Silver Iocovozzi

Today

The work reads as Filipino food filtered through Silver Iocovozzi’s lens, with the South as part of the shaping force. That frame points to a cook thinking about lineage, migration, and place as active parts of flavor, not background information. The result is cooking that stays legible while still leaving room for personal interpretation. Before Neng Jr.'s, the kitchen range was already broad. A chef in residence post at Palm Heights hotel in Grand Caymans asks for sensitivity to place as much as technique. Work as Sous Chef at Buxton Hill Barbecue in Asheville brings smoke, timing, and restraint into the daily rhythm. A cook role at Mission Chinese Food in New York adds speed, density, and the ability to work inside a layered flavor system. Those environments do different things to a cook; in Silver Iocovozzi’s case, they helped build a vocabulary that could hold all three. Since 2022, Neng Jr.'s has been the clearest site for that vocabulary. As chef-owner, Silver Iocovozzi has the chance to turn a wide set of experiences into a single point of view, with the restaurant acting as a direct expression of how he cooks now.

Signature

The signature plate, adobo oyster topped with a quail yolk and keso ice cream, shows the range Silver Iocovozzi is working with. The dish depends on contrast: briny against rich, sharp against creamy, direct flavors set against softer ones. It is a compact demonstration of how his cooking combines familiarity with a controlled push toward something personal.

In Their Words “I would categorize it as Filipino food through my lens and just my own diaspora of growing up in the South.” That is a useful read on the work: Filipino food framed by lived geography, not by fixed category. Silver Iocovozzi places memory and migration inside the definition of the cuisine, which helps explain why the food can feel specific without being boxed in. “I love to base my menu around just what's available from the farmer.” That is a practical way of setting the menu. The farmer’s produce sets the terms, and the kitchen responds from there. It keeps the cooking tied to seasonality and forces the plate to earn its place through what is actually arriving.

Recognition

Silver Iocovozzi's honors include James Beard Award nomination for Best Chef (Southeast) (2025), James Beard Award nomination for Best New Restaurant (2023), Food & Wine Best New Chef (2024), Them Now (Food) award (2023), Time 100 Next honoree, and Esquire Rising Star (2022). The list marks a run of recognition across different corners of the trade, each one pointing to a chef whose work has already registered well beyond Asheville.