Latest news with #JamesBeardFoundationRestaurantandChefAwards
Eater
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Eater
Where James Beard Nominees Ate and Drank in Chicago
The top chefs, restaurateurs, bartenders, and sommeliers descended on Chicago last weekend for the 35th annual James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards, and they came hungry. While some nominees arrived the night before or even the day of the gala on Monday, June 16, at Lyric Opera, leaving only time for a quick bite at their hotel or a fast-food run, most spent the weekend attending or working at the many James Beard Awards pop-ups and events and hitting up some of the best restaurants in Chicago. From tasting menus to carnitas picnics, here are the best dining and drinking experiences James Beard Award nominees had in the Windy City. 'I went to Kasama and was able to meet chef Timothy [Flores]. I was super blown away by the pork belly adobo and that breakfast sandwich.' — Emil Oliva, Leche de Tigre , San Antonio, (2025 finalist, Best Chef: Texas) 'There was this lemon mascarpone ice cream with caviar at Monteverde that was delicious: sweet, savory, and funky.' — Ryan Castelaz, Agency , Milwaukee, (2025 finalist, Best New Bar) 'We had ramen at High Five Ramen. We had two different ones, both broths were incredible. Love the basement ambiance of it all.' — Jay Blackinton, Houlme , Orcas Island, Washington, (2025 finalist, Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific) 'We had dinner at Boka last night and it was absolutely an incredible experience from start to finish. [We ate] essentially the entire menu. There was maybe only one thing we didn't try, and everything was from top to bottom pretty much a hit.' — Joseph Harrison, Aria , Atlanta, (2025 finalist, Outstanding Hospitality) 'We had a beautiful omelet this morning at Lula Cafe that was just fluffy and delicious with a little bit of onion relish on top of it.' — Andrés Loaiza, Aria , Atlanta, (2025 finalist, Outstanding Hospitality) 'We went to another of our fellow nominee's bars, Kumiko, and had some phenomenal cocktails. I couldn't even pick just one. I feel really honored to be recognized in the same group because they're excellent.' — Max Overstrom-Coleman, Wolf Tree , White River Junction, Vermont, (2025 finalist, Outstanding Bar) 'We went to Uncle Mike's Place for breakfast and it really hit the spot. The lugaw on the table when you first walk in is like the most nourishing, delicious bite, and it's a really good way to start the day. [They have] excellent pork chops. It's absolutely fantastic.' — Silver Iocovozzi, Neng Jr.'s , Asheville, North Carolina, (2025 finalist, Best Chef: Southeast) 'Late night empanadas at Estereo.' — Ryan Roadhouse, Nodoguro , Portland, Oregon, (2025 finalist, Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific) 'Carnitas Uruapan. We just had a picnic at the park right next to it. It's one of those places that I always say when you're in Chicago, go there for carnitas by the pound. It just hits all the spots.' — Johnny Curiel, Alma Fonda Fina , Denver, (2025 finalist, Best New Restaurant) 'We got the duck a la presse from the Alston. When you see that on the menu, you have to order it.' — Brandon Cunningham, The Social Haus , Greenough, Montana, (2025 finalist, Best Chef: Mountain) 'We ate the shawarma chicken at Avec. It was absolutely delicious. We also were at Asador Bastian and had one of their steaks, which is also surreal.' — Ignacio 'Nacho' Jimenez, Superbueno , New York City, ( 2025 winner, Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service ) 'We had dinner at Alinea. That was definitely a once in a lifetime experience that we were looking forward to the whole trip here. That was beautiful.' — Eleazar Villanueva, Restaurant de Joël Robuchon , Las Vegas, (2025 finalist, Best Chef: Southwest) 'Monteverde is an amazing restaurant. We were just recapping again for the fourth time all the pastas, especially that eggplant that [chef Sarah Grueneberg] does. It's unreal.' — Stuart Brioza, Atomic Workshop , San Francisco, (2025 finalist, Outstanding Restaurateur) 'Every time I go to Chicago, going back all the way to 2005, I stop at Avec. I always have to stop at Avec. It's old, it's classic, but it reminds me of a long time ago. We did a really great dinner at HaiSous. We had a wonderful time. We did a wonderful event at Bar Sótano. It's Chicago. You always find good food.' — Zack Walters, Sedalia's Oyster & Seafood , Oklahoma City, (2025 finalist, Best Chef: Southwest) 'I'm a sucker for Avec. I love Avec so much. The vibe, especially the one in the West Loop, is so close and intimate you always end up sharing food with someone random next to you. The sight of the kitchen and all of the flavors are great.' — Noam