NEWBURY — If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen. But how does that popular phrase apply when it's the chef who's generating all the heat?
That could be the predicament for Newbury native David Bazirgan, executive chef of San Francisco's Fifth Floor Restaurant, who was named Hottest Chef in America last week in a national online poll conducted by the restaurant website Eater.
Eater's first annual contest pitted chefs from across the nation against each other. Regional competitions were held in major cities, with those winners going on to the final round of voting, which ended on Friday.
Bazirgan, known as The Baz, has been executive chef of the nationally known fine dining restaurant in the Union Square area of San Francisco since November.
"I was pretty surprised; it's neat and interesting," Bazirgan said. "It's not what I want to be known for. But it's a national thing, so it's great exposure, and it lets people know about the restaurant."
The 37-year-old chef attended Triton Regional High School in Byfield and graduated from Cambridge School of the Culinary Arts in the Porter Square section of Cambridge.
He began his culinary career at several Newburyport restaurants, including the former Scandia and Captain's Quarters. He then joined the Boston restaurant scene, where he worked with chef Barbara Lynch at Galleria Italiana and later caught the attention of chef Todd English, who hired him as a line cook at Olives Restaurant in Charlestown. After spending time in the kitchen of No. 9 Park in Boston, he moved to San Francisco eight years ago.
In San Francisco, Bazirgan worked at Jackson Square and Chez Papa Resto, where he was executive chef, before taking on his current stint at Fifth Floor Restaurant.
At Fifth Floor, located inside the roughly 200-room Hotel Palomar, he oversees a staff of about 20. Because the restaurant is based in a hotel, Bazirgan also manages the hotel bar menu, banquets and in-room dining.
Bazirgan said Fifth Floor uses the best produce in the country and lots of local ingredients to create meals he personally selects. He described the restaurant's cooking techniques as French and Italian.
"But I bring in a lot of flavors from around the world," he said.
The happily married Bazirgan said he was approached by the online publication Eater to see whether he would be willing to be part of the contest, and he agreed. He received word of his new title via a phone call a few mornings ago. His parents, Dick and Doris Bazirgan, were excited to learn that he had won, he said.
"They were into it," he said.
Asked if his newly found fame has resulted in any phone calls from magazines, TV shows or other media sources, Bazirgan said not yet.
"But we'll see what happens," he said.
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