Triangle chef is in the national spotlight. He’s one of Eater’s Young Guns.
Two years after coming home to Orange County and opening a pizzeria, 29-year-old Gabe Barker has been named one of the top young restaurant pros in the country.
Eater, a well-known online food publication, released its annual “Young Guns” list Thursday afternoon, naming America’s 18 most promising and talented folks working in restaurants and food.
That includes Barker, who opened Pizzeria Mercato in 2016 with the backing of his parents, Ben and Karen Barker, each James Beard Award winners who are revered in Triangle culinary circles. Gabe Barker grew up in the family’s legendary restaurant, the now-closed Magnolia Grill in Durham.
Gabe Barker said he found out he had won the Young Gun honors about a month ago; he’s the only Southeast chef represented on the list. He was named one of 54 finalists in May.
Barker has twice been a semifinalist for the James Beard “Rising Star Chef” award.
Thursday, he said he doesn’t consider it an individual award. Instead, he credits his staff, which he said largely has remained intact since the restaurant opened.
“While this singles me out in a personal way, in no way shape or form is it an individual recognition,” Barker said in an interview. “I’m not cooking every plate of food, balling all the pizza dough, cleaning every vegetable. I appreciate this 1,000 times over; it’s a huge compliment...but every single person here has played a hand in this.”
Barker is hopeful the national attention heading Mercato’s way will spotlight the larger Triangle dining scene, which he believes is executing at a level as high as the country’s larger cities, namely New York and San Francisco.
“Previously, I don’t think North Carolina got the attention it deserved on the national level,” Barker said. “It’s really cool to see so much love being show to where we are. The food and level of execution is just as good here as in New York. It’s always great to gain more exposure.”
Eater started with 623 industry-wide nominations for its Young Guns, narrowing those down to 54 in May, saying the list aims to honor “front- and back-of-house rising stars who are early in their careers but already exhibit the drive, ambition, thought and care necessary to take on the restaurant world.” Nominees also have less than five years experience.
After a childhood with stints as a busboy or waiter in his parents’ restaurant, Barker eventually felt the pull into the industry. He spent five years cooking in San Francisco, including three at the venerable pizzeria Delfina.
Barker told the News & Observer in 2015 that it was in that pizzeria that he learned to keep standards high in the face of high volume.
“Everything mattered,” Barker said in 2015.
It clearly matters at Mercato, too, with News & Observer restaurant critic Greg Cox awarding the young restaurant four stars in 2016, lauding a pizzeria’s make or break asset, the chew of its crust.
Barker responded to the Young Guns honor on Mercato’s Instagram.
“Thank you a million times over to @eater for including Pizzeria Mercato on a list of crazy talented young professionals,” the post read. “I feel blessed to have the support I do in this endeavor. There are so many people that play a vital role in my success so this is in no way shape or form a individual acknowledgment. All the love ya’ll I’m smiling ear to ear.”
Chef Ashley Christensen, who owns several downtown Raleigh restaurants, is on the Eater Young Guns search committee. Of Barker, she said his great pizza is just a jumping off point.
“I love his project, and his approach to celebrating the nearby Carrboro Farmers Market,” Christensen said in the Eater nomination this spring. “He’s created a really neat community spot serving pizza and really badass shared plates in a comfortably vibrant space.”
This story was originally published July 19, 2018 at 3:40 PM.