A sea of Chicago chefs among 2019 James Beard Award nominees

The nominees for the 2019 James Beard Awards, known as the “Oscars of the culinary world,” were announced Wednesday morning during a live stream from Hugo’s restaurant in Houston, Texas.

Of note: Once again, it’s an all-Chicago faceoff in the category of best chef/Great Lakes region. Grant Achatz and his Alinea team received a book awards nomination for their work, the massive, 400-plus pages recipe tome, “The Aviary Cocktail Book.” Chicago chef Bill Kim of Urbanbelly was nominated for his cookbook,”Korean BBQ: Master Your Grill in Seven Sauces.”

In all, Chicago’s renowned culinary world received 16 nominations.

In the categories of restaurants and chefs, Chicago nominees include:

Best chef, Great Lakes Region:

Diana Dávila, Mi Tocaya Antojería

Jason Hammel, Lula Café

Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark, Parachute

David Posey and Anna Posey, Elske

Noah Sandoval, Oriole

Lee Wolen, Boka

Rising star chef of the year:

Alisha Elenz, MFK

Outstanding restaurateur:

Rob Katz and Kevin Boehm, Boka Restaurant Group, Chicago (Boka, Girl & the Goat, Momotaro, and others)

Outstanding baker:

Greg Wade, Publican Quality Bread

Outstanding pastry chef:

Meg Galus, Boka

Outstanding bar program:

Lost Lake

Outstanding wine program:

Spiaggia

Oustanding restaurant design, 76 seats and over:

Land and Sea Dept., for Lonesome Rose

Parts and Labor Design, for Pacific Standard Time

Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony gala May 6 at the Lyric Opera House of Chicago. Media award winners will be announced on April 26 in New York City.

Chicago’s culinary community had garnered 25 semifinalist chef/restaurant nominations this year, which were announced in February.

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.

For the complete list of nominees, information and tickets to this year’s awards ceremony in Chicago, visit jamesbeard.org/awards.