In just over a week, the James Beard Foundation will crown the top chefs and restaurateurs across the country at their annual awards ceremony in Chicago, often called the Oscars of the food world.
But no matter who wins, those with a nomination are forever part of a special class in the industry. So before the full-on celebrations get underway, we caught up with 12 nominated chefs and restaurateurs on all of their excitement and hopes ahead of the star-studded ceremony on June 10 at the Lyric Opera.
One chef spoke about how winning could “shift the needle” on industry disparities, while another shared that he “ugly cried” when he found out about the nomination. There’s lots of awe, gratitude, and goals among the group.
Read on for the scoop from the nominees, and check back on June 10 for a full list of winners.
The following interviews have been edited for length
What’s the first thing you did when you found out you had been nominated?
Emerging chef nominee Fariyal Abdullahi of NYC’s Hav & Mar: I was on the set of Chopped. I turned to my co-judge Tiffani Faison and told her the great news. We screamed, hugged, and went back to shooting. Later during the shoot, everyone on set took a pause to present me with flowers and congratulate me.
Best chef: California nominee Rogelio Garcia of Calistoga’s Auro: This might sound a bit cliché, but I called my mom. The first time I took her to New York was when I cooked at the James Beard House in 2015.
Best chef: Mid-Atlantic nominee Matt Kern of Fenwick Island’s One Coastal: I was elbows deep in the grease trap and about 10 minutes after they announced it, I thought, ‘Let’s see who made the top five.’ I ugly cried a little bit and then called my wife. It was a very surreal moment since Delaware is not on the culinary map all the time.
Outstanding restaurateur nominee Melba Wilson of NYC’s Melba’s: When I first found out, I told the team, because hospitality is a team effort—it is not something that I achieve by myself. It is everyone from our runners to our dishwashers to our cooks to our chefs to our manager to my COO and my CFO.
What does the nomination mean to you and why?
Outstanding chef nominee Dean Neff of Wilmington’s Seabird: I could not be more honored and surprised. I’ve witnessed firsthand the positive impact independent restaurants can have on their communities and have come to realize that our work can be fulfilling in ways that go far beyond cooking.
Abdullahi: It would be the highlight of my career. I often talk about the disparity in numbers of kitchens led by women of color (6% to be specific), and this would shift the needle as to why we deserve these opportunities just as much as anyone else.
Best new restaurant nominee Erin Easton (co-nominated with Mike Easton) of Waitsburg’s Bar Bacetto: It’s a great way to be recognized for our many combined years in the hospitality industry.
Best chef: Mid-Atlantic nominee Harley Peet of Easton’s Bas Rouge: It is a massive life achievement for me and a huge career goal that I never even really thought was going to be possible, but if you work hard enough and put your passion and soul into something as much as I have, and as my team has, then good things come.
Kern: I don’t really have the budget to pay for publicity and PR, so that was huge. I’d rather pay my employees than pay for advertising, so that in itself is huge because we have definitely had a spike in business. I’m so grateful because local recognition is one thing—but national recognition, I mean, holy smokes. .
Who inspires you in the industry and why?
Best new restaurant nominee Biplaw Rai of Dorchester’s Comfort Kitchen: Every single restaurant worker that has left their families thousands of miles away to achieve their dream is my single inspiration. In a divisive political climate like today, it’s even more important for us to recognize our immigrant families that give so much and do not get recognized for their contribution.
Neff: Cheetie Kumar [of Raleigh’s Ajja] is one of my favorite chefs, and she happens to be here in North Carolina as well. Her cooking, and how expertly she blends and layer flavors, is incredible.
Wilson: Chef Kwame Onwuachi [of NYC’s Tatiana] is someone who I’m very inspired by, someone who uses the flavors, and takes you on a culinary journey, from Nigeria to Harlem to the South Bronx to Queens to Asia. He’s also someone who’s unapologetically himself.
Peet: Chef Patrick O’Connell [of The Inn at Little Washington] has always been a giant inspiration, being a member of the LGBTQ community himself and being a pioneer in fine dining for the last 45 years.
Who are you most excited to meet at the awards ceremony and why?
Kern: I’ve always looked up to Andrew Zimmern [of Magnolia Network’s Family Dinner], so I’d love to meet him, say hi, and maybe hug him. Grant Achatz [of Chicago’s Alinea] is a hero of mine. If he was there, I’d love to be able to shake his hand.
