Bay Area restaurants, chefs are again shut out of the James Beard Awards
The Bay Area did not claim a single award at this year s James Beard Awards held Monday June 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 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 declared 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 Utility 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 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 noted 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 Provision Ignacio Nacho Jimenez Superbueno New York NY Outstanding Wine Other Beverages Effort Charleston Baltimore MD Outstanding Professional in Beverage Arrangement 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
