The James Beard Foundation revealed its list of nominees who made the cut as 2020 semifinalists, recognizing the best chefs, restaurateurs, authors, and journalists in the country. The winners will be announced during the James Beard Awards Gala in Chicago on Monday, May 4th. In the meantime, start exploring the career opportunities with this year's restaurants and chef nominees and/or discover openings on the teams of past years' winners.
Best New Restaurant
Cultura (Asheville, NC)
Lazy Betty (Atlanta, GA)
Automatic Seafood & Oysters (Birmingham, AL)
Fox & the Knife (Boston, MA)
Thattu (Chicago, IL)
Tzuco (Chicago, IL)
Salaryman (Dallas, TX)
Sunday Vinyl (Denver, CO)
Saffron De Twah (Detroit, MI)
Oak Hill Café & Farm (Greenville, SC)
The Blind Goat (Houston, TX)
Squable (Houston, TX)
Nightshade (Los Angeles, CA)
Demi (Minneapolis, MN)
Gianna (New Orleans, LA)
Golden Diner (New York, NY)
Kāwi (New York, NY)
Kalaya (Philadelphia, PA)
Vecina (Phoenix, AZ)
Eem (Portland, OR)
Gado Gado (Portland, OR)
Beit Rima (San Francisco, CA)
Verjus (San Francisco, CA)
Cocina al Fondo (San Juan, PR)
Pasjoli (Santa Monica, CA)
Il Nido (Seattle, WA)
Tanám (Somerville, MA)
iNDO (St. Louis, MO)
Rooster & Owl (Washington, DC)
Thamee (Washington, DC)
Outstanding Baker
Kim Boyce - Bakeshop (Portland, OR)
Spencer Budros - Pistacia Vera (Columbus, OH)
Evrim Dogu and Evin Dogu - Sub Rosa Bakery (Richmond, VA)
Tova du Plessis - Essen Bakery (Philadelphia, PA)
Graison Gill - Bellegarde Bakery (New Orleans, LA)
Zachary Golper - Bien Cuit (New York, NY)
Clyde Greenhouse - Kessler Baking Studio (Dallas, TX)
Don Guerra - Barrio Bread (Tucson, AZ)
Briana Holt - Tandem Coffee + Bakery (Portland, ME)
Maura Kilpatrick - Sofra Bakery (Cambridge, MA)
Ayako Kurokawa - Burrow (New York, NY)
Lisa Ludwinski - Sister Pie (Detroit, MI)
Moshit Mizrachi-Gabbitas - Janjou Pâtisserie (Boise, ID)
David Norman - Easy Tiger Bake Shop & Beer Garden (Austin, TX)
Taylor Petrehn - 1900 Barker (Lawrence, KS)
Nathaniel Reid - Nathaniel Reid Bakery (Kirkwood, MO)
Avery Ruzicka - Manresa Bread (Los Gatos, CA)
Matt Tinder - Saboteur Bakery (Bremerton, WA)
Chris Wilkins - Root Baking Co. (Atlanta, GA)
Na Young Ma - Proof Bakery ( Los Angeles, CA)
Outstanding Bar Program
Anvil Bar & Refuge (Houston, TX)
The Atomic Lounge (Birmingham, AL)
The Baldwin Bar (Woburn, MA)
Bar Leather Apron (Honolulu, HI)
Clavel Mezcaleria (Baltimore, MD)
Colita (Minneapolis, MN)
Existing Conditions (New York, NY)
Expatriate (Portland, OR)
Horse Inn (Lancaster, PA)
Kimball House (Decatur, GA)
La Factoría (San Juan, PR)
Las Almas Rotas (Dallas, TX)
Leyenda (Brooklyn, NY)
Little Rituals (Phoenix, AZ)
Lost Lake (Chicago, IL)
OTOTO (Los Angeles, CA)
Novare Res Bier Café (Portland, ME)
Sugar House (Detroit, MI)
Trick Dog (San Francisco, CA)
Williams & Graham (Denver, CO)
Outstanding Chef
Andrew Carmellini - The Dutch (New York, NY)
Ann Cashion - Johnny's Half Shell (Washington, DC)
John Fleer - Rhubarb (Asheville, NC)
Nobuo Fukuda - Nobuo at Teeter House (Phoenix, AZ)
Sarah Grueneberg - Monteverde (Chicago, IL)
Gavin Kaysen - Spoon and Stable (Minneapolis, MN)
Melissa Kelly - Primo (Rockland, ME)
David Kinch - Manresa (Los Gatos, CA)