Bilitzer, MeeshMeesh Mediterranean , Louisville, Kentucky, (2025 finalist, Best Chef: Southeast) 'We went to an all-you-can-eat wagyu Japanese barbecue spot, Wagyu House, that was like from the future. I love seeing different forms of dining and that's something that I could just enjoy — just pure product on a plate. I haven't had a bad meal here. We did a sandwich crawl yesterday. I have a sandwich shop and we tried about nine to 10 different sandwiches. The [best was the] dip from Bari. I could have just had a gravy bread from there. It's too hot in West Texas for me to do that there, but there's nothing better than broth and bread.' — Michael Anthony Serva, Bordo , Marfa, Texas, (2025 finalist, Best Chef: Texas) 'We had dim sum at MingHin and it was amazing. The shumai was incredible. Then we went to Loba for pastries and there was a mole strawberry croissant that was amazing.' — Jake Howell, Peninsula , Nashville, Tennessee, ( 2025 winner, Best Chef: Southeast ) Disclosure: Some Vox Media staff members are part of the voting body for the James Beard Awards. Eater is partnering with the James Beard Foundation to livestream the awards in 2025 . All editorial content is produced independently of the James Beard Foundation. See More:
Time Out
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
The 2025 James Beard Awards have named the best restaurants and chefs in America
It's official: It's time to update your restaurant bucket list. That's because you've got a fresh crop of James Beard Award winners to eat and drink your way through. Following the Padma Lakshmi-hosted James Beard Foundation Media Awards over the weekend, food's biggest night — i.e. the James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards — took place yesterday, June 16, at the Lyric Opera in Chicago, with Nyesha Arrington and Andrew Zimmern acting as the masters of ceremony and announcing this year's illustrious class of winners. And an exciting group they are — for the first time this year, the awards body gave extra recognition to excellency across cocktail and bar culture with three new categories, handing out golden honors for Best New Bar (to Identidad Cocktail Bar in San Juan, Puerto Rico), Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service (to Arjav Ezekiel from Birdie's in Austin, TX) and Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service (to Ignacio Jimenez of New York City drinks den Superbueno). As for the biggies — that would be Best New Restaurant, Outstanding Chef and Outstanding Restaurant — those honors were nicely dispersed among culinary talents from across the country. Bûcheron, a French-American stunner in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was named Best New Restaurant, while Outstanding Restaurant was awarded to Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder, Colorado, a favorite for its refined Northern Italian plates and top-shelf wines. And continuing a dominant streak by New York's food scene — New York City won five of its seven nominations this year, a bit of redemption after being completely shut out from the major categories last year — the Outstanding Chef Award went to Jungsik Yim, who helms the three-Michelin-starred "New Korean" dining room Jungsik in New York City. Outstanding Chef Jungsik Yim, Jungsik, New York, NY Outstanding Restaurant Frasca Food and Wine, Boulder, CO Emerging Chef Phila Lorn, Mawn, Philadelphia, PA Best New Restaurant Bûcheron, Minneapolis, MN Outstanding Bakery JinJu Patisserie, Portland, OR Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker Cat Cox, Country Bird Bakery, Tulsa, OK Outstanding Hospitality Atomix, New York, NY Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program Charleston, Baltimore, MD Best New Bar Identidad Cocktail Bar, San Juan, PR Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service Arjav Ezekiel, Birdie's, Austin, TX Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service Ignacio Jimenez, Superbueno, New York, NY Outstanding Bar Kumiko, Chicago, IL Best Chef: California Jon Yao, Kato, Los Angeles, CA Best Chef: Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH) Noah Sandoval, Oriole, Chicago, IL Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA) Carlos Delgado, Causa and Amazonia, Washington, D.C. Best Chef: Midwest (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD, WI) Karyn Tomlinson, Myriel, St. Paul, MN Best Chef: Mountain (CO, ID, MT, UT, WY) Salvador Alamilla, Amano, Caldwell, ID Best Chef: New York State Vijay Kumar, Semma, New York, NY Best Chef: Northeast (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT) Sky Haneul Kim, Gift Horse, Providence, RI Best Chef: Northwest & Pacific (AK, HI, OR, WA) Timothy Wastell, Antica Terra, Amity, OR Best Chef: South (AL, AR, FL, LA, MS, PR) Nando Chang, Itamae AO, Miami, FL Best Chef: Southeast (GA, KY, NC, SC, TN, WV) Jake Howell, Peninsula, Nashville, TN Best Chef: Southwest (AZ, NM, NV, OK) Yotaka Martin, Lom Wong, Phoenix, AZ Best Chef: Texas Thomas Bille, Belly of the Beast, Spring, TX 2025 James Beard America's Classics • Lem's Bar-B-Q, Chicago • The Pioneer Saloon, Ketchum, ID • Sullivan's Castle Island, Boston • Lucky Wishbone, Anchorage, AK • Dooky Chase, New Orleans, LA • Gaido's, Galveston, TX