Wilson: Chef Serigne Mbaye [of New Orleans’s Dakar NOLA], who literally used to live around the corner from Melba’s, so to watch him grow up in this industry is seeing someone you knew was a diamond in the rough, but allowing the world to see what you saw many years ago.
Best chef: Great Lakes nominee Jose Salazar of Cincinnati’s Mita’s: I am looking forward to a talk being given by chef Beverly Kim [of Chicago’s Parachute]. I’ve admired her and her husband Johnny’s work.
Neff: I’m a big fan of Preeti Waas [of Durham’s Cheeni], so I am excited to see her again. So excited she’s been invited to cook at the awards this year!
Garcia: If I had to choose just one person, it would be José Andrés. He’s received the James Beard Humanitarian Award, and although I’ve met him before, I’ve never had a chance to have a conversation with him. He’s done so much as both a chef and a humanitarian.
Whose restaurant do you want to try most and why?
Wilson: Definitely Virtue. The chef Erick Williams is someone that I’ve met, and I love his journey. For me, food is about the journey. It is not about getting to Z, it’s about the stops that you made, the bumps in the road to get to where you are at—those are the things that really and truly impress. I know it hasn’t been an easy road for him, so I want to taste that pureness, that struggle, and all that success in his food.
Outstanding restaurant nominee Alex Perry (co-nominated with Kumi Omori) of Ocean Springs’s Vestige: We made reservations for The Smith in Chicago, and we are very excited to try that. The flavor combinations sound insanely creative, you know there is some genius behind there.
Rai: Dakar NOLA is definitely on my list. I am always interested in knowing [about a] chef’s upbringing and childhood through their food. Chef Seringe’s [Mbaye] home country Senegal is on my list of countries that I would love to visit and learn about.
Peet: The Dabney is always a fantastic place to go. Jeremiah Langhorne [the chef and owner] is definitely a good inspiration as far as demonstration of absolute skill, using local ingredients, and promoting equality and stewardship in this business.
What’s the one dish that best represents your restaurant and how?
Best chef: California nominee Tara Monsod of San Diego’s Animae: The short rib kare kare because it’s a humble Filipino dish that has been reimagined, similar to the other dishes at the restaurant. It’s a dish that involves technique but still has flavors that taste like home.
Best chef: Great Lakes nominee Sujan Sarkar of Chicago’s Indienne: The mushroom galouti, which is based on a kebab from Lucknow [a city in India]. The galouti is inserted into a choux bun and topped with goat cheese jelly and truffle. Indienne is all about presenting Indian food in more of a French way, and this is the perfect marriage between Indian food and modern French technique.
Neff: Ana Shellem [who runs a sustainable shellfishing company in North Carolina] has recently discovered loads of tulip snails in the marsh, and we have an unwritten rule that we’ll take anything and everything she finds when foraging. Our chef de cuisine Jay Jones tosses them with linguine, white wine, Calabrian chiles, garlic, and fresh spring herbs—it’s a really fresh take on linguine with clams that’s at the heart of what we do here at Seabird. And they’ll probably find their way into our seafood tower soon, too.
Kern: The Chesapeake blue catfish. It’s an invasive species; it has eaten up about 60% percent of the indigenous wildlife on the Chesapeake, and it needs to be eradicated. Serving that fish makes me really happy because it shows people how delicious conservation can be.
Editor’s Note: The chefs and restaurateurs featured in the lead image are (from left to right, starting from the top row) Harley Peet of Easton’s Bas Rouge, Dean Neff of Wilmington’s Seabird, Fariyal Abdullahi of NYC’s Hav & Mar, Jose Salazar of Cincinnati’s Mita’s, Tara Monsod of San Diego’s Animae, Melba Wilson of NYC’s Melba’s, Sujan Sarkar of Chicago’s Indienne, Kumi Omori and Alex Perry of Ocean Springs’s Vestige, Rogelia Garcia of Calistoga’s Auro, Matt Kern of Fenwick Island’s One Coastal, Erin and Mike Easton of Waitsburg’s Bar Bacetto, and the team at Dorchester’s Comfort Kitchen, including Biplaw Rai at the bottom right.
Tanay Warerkar has spent more than a decade as a journalist, including several years as a food reporter and editor. He’s worked at the San Francisco Chronicle, Eater, and the New York Daily News, among others. He now oversees features content at OpenTable, where he also stays on top of the hottest trends and developments in the restaurant industry.
