Winners to be named May 7 in Chicago
Most of the nominees for the 2018 James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards, which were announced Wednesday, are returning from last year. But there were shakeups in some categories, and a lot more women were nominated.
The awards honor culinary and operational excellence in foodservice in national categories such as Outstanding Bar Program and Outstanding Restaurateur, as well as 10 regional categories for Best Chef. Once a restaurant, bar, chef or beverage professional win in a particular category they are ineligible in that category for a number of years, and all five nominees in the Best New Restaurant category are new. Nonetheless, 56 out of the 108 nominees also were nominated last year.
Of those, 82 are people (the rest are restaurants or bars) and of those 82 people, 39 were women, including all the nominees for Outstanding Pastry Chef, who were all women last year, too, and three out of five nominees for Outstanding Restaurateur: JoAnn Clevenger of Upperline in New Orleans, Caroline Styne of The Lucques Group in Los Angeles, both of whom were also nominated last year, and Ellen Yin of High Street Hospitality Group in Philadelphia.
Last year, 26 women were nominated.
Among other shakeups, just one nominee in the Outstanding Service category, Zahav in Philadelphia, is back on the list from last year. Three of the five nominees for Outstanding Wine, Beer, or Spirits Professional are new — Cathy Corison of Corison Winery in St. Helena, Calif.; Steve Matthiasson of Matthiasson Wines in Napa, Calif., and Lance Winters of St. George Spirits in Alameda, Calif. — giving California four out of five nominees in that category. Returning nominee Miljenko Grgich of Grgich Hills Estate in Rutherford, Calif., was the only Californian in the category last year.
The Rising Star Chef category, which goes to a promising chef aged 30 or younger, also saw a shakeup, with only Camille Cogswell of Zahav returning.
Four of five nominees for best chef in the Southeast (which includes Ga., Ky., the Carolinas, Tenn., and W.Va.) are new, with just Andrew Ticer and Michael Hudman of Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen in Memphis returning. The other nominees are from Savannah, Ga., Asheville, N.C., Walland, Tenn., and Charleston, S.C., leaving perennial favorite Atlanta out of the running this year.
The full list of nominees can be found bellow. Those in boldface were not nominated in those categories last year.
Nominees were selected from a list of semifinalists by more than 600 judges comprised of food and beverage writers and past winners. Those same judges will vote on these nominees and the winners will be announced at a gala celebration May 7 at Lyric Opera of Chicago.
The Charter Oak, St. Helena, Calif.
Empellón Midtown, New York City
Felix Trattoria, Venice, Calif.
JuneBaby, Seattle
Kismet, Los Angeles
Dianna Daoheung, Black Seed Bagels, New York City
Zachary Golper, Bien Cuit, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Maura Kilpatrick, Sofra Bakery and Café, Cambridge, MA
Belinda Leong and Michel Suas, B. Patisserie, San Francisco
Alison Pray, Standard Baking Co., Portland, ME
Greg Wade, Publican Quality Bread, Chicago
Anvil Bar & Refuge, Houston
Bar Agricole, San Francisco
Clyde Common, Portland, Ore.
Cure, New Orleans
Kimball House, Decatur, Ga.
Trick Dog, San Francisco
Ashley Christensen, Poole’s Diner, Raleigh, N.C.
Gabrielle Hamilton, Prune, New York City
David Kinch, Manresa, Los Gatos, Calf.
Christopher Kostow, The Restaurant at Meadowood, St. Helena, Calif.
Donald Link, Herbsaint, New Orleans
Kelly Fields, Willa Jean, New Orleans
Meg Galus, Boka, Chicago
Margarita Manzke, République, Los Angeles
Dolester Miles, Highlands Bar & Grill, Birmingham, Ala.
Diane Yang, Spoon and Stable, Minneapolis
Balthazar, New York City
Canlis, Seattle
Frasca Food and Wine, Boulder, Colo.
Highlands Bar & Grill, Birmingham, Ala.