Christopher Kostow - The Restaurant at Meadowood (St. Helena, CA)
Corey Lee - Benu (San Francisco, CA)
Ludo Lefebvre - Trois Mec (Los Angeles, CA)
Donald Link - Herbsaint (New Orleans, LA)
Maricel Presilla - Cucharamama (Hoboken, NJ)
Missy Robbins - Lilia (New York, NY)
Gabriel Rucker - Le Pigeon (Portland, OR)
Holly Smith - Cafe Juanita (Kirkland, WA)
Ana Sortun - Oleana (Cambridge, MA)
Vikram Sunderam - Rasika (Washington, DC)
Marc Vetri - Vetri Cucina (Philadelphia, PA)
Justin Yu - Theodore Rex (Houston, TX)
Outstanding Hospitality
15 Fox Place (Jersey City, NJ)
1919 (San Juan, PR)
Angus Barn Steakhouse (Raleigh, NC)
Black Trumpet Bistro (Portsmouth, NH)
Brigtsen's (New Orleans, LA)
Canlis (Seattle, WA)
Chez Fonfon (Birmingham, AL)
Dominique Ansel Bakery (New York, NY)
HOBNOB (Racine, WI)
Hugo's (Houston, TX)
Kai (Phoenix, AZ)
Leon’s Fine Poultry & Oyster Shop (Charleston, SC)
Love Handle (Indianapolis, IN)
Marcel's (Washington, DC)
Mi Nidito Restaurant (Tucson, AZ)
Mistral (Boston, MA)
Pekin Noodle Parlor (Butte, MT)
Saison (San Francisco, CA)
Swan Oyster Depot (San Francisco, CA)
Zingerman's Roadhouse (Ann Arbor, MI)
Outstanding Pastry Chef
Antonio Bachour - Bachour (Coral Gables, FL)
Neil Blazin - Driftwood Oven (Pittsburgh, PA)
Lincoln Carson - Bon Temps (Los Angeles, CA)
Ali and Kevin Cohane - Persephone (Jackson, WY)
Renae Connolly - Benedetto (Cambridge, MA)
Juan Contreras - Atelier Crenn (San Francisco, CA)
Megan Garrelts - Rye (Leawood, KS)
Sylvia Gould - Kool Beanz Cafe (Tallahassee, FL)
Maggie Huff - Homewood (Dallas, TX)
Margarita Manzke - République (Los Angeles, CA)
Claudia Martinez - Tiny Lou's (Atlanta, GA)
Mimi Mendoza - Senia (Honolulu, HI)
Diane Moua - Spoon and Stable (Minneapolis, MN)
Natasha Pickowicz - Flora Bar (New York, NY)
Ricardo "Ricchi" Sanchez - Bullion (Dallas, TX)
Emily Spurlin - Lula Cafe (Chicago, IL)
Krystle Swenson - Crawford and Son (Raleigh, NC)
Katherine Thompson - Thompson Italian (Falls Church, VA)
Miro Uskokovic - Gramercy Tavern (New York, NY)
Country Velador - Super Chunk Sweets & Treats (Scottsdale, AZ)
Outstanding Restaurant
Boka (Chicago, IL)
Bolete (Bethlehem, PA)
FIG (Charleston, SC)
Fore Street (Portland, ME)
Frasca Food and Wine (Boulder, CO)
Hà VL (Portland, OR)
House of Prime Rib (San Francisco, CA)
Jaleo (Washington, DC)
Kogi BBQ (Los Angeles, CA)
Komi (Washington, DC)
La Morada (The Bronx, NY)
Mai Lee (Brentwood, MO)
Michael's Genuine Food & Drink (Miami, FL)
Neptune Oyster (Boston, MA)
Pizzeria Bianco (Phoenix, AZ)
The Original Ninfa's on Navigation (Houston, TX)
Quince (San Francisco, CA)
Restaurant Alma (Minneapolis, MN)
SriPraPhai (Woodside, NY)
Sushi Den (Denver, CO)
Outstanding Restaurateur
Paul Bartolotta - The Bartolotta Restaurants (Milwaukee, WI)
Jamie Bissonnette and Ken Oringer - JK Food Group (Boston, MA)
JoAnn Clevenger - Upperline Restaurant (New Orleans, LA)
Sameer Eid and Samy Eid - Phoneicia, Forest, Leila (Birmingham, MI and Detroit, MI)
Benjamin Goldberg and Max Goldberg - Strategic Hospitality (Nashville, TN)
Ruth Gresser - Pizzeria Paradiso ( Washington, DC)
Martha Hoover - Patachou Inc. (Indianapolis, IN)
