Amanda Shulman of Her Place Supper Club is named one of Food & Wine magazine’s best new chefs
“Pinch me,” said Amanda Shulman, who is having a very good year, what with a James Beard nomination, the opening of a second restaurant, and her wedding.
It hasn’t been a bad year for chef Amanda Shulman. She won a James Beard Award nomination for emerging chef, opened My Loup, her second restaurant, a sequel to Her Place Supper Club, and married chef Alex Kemp, her partner in My Loup.
Now Shulman, 31, is also one of Food & Wine’s best new chefs for 2023, getting the honors for Her Place, which opened on Sansom Street near Rittenhouse Square in 2021 to great acclaim.
“Dinner at Her Place feels as if you are stepping into Shulman’s very own dining room, where she just happens to throw two dinner parties every night,” the article, in Food & Wine’s October issue, reads. “There are just 24 seats packed into a cozy 1,500 square feet. The silverware doesn’t match, nor do the plates. The walls are packed with art, and the wine collection feels like it belongs to a generous friend with great taste. Standing at the counter that divides the kitchen and the dining area, Shulman regales diners with stories about the inspiration behind each of the playful dishes she serves.”
Shulman joins a list of Philadelphia winners. Emily Riddell of Machine Shop, the boulangerie in the Bok building, was a winner last year. Camille Cogswell (then at Zahav) won in 2020 and Eli Kulp (at Fork) won in 2014. Other F&W best new chefs from Philadelphia have included Karen Nicolas (2012), Jim Burke (2008), Dominique Filoni (2004), Marc Vetri (1999), Guillermo Pernot (1998), Tony Clark (1997), Jack McDavid (1991), Francesco Martorella and Bruce Lim (1990), and Susanna Foo (1989).
» READ MORE: Craig LaBan reviews My Loup
Her Place, named as one of Inquirer critic Craig LaBan’s best restaurants of 2022, also made Esquire’s list of best new restaurants for that year.
For Shulman, who was not formally trained but who worked in Philadelphia and Las Vegas for Vetri, the nod is a dream.
“Pinch me,” she said. “I’ve read these magazines since I was little and remember poring over each class [of winners]. “I’d pass Marc’s cover hanging in the private dining room at Vetri every day while working there. It’s very surreal.”