William Dissen: The Market Place (Asheville, NC)

Passion for your work can give you energy to do more than you ever dreamed you'd have time for. That's the case for William Dissen, chef of The Market Place in Asheville, NC, which this year, its 45th in operation, was named a semifinalist for Outstanding Restaurant by the James Beard Foundation. William began honing his skills through study at the Culinary Institute of America and in various kitchens, including the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia, and the beloved but now closed Cypress in Charleston, SC. In addition to another restaurant venture, Billy D's Fried Chicken, he has a big life outside the kitchen as well. He's a member of the U.S. State Department's American Chefs Corps, a "Seafood Watch Ambassador" for the Monterey Bay Aquarium, on the board of the University of South Carolina's School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, and now, a cookbook author with Thoughtful Cooking: Recipes Rooted in the New South. Granted, it's an unusual title for a man who always seems on the go, but because of his style of cooking, he's always looking to nature and the seasons, which tell him to slow down and notice. It's a practice he actively cultivates. Take one bite of his food, and that's evident -- there's a point of view and a grounded ethos behind every dish.