Jennifer Jasinski, Beth Gruitch - Crafted Concepts (Denver, CO)
Mike Mastro and Jeff Mastro - Prime Steak Concepts ( Scottsdale, AZ)
Thomas McNaughton, David Steele and David White - Ne Timeas Restaurant Group (San Francisco, CA)
Larry McGuire - McGuire Moorman Hospitality (Austin, TX)
Jay McSharry - Jumpin' Jay's Fish Cafe, Vida Cantina, Moxy, and others (Portsmouth, NH)
Ouita Michel - Ouita Michel Family of Restaurants (Lexington, KY)
Willy Ng - Magic Gourmet Trading (San Francisco, CA)
Akkapong “Earl” Ninsom - Langbaan, PaaDee, Hat Yai (Portland, OR)
Steve Palmer - The Indigo Road (Charleston, SC)
Alex Raij and Eder Montero - La Vara, Saint Julivert Fisherie, Txikito (New York, NY)
Cookie Till - Steve and Cookie's, Ventnor No. 7311 (Margate, NJ)
Tracy Vaught - H Town Restaurant Group (Houston, TX)
Jason Wang - Xi'an Famous Foods (New York, NY)
Outstanding Wine Program
Bacchanal (New Orleans, LA)
Beholder (Indianapolis, IN)
Canard (Portland, OR)
COTE (New York, NY)
Death & Taxes (Raleigh, NC)
element 47 at The Little Nell (Aspen, CO)
Flight Wine Bar (Washington, DC)
FnB (Scottsdale, AZ)
Great China (Berkeley, CA)
Grill 23 (Boston, MA)
haley.henry (Boston, MA)
Le Caveau (Philadelphia, PA)
L'Oursin (Seattle, WA)
Lucky Palace (Bossier City, LA)
Miller Union (Atlanta, GA)
The Morris (San Francisco, CA)
Night + Market Sahm (Venice, CA)
Ops (Brooklyn, NY)
Rosie Cannonball (Houston, TX)
Spiaggia (Chicago, IL)
Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer Producer
Scott Blackwell and Ann Marshall - High Wire Distilling Co. (Charleston, SC)
Jean Broillet IV - Tired Hands Brewing Company (Ardmore, PA)
Cathy Corison - Corison Winery (St. Helena, CA)
Brianne Day - Day Wines (Dundee, OR)
Austin Evans and Richard Patrick Jr. - Cathead Distillery (Jackson, MS)
David Favela - Border X Brewing (San Diego, CA)
Aaron Fox and Daniel de la Nuez - Forthave Spirits (New York, NY)
Deirdre Heekin - La Garagista Farm + Winery (Barnard, VT)
Nancy Irelan and Mike Schnelle - Red Tail Ridge Winery (Penn Yan, NY)
Marika Josephson and Aaron Kleidon - Scratch Brewing Company (Ava, IL)
Drew Kulsveen - Willett Distillery (Bardstown, KY)
Todd Leopold and Scott Leopold - Leopold Bros. (Denver, CO)
Steve Luke - Cloudburst Brewing (Seattle, WA)
André Hueston Mack - Maison Noir Wines (McMinnville, OR)
Kim McPherson - McPherson Cellars (Lubbock, TX)
Amanda and Stephen Paul - Whiskey Del Bac (Tucson, AZ)
Yoshihiro Sako - Den Sake Brewery (Oakland, CA)
Jeffrey Stuffings and Michael Stuffings - Jester King Brewery (Austin, TX)
Rutger de Vink - RdV Vineyards (Delaplane, VA)
Lance Winters - St. George Spirits (Alameda, CA)
Rising Star Chef of the Year
Will Aghajanian and Liz Johnson - The Catbird Seat (Nashville, TN)
Angel Barreto - Anju (Washington, DC)
Nick Bognar - iNDO (St. Louis, MO)
Trigg Brown - Win Son (Brooklyn, NY)
Ana Castro - Thalia (New Orleans, LA)
Valerie Chang - ITAMAE (Miami, FL)
Bria Downey - Clay Pigeon Food & Drink (Fort Worth, TX)
Alisha Elenz - mfk. / Bar Biscay (Chicago, IL)
Robbie Felice - Viaggio Ristorante (Wayne, NJ)
Rikki Giambruno - Hyacinth (St. Paul, MN)
Mariana Gonzalez-Trasvina - Bar 'Cino (Newport, RI)
Jesse Ito - Royal Izakaya (Philadelphia, PA)
