15 Green Chefs from Grist

No surprise at #1. Ms Waters' resume speaks for itself. (She's coming to Charlotte in September!) As Grist puts it:

Thirty years ago, the words "imported from France" signified the height of status and taste on U.S. restaurant menus. Today, the phrases "locally grown" and "organic" have taken over that function (naming the actual farm earns extra points). For that transformation, we largely have Berkeley restaurateur Alice Waters to thank.

But I mentioned the list here because of entry #7: Andrea Reusing, Lantern, Chapel Hill, NC. Grist writes:

Operating far from the New York/San Francisco media glare, Andrea Reusing has quietly made herself into a model for the citizen-chef. In her off hours, she works tirelessly to promote the produce of central North Carolina's bustling sustainable-agriculture scene. She chairs Slow Food Triangle's convivium, which essentially exists to promote the area's small organic farms. And finally, in the kitchen of Lantern, Reusing takes the best of what her farmer friends grow and transforms it into extraordinary and rigorous Pan-Asian food -- which has put Lantern and the farmers who supply it on the national culinary map.

Check Grist.org for the whole list.