Restaurant Informer Rising Stars Honored at Awards Luncheon

Restaurant Informer hosted a celebration lunch for its 2026 class of Rising Stars at Zakia Modern Lebanese restaurant in Buckhead on June 17. In a beautiful setting, each honoree was presented with a framed print of the feature article written about them in Restaurant Informer.

Publisher John Sawyer and Editor Lara Creasy hosted the reception. Past Rising Star Olivier Reedholm attended in support of his nominee, Sebastián Montero-Hernández, who attended with his mother. Chef Kevin Rathbun was also in attendance to support his sous chef Frank Fodor, who he had nominated for the award.

Richard Wilson, Executive Chef of Superica Buckhead, was joined at the lunch by Marcelo Han, Superica’s Culinary Director. Mikaela Finlayson, general manager of Your 3^rd Spot, was supported by her mother as well as her nominator, Doug Warner, Chief Solutions Officer for Y3S.

Alex Rodgers, general manager of Minero, attended with her mother and with Rory O’Connell, The Neighborhood Restaurant Group’s Director of Operations, her nominator.

Two honorees, Remy Loet and Austin Goetzman, were unable to attend the lunch, as they were attending the James Beard Awards in Chicago to represent their restaurant Aria, a finalist in the Outstanding Hospitality category.

The Rising Stars celebration lunch was made possible by of the support of presenting sponsor Georgia Natural Gas and table sponsors Savannah Distributing and Society Insurance. Representatives of all three sponsors were in attendance.