5/9/2012

2012 James Beard Awards winners

Compost, "crack" and something called cereal milk – unlikely ingredients that have propelled Christina Tosi to the head of her culinary class.

The protege and dessert maven of uber chef-of-the-moment David Chang was named rising star chef of the year on Monday by the James Beard Foundation, an honor earned largely by her knack for crafting unusual sweet treats – including soft serve ice cream made from milk flavored by breakfast cereal – and the almost fanatical following they have generated.

But garnering one of the so-called Oscars of the food world – one of more than 20 awarded Monday – didn't change Tosi's sense of the simplicity of what she does.