Chicago well-represented among 2019 James Beard Awards semi-finalists

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.