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A look at the James Beard nominees

NEW ORLEANS The James Beard Foundation announced on Monday its list of final nominees for best new restaurant, chef of the year and other categories like outstanding restaurateur, which are considered by many to be the country’s most high-profile culinary awards.

Nominees for Best New Restaurant are Bibou in Philadelphia, Flour + Water in San Francisco, Frances in San Francisco, Locanda Verde in New York, Marea in New York and RN74 in San Francisco.

Nominees for Rising Star Chef of the Year, which goes to chefs 30 years of age or younger, are Timothy Hollingsworth of The French Laundry in Yountville, Calif.; Johnny Monis of Komi in Washington, D.C.; Grégory Pugin of Veritas in New York City; Gabriel Rucker of Le Pigeon in Portland, Ore.; and Sue Zemanick of Gautreau’s in New Orleans.

Check out NRN’s Food Writer’s Diary for food editor Bret Thorn’s predictions on this year's Beard award winners. 

The nominees were announced on Monday morning at The Palace Café in New Orleans. A full list of nominees can be found here.  

In a typical move for the prestigious awards, many of this year’s nominees also were nominated last year. Of the 91 people and restaurants listed in this year’s chef and restaurant awards, excluding best new restaurant, 53 also were nominated last year.

The biggest shakeup came in the Outstanding Wine Service category. Only Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tenn., returned this year. The other nominees are A16 in San Francisco, Frasca Food & Wine in Boulder, Colo., Jean Georges in New York City and Restaurant Gary Danko in San Francisco.

Chef Gary Danko was nominated for Outstanding Chef, along with José Andrés, Tom Colicchio, Suzanne Goin and Charles Phan. Danko and Phan are the only new names on the list.

Babbo in New York City, Boulevard in San Francisco and Highlands Bar & Grill in Birmingham, Al., return in the Outstanding Restaurant category, joined by Daniel in New York City and Spiaggia in Chicago.

Boulevard owner Pat Kuleto is the only newcomer to the list of Outstanding Restaurateur, joining last year’s nominees, Tom Douglas in Seattle, Keith McNally in New York, Richard Melman in Chicago, and Stephen Starr, based in Philadelphia.

The other nominees in the chef, restaurant and design categories are as follows:

Outstanding Pastry Chef:

  • Amanda Cook of CityZen in Washington, D.C.
  • Michelle Gayer of Salty Tart Bakery in Minneapolis
  • Kamel Geuchida of Joël Robuchon at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas
  • Nicole Plue of Redd in Yountville, Calif.
  • Mindy Segal of Mindy’s HotChocolate in Chicago

Outstanding Service:

  • Alinea in Chicago
  • Joël Robuchon at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas
  • La Grenouille in New York City
  • Michael Mina in San Francisco
  • Vetri in Philadelphia

 

Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional

  • Merry Edwards of Merry Edwards Wines in Sebastopol, Calif.
  • Paule Grieco of Hearth in New York City
  • Garrett Oliver of The Brooklyn Brewery in Brooklyn, N.Y.
  • John and Doug Shafer of Shafer Vineyards in Napa, Calif.
  • Julian P. Van Winkle, III of Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery in Louisville, Ky.

Outstanding Restaurant Design:

  • Evan Douglis Studio for Choice Market in Brooklyn, N.Y.
  • Project M for PieLab in Greensboro, Ala.
  • Andre Kikoski Architect for The Wright in New York City

Outstanding Restaurant Graphics:

  • Korn Design for Mercat a la Planxa in Chicago
  • Pandiscio Co., for The Standard Grill in New York City
  • Steven Solomon for Terroir in New York

 

In the regional categories, the nominations are:

Great Lakes (Ill., Ind., Mich., and Ohio):

  • Michael Carlson of Schwa in Chicago
  • Koren Grieveson of Avec in Chicago
  • Arun Sampanthavivat of Arun’s in Chicago
  • Alex Young of Zingerman’s Roadhouse in Ann Arbor, Mich.
  • Bruce Sherman of North Pond in Chicago

Mid-Atlantic (Washington, D.C., Del., Md., N.J., Pa, and Va.):

  • Cathal Armstrong of Restaurant Eve in Alexandria, Va.
  • Jeff Michaud of Osteria in Philadelphia
  • Peter Pastan of Obelisk in Washington, D.C.
  • Michael Solomonov of Zahav in Philadelphia
  • Bryan Voltaggio of Volt in Frederick, Md.

Midwest (Iowa, Kan, Minn., Mo., Neb., N.D., S.D., and Wis.)

  • Isaac Becker of 112 Eatery in Minneapolis
  • Gerard Craft of Niche in St. Louis
  • Colby Garrelts of Bluestem in Kansas City, Mo.
  • Alexander Roberts of Restaurant Alma in Minneapolis
  • Lenny Russo of Heartland in St. Paul, Minn.

New York City

  • Michael Anthony, Gramercy Tavern
  • Wylie Dufresne of WD-50
  • Gabrielle Hamilton of Prune
  • Daniel Humm of Eleven Madison Park
  • Michael White of Marea

Northeast (Conn., Mass., Maine, N.H., N.Y. State, R.I., and Vt.)

  • Clark Frasier and Mark Gaier of Arrows in Ogunquit, Me.
  • Peter X. Kelly of Xavier’s at Piermont in Piermont, N.Y.
  • Michael Leviton of Lumière in West Newton, Mass.
  • Tony Maws of Craigie on Main in Cambridge, Mass.
  • Marc Orfaly of Pigalle in Boston

Northwest (Alaska, Idaho, Mt., Ore., Wash., Wyo.)

  • Naomi Pomeroy of Beast in Portland, Ore.
  • Andy Ricker of Pok Pok in Portland, Ore.
  • Ethan Stowell of Union in Seattle
  • Cathy Whims of Nostrana in Portland, Ore.
  • Jason Wilson of Crush in Seattle

Pacific (Calif., and Hawaii)

  • Michael Cimarusti of Providence in Los Angeles
  • Jeremy Fox of Ubuntu in Napa, Calif.
  • David Kinch of Manresa in Los Gatos, Calif.
  • Matt Molina of Osteria Mozza in Los Angeles
  • Michael Tusk of Quince in San Francisco

South (Ala., Ark., Fla., La., Miss.)

  • Zach Bell of Café Boulud at the Brazilian Court in Palm Beach, Fla.
  • Scott Boswell of Stella! in New Orleans
  • John Harris of Lilette in New Orleans
  • Christopher Hastings of Hot and Hot Fish Club in Birmingham, Ala.
  • Michael Schwartz of Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink in Miami

Southeast (Ga., Ky., N.C., S.C., Tenn., W. Va.)

  • Hugh Acheson of Five and Ten in Athens, Ga.
  • Sean Brock of McCrady’s in Charleston, S.C.
  • Linton Hopkins of Restaurant Eugene in Atlanta
  • Andrea Reusing of Lantern in Chapel Hill, N.C.
  • Bill Smith of Crook’s Corner in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Southwest (Ariz., Colo., N.M., Nev., Okla., Texas, Utah)

  • Bryan Caswell of Reef in Houston
  • Saipin Chutima of Lotus of Siam in Las Vegas
  • Ryan Hardy of Montagna at The Little Nell in Aspen, Colo.
  • Claude Le Tohic of Joël Robuchon at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas
  • Rick Moonen of RM Seafood at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas

Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected].

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