states.
Food & Wine Boasts about Neng Jr.’s “unabashed, colorful, queer joy,” highlighting the establishment’s intimate setting, open kitchen with green-tiled walls and a massive portrait of Iocovozzi’s mom.
As a second-generation Filipino American raised in the Carolinas, Iocovozzi strived for a menu full of entrées that combined the two vastly different cultures.
“The menu is a product from Chef Silver Iocovozzi’s perspective as a second-generation immigrant, and a person with crossover in the American South and Manila, Philippines with experience in classical genres, new techniques, and general interest in global food traditions and histories,” Neng Jr.’s website says.
Food & Wine showcases several “must-try” dishes at Neng Jr’s.
The fruit plate is created with in-season fruit and drizzled with a custom sauce made of shallots, garlic, fish sauce, rice powder, lime juice and chile flakes. It is inspired by a Filipino snack of green mango and bagoong, or fermented shrimp paste.
“It’s just super sour and salty and so satiating,” Iocovozzi says.
The adobo oyster is the restaurant’s signature dish. The unique combination of a cured quail egg yolk and an adobo mignonette makes for a staple menu item that Iocovozzi says isn’t going anywhere.
“Things like onion and pepper and acid and salt are huge, really basic, groundwork flavors for Filipino food. It’s just a perfect way to start the meal here, and I’ll probably never take it off the menu,” he says.
The duck adobo is perfect for those seeking a rich, flavorful sauce created with fresh herbs. The coconut milk is equal parts soy and vinegar with coconut milk added. Iocovozzi steeps toasted black peppercorns, fresh garlic and fresh bay leaves in the sauce overnight and then strains it out the next day.
“And it just comes out as this pretty thick and silky sauce that’s just super well balanced,” he says.
According to Neng Jr.’s website, in 2022, Neng Jr.’s was featured in Bon Appétit. It was also named a Best New Restaurant by Eaters Carolina and Esquire, ranking third on Esquire’s 2022 list. Silver was also named Esquire’s Rising Star Chef of the Year. In 2023, the restaurant was a James Beard finalist for Best New Restaurant.
