The people have spoken, and Alain Allegretti has been officially named the Hottest Chef in New York, besting his latest rival Lon Symsensma by 137 votes. Congrats chef on that pretty face. You win major bragging rights and the envy of all your peers.

To the 44 chefs that lost out, including last year's Daily News winner Johnny Iuzzini, you made a valiant effort, but those doe eyes are hard to top. Better luck next year. To review how the contest went down, we have full coverage here, and as always, thanks for playing.
· Hottest Chef in NY Final Round: Allegretti vs. Symsensma [~E~]
· The Entire Hottest Chef in New York Competition [~E~]

At last, the moment we've all been waiting for, the third and final round in the Hottest Chef in New York Competition, is upon us. The two final competitors, Allegretti's Alain Allegretti and Buddakan's Lon Symensma have beat out 43 rivals to make it to the finals, including stiff competition from their eight fellow semi finalists last week. Read the chefs' profiles here and review rounds two and one before making the crucial vote to decide who will officially unseat last year's hottest chef Johnny Iuzzini.

A reminder to the chefs' fans and PR: we're keeping an eye out for suspicious votes, so let's not have this end in a disqualification. The poll closes tomorrow at 1 p.m. EST. May the hottest chef win.

Round Two of voting in our Hottest Chef in NY is complete, and we have our two finalists. On Monday, Buddakan's Lon Symensma upset favorite Patrick Connolly to win that first heat. And yesterday the doe-eyed Alain Allegretti, the favorite for his race, beat out his four rivals, overcoming a strong showing from wild card competitor Akhtar Nawab. It's been a long two weeks, so we're going to let our competitors rest up and will hold off the final election until after the holiday weekend. To prepare for Monday, read the contenders' profiles here.
· All Hottest Chef in New York Heats and Results [~E~]

The final day of Round Two voting in our Hottest Chef in NY begins now. If you haven't voted for our Day One chefs, we're keeping the polls open until 4 p.m. EST, so make your voice heard. Just a warning to Lon & supporters, we're keeping a close watch over your polling records, so keep it clean or end up like Frosolone.

In the final Round Two heat Alain Allegretti goes up against Scott Conant, Daniel Angerer, John Fraser, and wild card Akhtar Nawab. To research the chefs before your vital vote, read their profiles here. Voting for this race closes tomorrow morning at 11. May the hottest chef win.

You've lasted through the nomination process, and nine heats of Round 1 voting. You've seen the final rankings for the 45 original contenders, and read the profiles on our ten remaining contenders. Now it's time for Round 2. We begin today with a heat between Patrick Connolly, Lon Symensma, Harold Dieterle, Kevin Pemoulie, and Martin Brock. We'll be keeping an eye out for ballot box stuffing. May the hottest chef win.

Before we get to Round Two of voting for New York's Hottest Chef, a few quick notes. Since we witnessed a good deal of ballot box stuffing in Round 1 (heats 1 - 9 can be reviewed here), we've adding some extra precautions and plan to monitor voting extra carefully. Don't think we won't disqualify your candidate people.

But, before voting begins, we'd like you to meet the final contenders. Five of them will be going head to head this afternoon, five will compete tomorrow, and this guide will help you before casting that pivotal ballot.

Round One of voting in the Hottest Chef in NY Competition has ended and Round Two will begin later today, concluding tomorrow. The ten competitors who will duke it out in Round Two include the nine heat winners from the last two weeks—Patrick Connolly, Alain Allegretti, Lon Symensma, Scott Conant, Harold Dieterle, Daniel Angerer, Kevin Pemoulie, John Fraser, Martin Brock—and a wild card based on vote count, Akhtar Nawab. We'll get to them in a moment. For a review, check out a gallery of all of the axed and advancing chefs, as well as a run down on how they ranked with the voters. Heat and wild card winners as well as DQ'd contestants are noted:

We would circle his voice if we could

The last day of Round One voting in our Hottest Chef in New York contest is finally upon us and it's going to be a tough heat. Frenchie Eric Ripert goes up against Lunetta's Adam Shepard, Buddakan's Lon Symensma, Public's Brad Farmerie, and Aquavit's Johan Svensson. The victor will join the winners from our past eight heats along with a wild card contender in Round Two next week. Remember you eager campaigners, PR chickadees, and tech savvy fans that suspicious voting could end in disqualification. For a look at all 45 contenders, see a gallery here. May the hottest chef win.

In a clean race yesterday, Scott Conant won the eighth heat of our ongoing Hottest Chefs in New York competition. George Mendes made an impressive showing but ultimately, was no match for the Scarpetta chef. He joins Tom Colicchio, Michael Psilakis, and Marc Murphy in the losers circle while Conant moves on to Round Two. More voting is ahead, but first, a look at the current standings.

Now that we only have two days left of Round 1 voting we're getting to the middle of the pack and a more even playing field. Today seed 8, George Mendes (planning his restaurant Aldea), goes up against seeds 14-17 Scott Conant, Michael Psilakis, Tom Colicchio, and Marc Murphy. It's a power house group, so choose wisely. And to you eager campaigners, PR kids, and tech savvy fans: please note suspicious voting could end in disqualification. For a look at all 45 contenders, see a gallery here. May the hottest chef win.

We had a very close race in yesterday's heat between Sam Mason, Seamus Mullen, Herb Wilson, Jordon Frosolone, and Harold Dieterle. While Frosolone technically received 18 more votes than Dieterle, due to the closeness of the race and a large number of suspicious votes coming from the same IP addresses for the Hearth chef throughout the day, the higher ups at Eater Voting ops have decided to give it to the Top Chef. Too many suspected ballot box stuffers have slipped through the cracks and the buck stops here. We hope the rest of the candidates will heed this warning and expect higher security for Round Two next week. More voting is ahead, but first, a look at the current standings.

Krieger

Round One of our Hottest Chef in New York contest continues today. Yesterday, Klee Brasserie's Daniel Angerer narrowly beat his competitors in a very close heat. Today, more voting! Tatted up Tailor chef Sam Mason goes up against Harold Dieterle, Hearth's Jordon Frosolone, Seamus Mullen, and The Soho and Tribeca Grand's Herb Wilson. For a look at all 45 contenders, see the gallery here. May the hottest chef win.

We had an incredibly tight race in yesterday's heat in the Hottest Chef in New York competition, but by the time polls closed at 8 am this morning, Klee Brasserie chef Daniel Angerer had defeated main rival Julian Alonzo by a mere 7 votes. He'll move ahead to Round Two next week, and unfortunately Alonzo, Morimoto, Samuelsson, and the Hummer move to the losers circle. More voting is ahead, but first, a look at the current standings.