Silver Iocovozzi is the chef-owner of the James Beard Award-nominated Neng Jr.’s—Asheville, North Carolina’s only Filipinx restaurant and a New York Times and Bon Appetit Best Restaurant. A second generation Filipinx and lifelong Southern resident, Silver’s food celebrates a deep love for Filipinx cuisine, cooking with fire, the histories and foodways of barbecue in the American South and its application globally.

Silver, a 2023 Time100 Next honoree, has travelled to and cooked in Manila, Quezon City, Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles, Mexico City and more, holding notable positions as Chef in Residence at Palm Heights Grand Cayman and opening sous chef at Asheville’s much-lauded Buxton Hall Barbecue. 

Silver’s dedication to the culinary cosmos is indebted to the experience of his Filipino mother, Neneng, as a first generation immigrant landing in Parris Island, SC in 1986. The lessons taught through this lifelong connection have deeply affected his inspiration and his dedication to the diffusion of Filipinx cuisine and its heritage.