-New York
-Feast Fest chef Alexei Aiber has won the NCA's Best Above-50 Chef Award for 2014, the first active FFer to do so in the award's second year of existence.
Aiber received 1,764 votes to the 1,688 of former Feast Fest chef Marc Monde, who won the award last year. Monde, however, left Feast Fest in 2004.
Former FF chef Lindbergh Merrssff finished fifth, but is considered a better shot at the NCA's Above-70 award, which he won in 2013 and results for which will be released on Sunday night.
Aiber had not yet been notified of his award, but Monde congratulated Aiber: "As someone who won this award last year, I know that this is one of the widest fields of chefs for a single award in the NCA and that the selection process is very, very rigorous. I couldn't be more joyful for Alexei."
FF Wire Service
