Lonely at the Top

Tim Goodell of Aubergine restaurant in Newport Beach was the only West Coast member of Food & Wine magazine’s Best New Chefs selection for 2000.

The 34-year-old Goodell, who opened his restaurant to almost unanimous rave reviews in 1994, joins such past award winners as New York’s Rocco DiSpirito from Union Pacific and Michael Romano and Dan Silverman from Union Square Cafe.

In addition to Aubergine, Goodell and his wife Liza also run the bistro Troquet at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa.

Other chefs named to the list: Andrew Carmellini of Cafe Boulud in New York, Ted Cizma of Grace in Chicago, Andrea Curto of Wish in Miami Beach, Loren Falsone and Eric Moshier of Empire in Providence, R.I., Michael Leviton of Lumiere in West Newton, Mass., Amanda Lydon of Truc in Boston, Joseph Wrede of Joseph’s Table in Taos, N.M., and Takashi Yagihashi of Tribute in Farmington Hills, Mich.