Los Angeles Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
This L.A. chef was named the best in California at the James Beard awards
On Monday evening some of the country's most celebrated chefs, beverage professionals, restaurateurs and bakers filled Chicago's Lyric Opera House for the 35th annual James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards. The awards are considered some of the highest honors in hospitality, and this year, amid nationwide deportations and a mounting culture of fear, winners throughout the night honored immigrants: often the unsung staff working in restaurant kitchens. 'We tell stories,' said Kato chef-partner Jon Yao, 'stories of immigrants, diaspora, endurance and perseverance.' Yao won the 2025 category of best chef: California. At his fine-dining restaurant in the Arts District — No. 1 on the L.A. Times 101 List for the last two years in a row — he serves a pioneering tasting menu evocative of his Taiwanese heritage seen through an L.A. lens. Yao's win marks the third year in a row that a Los Angeles nominee took the title of best chef in the state. In 2023 Justin Pichetrungsi of Anajak Thai won the category, while last year the honor went to Kuya Lord chef-owner Lord Maynard Llera. Yao is the only Los Angeles or Orange County nominee to win an award at this year's Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony. The Kato chef was a semifinalist or nominee in the rising star category in 2018, 2019 and 2020. Yao, a child of Taiwanese immigrants who grew up in the San Gabriel Valley, thanked everyone on Kato's team, both past and present. He underscored the importance of immigrant cuisine not only for Kato but Los Angeles. 'L.A. is a city built by the toils of immigrant communities, and right now, those same communities are being ripped apart,' Yao said in his acceptance speech. 'As the children of immigrants, I'm sure many here can imagine a scenario where we couldn't be here to celebrate this all together. But we all deserve the freedom to pursue our dreams, to determine our own futures and to be treated with equal dignity and respect. And everyone in this room tonight has the ability and voice to amplify that message through their own stories in their own communities, and I urge all of us to please use that voice and platform.' The culinary contributions of immigrants could be heard in acceptance speeches through the night, across a range of cultures. Chefs, restaurateurs and food media regularly praised America's diversity of flavor, widely crediting immigrants. 'All food is immigrant, and immigrants make America great,' Miami chef Nando Chang said when he won best chef: South. 'We're gathering at a time of challenge and fear,' Clare Reichenbach, chief executive officer of the James Beard Foundation, said in the ceremony's opening speech.'That's why it is so important to remember the agency we possess, that hope and empathy are an active choice we can make, and that we're connecting tonight in our shared humanity and in the celebration of food and its unique power to unite. … America's food scene has never been more dynamic, more diverse and exciting — and in large part, we owe that dynamism, that vibrancy, to the immigrant communities that lead and underpin this industry in every way. We get to taste the world because of them.' Washington, D.C., chef Carlos Delgado of Causa and Amazonia accepted the award of best chef: Mid-Atlantic and voiced his support of immigrants while his colleague proudly carried a Peruvian flag to the stage. San Juan's Identidad won Best New Bar, and its owners carried a Puerto Rican flag for their acceptance speech. 'I want this to serve as an inspiration to all Puerto Ricans — and Latinos — that it can be done,' co-owner Stephen Alonso said. Best chef: Great Lakes winner Noah Sandoval of Chicago's Oriole, couldn't attend the evening's ceremony, so a friend read a statement in his stead: 'Thank you, and deepest respect to all the nominees and winners tonight. Also, f— ICE.' When Kumiko owner Julia Momosé accepted the award for Outstanding Bar, she underscored the importance of immigrants not only to her own Chicago establishment, but also the industry. 'Every day we are a team of immigrants,' she said. 