The 2019 James Beard Award semifinalist nominations were announced Wednesday morning and Chicago is well-represented among this year’s competition for the prestigious culinary honor, considered “the Academy Awards of the restaurant industry”:
Outstanding restaurant:
North Pond
Outstanding chef
Sarah Grueneberg, Monteverde
Best Chef Great Lakes Region:
Thai Dang and Danielle Dang, HaiSous Vietnamese Kitchen
Diana Dávila, Mi Tocaya Antojería
Paul Fehribach, Big Jones
Jason Hammel, Lula Café
Brian Jupiter, Frontier
Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark, Parachute
Ethan Pikas, Cellar Door Provisions
David Posey and Anna Posey, Elske
Iliana Regan, Kitsune
Noah Sandoval, Oriole
Lee Wolen, Boka
Best new restaurant:
Kyoten
Passerotto
Rising Star Chef of the Year
Alisha Elenz, MFK
Outstanding Pastry chef
Meg Glaus, Boka
Outstanding Baker:
Stephanie Hart, Brown Sugar Bakery
Greg Wade, Publican Quality Bread
Outstanding restaurateur
Rob Katz and Kevin Boehm, Boka Restaurant Group, Chicago (Boka, Girl & the Goat, Momotaro, and others)
Outstanding Bar Program:
Lost Lake
Outstanding wine program:
Income Tax
Spiaggia
Outstanding service
Birrieria Zaragoza
Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse
In December, it was announced that the awards ceremony will continue to be presented in Chicago through 2027. The news extends the partnership between the City of Chicago and the James Beard Foundation (JBF) past its current agreement end date of 2021. The awards ceremony moved from New York to Chicago in 2015.
Finalists for the prestigious awards will be announced live from Houston on March 27. The 2019 awards ceremony gala will take place on May 6 at the Lyric Opera House of Chicago. For information, visit jamesbeard.org/awards.
