The Bay Area did not claim a single award at this year’s James Beard Awards, held Monday, June 16, in Chicago, despite entering the final round with four semifinalists from San Francisco and one from Mendocino County.
The initial list of nominees this year included over 20 northern and central California restaurants and culinary professionals.
Only Jon Yao of Los Angeles took home a California award, in the Best Chef, California category. “At our restaurant, we tell stories of immigrants, of diaspora, endurance and perseverance,” he said in his acceptance speech. “LA is a city built by the toils of immigrant communities, and right now, those same communities are being ripped apart.”
Two San Francisco-based chefs were in the running for Best Chef, California: Richard Lee of Saison and Kosuke Tada of Mijote. Other Bay Area contenders were Jacob Brown of Lazy Bear in San Francisco for Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service; Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski of State Bird Provisions, The Progress and The Anchovy Bar in San Francisco for Outstanding Restaurateur; and Harbor House Inn in Elk, Mendocino County. for Outstanding Hospitality.
The Bay Area was also shut out at last year’s award ceremony and the 2023 awards.
Overall, the ceremony was a warm celebration of the diversity of the U.S. culinary tapestry, and the people who craft it.
“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,” said Clare Reichenbach, CEO of the James Beard Foundation, during the ceremony. “We get to taste the world because of them.”
The winners are:
Emerging Chef: Phila Lorn, Mawn, Philadelphia, PA
Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker: Cat Cox, Country Bird Bakery, Tulsa, OK
Outstanding Bakery: JinJu Patisserie, Portland, OR
Best New Bar: Identidad Cocktail Bar, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Outstanding Restaurateur: Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr, Frenchette, Le Veau d’ Or, and Le Rock, New York, NY
Outstanding Chef: Jungsik Yim, Jungsik, New York, NY
Outstanding Restaurant: Frasca Food and Wine, Boulder, CO
Outstanding Hospitality: Atomix, New York, NY
Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service: Ignacio “Nacho” Jimenez, Superbueno, New York, NY
Outstanding Wine & Other Beverages Program: Charleston, Baltimore, MD
Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service: Arjav Ezekiel, Birdie’s, Austin, TX
Outstanding Bar: Kumiko, Chicago, IL
Best New Restaurant: Bucheron, Minneapolis, MN
Best Chef, California: Jon Yao, Kato, Los Angeles, CA
Best Chef, Northwest and Pacific: Timothy Wastell, Antica Terra, Amity, OR
Best Chef, Mountain: Salvador Alamilla, Amano, Caldwell, ID
Best Chef, Southwest: Yotaka Martin, Lom Wong, Phoenix, AZ
Best Chef, Midwest: Karyn Tomlinson, Myrtle, St. Paul, MN
Best Chef, Texas: Thomas Bille, Belly of the Beast, Spring, TX
Best Chef, Great Lakes: Noah Sandoval, Oriole, Chicago, IL
Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic: Carlos Delgado, Causa and Amazonia, Washington, D.C.
Best Chef, New York State: Vijay Kumar, Semma, New York, NY
Best Chef, Northeast: Sky Haneul Kim, Gift Horse, Providence, RI
Best Chef, Southeast: Jake Howell, Peninsula, Nashville, TN
Best Chef, South: Nando Chang, Itamae AO, Miami, FL
Lifetime Achievement: Toni Tipton-Martin, an award-winning food journalist and cookbook author.
The foundation also recognized in a separate ceremony six restaurants as part of its “America’s Classics” awards. Those were Lem’s Bar-B-Q, Chicago; The Pioneer Saloon, Ketchum, Idaho; Sullivan’s Castle Island, Boston; Lucky Wishbone, Anchorage; Dooky Chase, New Orleans; and Gaido’s, Galveston.
Additionally, the foundation provided Impact Awards to: U.S. Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota; Brandon Edwin Chrostowski, CEO of Edwins Leadership & Restaurant Institute; Anthony Edwards Jr., co-founder of EatOkra; Seanicaa Edwards Herron, founder and executive director of Freedmen Heirs Foundation; and Dune Lankard, president and founder of Native Conservancy.