'We are children of immigrants … your perspective is your strength.' Los Angeles native, former L.A. Times food writer and community activist Toni Tipton-Martin received the lifetime achievement award, celebrating her decades of contribution to food journalism by raising African American culinary voices and platforming young writers. Last year Ruth Reichl, another Los Angeles Times Food vet, received the lifetime achievement award. Tipton-Martin thanked Reichl in her own acceptance speech for helping to guide her culinary voice early in her career. Though most of Southern California's nominees did not win this year, their contributions to the county's culinary fabric were still recognized. 'You are not just an incredible pitmaster, but you're incredibly creative, and you're sort of creating a style of barbecue that you call Southern California barbecue,' food journalist and red carpet host Francis Lam told Daniel Castillo before the ceremony. 'It's not Texas barbecue, it's not Carolina barbecue, but Southern California barbecue.' Castillo co-owns San Juan Capistrano's Heritage Barbecue and Santa Ana's Le Hut Dinette, and was nominated for best chef: California, which Yao won. San Diego's Tara Monsod, of Animae and Le Coq, was also a nominee in the category. Gusto Bread, the Long Beach artisanal panadería from owners Arturo Enciso and Ana Belén Salatino, was nominated in the category of outstanding bakery as it also was in 2024. The lauded bakery did not win this year; that award went to JinJu Patisserie in Portland, Ore. Anaheim's Strong Water is widely celebrated for its spins on classic tiki drinks as well as its ambitious nonalcoholic program. Like Gusto it was nominated in 2024, but this year's award for outstanding wine and other beverages went to Charleston in Baltimore, Maryland. Redbird bar director Tobin Shea was nominated in the category of outstanding professional in cocktail service, which went to Ignacio Jimenez of New York City's Superbueno. Whether he was going to win or lose, Shea previously told The Times that he would be celebrating: This year's awards fell on the week of his 50th birthday. 'It's going to be a great week,' he said. On Saturday night the foundation held its annual media awards, which celebrate the year's top culinary books, articles, television, radio and more. Los Angeles Times restaurant critic Bill Addison, columnist Jenn Harris and Food senior editor Danielle Dorsey all saw nominations this year. Andrea Freeman — a professor at L.A.'s Southwestern Law School — took the award in the category for food issues and advocacy with her book 'Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: The Politics of Food in the United States, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch.' L.A.-based journalist Jeff Gordinier, along with artist and designer George McCalman, won the M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award for Food & Wine article 'The City That Rice Built.' Another Los Angeles-based author, Gastropod podcast co-host Nicola Twilley, also won an award. Her book 'Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves' led the category of literary writing. The full list of the 2025 James Beard Media Award winners can be found here.
CBS News
03-04-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Pittsburgh gets two finalists in the 2025 James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards
The nominations for the 2025 James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards have been announced, and Pittsburgh was among those named. The categories where Pittsburgh is represented are Best New Restaurant and the Humanitarian of the Year Awards. Fet-Fisk Restaurant and Bar in Bloomfield is among the 10 finalists for Best New Restaurant. Fet-Fisk began in 2019, but not as a traditional restaurant. They hosted pop-up dinners across the city on Monday nights and would feature a brand-new menu each week. Then, in 2024, they open a traditional brick-and-mortar location in Bloomfield. According to their website, they feature regional produce in accordance with the season and sustainably sourced seafood and meats. Meanwhile, the founder and CEO of Cafe Momentum, Chad Houser, was nominated for the Humanitarian of the Year Award. Cafe Momentum, while being a Dallas-based nonprofit restaurant founded by Houser, chose Pittsburgh as one of its first expansion locations in March 2023. The restaurant helps justice-involved teenagers by teaching them life skills and providing education and employment opportunities within the culinary industry. You can check out the full list of nominees for the 2025 James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards on their website at this link . The 35th annual James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards will take place on June 16 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