Quince, San Francisco
JoAnn Clevenger, Upperline, New Orleans
Ken Oringer, Boston (Uni, Little Donkey, Toro, and others)
Caroline Styne, The Lucques Group, Los Angeles (Lucques, A.O.C., Tavern, and others)
Ellen Yin, High Street Hospitality Group, Philadelphia (Fork, High Street on Market, High Street on Hudson, and others)
Boka, Chicago
Saison, San Francisco
Zahav, Philadelphia
Zingerman’s Delicatessen, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Zuni Café, San Francisco
A.O.C., Los Angeles
Bacchanal, New Orleans
Benu, San Francisco
FIG, Charleston, S.C.
The Little Nell, Aspen, Colo.
Cathy Corison, Corison Winery, St. Helena, Calif.
Diane Flynt, Foggy Ridge Cider, Dugspur, Va.
Miljenko Grgich, Grgich Hills Estate, Rutherford, Calif.
Steve Matthiasson, Matthiasson Wines, Napa, Calif.
Lance Winters, St. George Spirits, Alameda, Calif.
Camille Cogswell, Zahav, Philadelphia
Clare de Boer, King, NYC
Sarah Rinkavage, Marisol, Chicago
Miles Thompson, Michael’s, Santa Monica, CA
Kevin Tien, Himitsu, Washington, D.C.
Andrew Brochu, Roister, Chicago
Abraham Conlon, Fat Rice, Chicago
Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark, Parachute, Chicago
David Posey and Anna Posey, Elske, Chicago
Lee Wolen, Boka, Chicago
Amy Brandwein, Centrolina, Washington, D.C.
Tom Cunanan, Bad Saint, Washington, D.C.
Rich Landau, Vedge, Philadelphia
Jeremiah Langhorne, The Dabney, Washington, D.C.
Cindy Wolf, Charleston, Baltimore
Karen Bell, Bavette La Boucherie, Milwaukee
Steven Brown, Tilia, Minneapolis
Justin Carlisle, Ardent, Milwaukee
Gavin Kaysen, Spoon and Stable, Minneapolis
Ann Kim, Young Joni, Minneapolis
Amanda Cohen, Dirt Candy
Ignacio Mattos, Estela
Missy Robbins, Lilia, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Alex Stupak, Empellón Midtown
Jody Williams, Buvette Gastrothèque
Karen Akunowicz, Myers Chang, Boston
Tiffani Faison, Tiger Mama, Boston
Tony Messina, Uni, Boston
Cassie Piuma, Sarma, Somerville, MA
Benjamin Sukle, Oberlin, Providence, R.I.
Edouardo Jordan, Salare, Seattle
Katy Millard, Coquine, Portland, OR
Bonnie Morales, Kachka, Portland, OR
Justin Woodward, Castagna, Portland, OR
Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi, Joule, Seattle
Vishwesh Bhatt, Snackbar, Oxford, MS
Nina Compton, Compère Lapin, New Orleans
Jose Enrique, Jose Enrique, San Juan, PR
Kristen Essig and Michael Stoltzfus, Coquette, New Orleans
Brad Kilgore, Alter, Miami
Slade Rushing, Brennan’s, New Orleans
Mashama Bailey, The Grey, Savannah, GA
Katie Button, Nightbell, Asheville, NC
Cassidee Dabney, The Barn at Blackberry Farm, Walland, TN
Rodney Scott, Rodney Scott’s BBQ, Charleston, SC
Andrew Ticer and Michael Hudman, Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen, Memphis
Michael Fojtasek, Olamaie, Austin
Bryce Gilmore, Barley Swine, Austin
Steve McHugh, Cured, San Antonio
Martín Rios, Restaurant Martín, Santa Fe
Alex Seidel, Mercantile Dining & Provision, Denver
Michael Cimarusti, Providence, Los Angeles
Dominique Crenn, Atelier Crenn, San Francisco
Jeremy Fox, Rustic Canyon, Santa Monica, CA
Jessica Koslow, Sqirl, Los Angeles
Travis Lett, Gjelina, Venice, CA
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected]
Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary
Correction: March 16, 2018 An earlier version of this story stated that all of the Outstanding Chef nominees were women. All of the nominees in the Outstanding Pastry Chef category are women.
You May Also Like
