2019 James Beard Award Winners

2019 James Beard Foundation Award Winners Announced

May 7, 2019

New York, NY (Restaurant News Release) Winners were announced Monday, May 6, 2019, at the James Beard Awards at Lyric Opera of Chicago. During a ceremony emceed by Emmy-nominated actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson, awards were presented in the Restaurant and Chef and Restaurant Design categories, as well as several special achievement awards, including Lifetime Achievement, Design Icon, America’s Classics, and Humanitarian of the Year. Industry leaders from across the country attended the highly anticipated annual ceremony where the theme was “Good Food For GoodTM”, a mantra synonymous with the James Beard Foundation’s mission. In keeping with the theme, gala reception chefs from across the country included past James Beard Award winners and many who are involved in the Foundation’s signature impact-oriented initiatives, from Smart Catch to Women’s Leadership Programs to the Chefs Boot Camp for Policy and Change. Their thoughtful and delicious dishes fed the nearly 2,000 attendees at the evening’s Awards gala. VIP guests were treated to a multi-course dinner and experience in the mezzanine boxes during the Awards show prepared by chefs from the esteemed Union Square Hospitality Group. A complete list of award winners can be found here, as well as at jamesbeard.org/awards. 2019 James Beard Foundation Award Winners 2019 James Beard Foundation Outstanding Restaurant Design Awards

1. 75 Seats and UnderFirm: Studio Writers Project: Atomix, NYC

2. 76 Seats and OverFirm: Parts and Labor Design Project: Pacific Standard Time, Chicago Other Eating and Drinking Places Firm: Schwartz and Architecture (S^A) Project: El Pípila, San Francisco Design Icon Canlis Seattle 2019 James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards Best New Restaurant Frenchette NYC Outstanding Baker Greg Wade Publican Quality Bread Chicago Outstanding Bar Program Bar Agricole San Francisco Outstanding Chef (Presented by All-Clad Metalcrafters) Ashley Christensen Poole’s Diner Raleigh, NC Outstanding Pastry Chef (Presented by Lavazza) Kelly Fields Willa Jean New Orleans Outstanding Restaurant (Presented by S.Pellegrino® Sparkling Natural Mineral Water) Zahav Philadelphia Outstanding Restaurateur (Presented by Magellan Corporation) Kevin Boehm and Rob Katz Boka Restaurant Group (Boka, Girl & the Goat, Momotaro, and others) Chicago Outstanding Service Frasca Food and Wine Boulder, CO Outstanding Wine Program (Presented by Robert Mondavi Winery) Benu San Francisco Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer Producer Rob Tod Allagash Brewing Company Portland, ME Rising Star Chef of the Year (Presented by S.Pellegrino® Sparkling Natural Mineral Water) Kwame Onwuachi Kith and Kin Washington, D.C. Best Chefs in America (Presented by Capital One®) Best Chef: Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH) Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark Parachute Chicago Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (D.C., DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA) Tom Cunanan Bad Saint Washington, D.C. Best Chef: Midwest (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD, WI) Ann Kim Young Joni Minneapolis Best Chef: New York City (Five Boroughs) Jody Williams and Rita Sodi Via Carota Best Chef: Northeast (CT, MA, ME, NH, NY State, RI, VT) Tony Messina Uni Boston Best Chef: Northwest (AK, ID, MT, OR, WA, WY) Brady Williams Canlis Seattle Best Chef: South (AL, AR, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, FL, LA, MS) Vishwesh Bhatt Snackbar Oxford, MS Best Chef: Southeast (GA, KY, NC, SC, TN, WV) Mashama Bailey The Grey Savannah, GA Best Chef: Southwest (AZ, CO, NM, OK, TX, UT) Charleen Badman FnB Scottsdale, AZ Best Chef: West (CA, HI, NV) Michael Cimarusti Providence Los Angeles 2019 James Beard Foundation America’s Classics Honorees (Presented by American Airlines) Pho 79 Garden Grove, CA Owners: Tho Tran and Lieu Tran Jim’s Steak & Spaghetti House Huntington, WV Owners: Jimmie Tweel Carder, Larry Tweel, and Ron Tweel A&A Bake & Double Roti Shop Brooklyn, NY Owner: Noel and Geeta Brown Sehnert’s Bakery & Bieroc Café McCook, NE Owners: Matt and Shelly Sehnert Annie’s Paramount Steakhouse Washington, D.C. Owner: Paul Katinas 2019 James Beard Foundation Humanitarian of the Year The Giving Kitchen Non-profit organization providing emergency assistance to food service workers through financial support and a network of community resources 2019 James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award Patrick O’Connell Five-time James Beard Award winner, 3-star Michelin chef, author, and owner of The Inn at Little Washington in Washington, VA The 2019 James Beard Awards are proudly hosted by Choose Chicago and the Illinois Restaurant Association and presented in association with Chicago O’Hare and Midway International Airports and Magellan Corporation, as well as the following partners: Premier Sponsors: All-Clad Metalcrafters, American Airlines, Capital One®, HMSHost, Lavazza, S.Pellegrino® Sparkling Natural Mineral Water; Supporting Sponsors: Hyatt, National Restaurant Association™, Robert Mondavi Winery, Skuna Bay Salmon, TABASCO® Sauce, Valrhona, White Claw® Hard Seltzer, Windstar Cruises; Gala Reception Sponsors: Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Ecolab, Front of the House®, Kendall College, with additional support from Chefwear, Loacker and VerTerra Dinnerware. Intersport is the Official Broadcast Partner of the 2019 James Beard Awards. Established in 1990, the James Beard Awards recognize culinary professionals for excellence and achievement in their fields and further the Foundation’s mission to celebrate, nurture, and honor chefs and other leaders making America’s food culture more delicious, diverse, and sustainable for everyone. Each award category has an individual committee made up of industry professionals who volunteer their time to oversee the policies, procedures, and selection of judges for their respective Awards programs. All James Beard Award winners receive a certificate and a medallion engraved with the James Beard Foundation Awards insignia. About the James Beard Foundation The James Beard Foundation’s mission is to promote good food for good™. For more than 30 years, the James Beard Foundation has highlighted the centrality of food culture in our daily lives. Through the James Beard Awards, unique dining experiences at the James Beard House and around the country, scholarships, hands-on learning, and a variety of industry programs that educate and empower leaders in our community, the Foundation has built a platform for chefs and asserted the power of gastronomy to drive behavior, culture, and policy change around food. To that end, the Foundation has also created signature impact-oriented initiatives that include our Women’s Leadership Programs, aimed at addressing the gender imbalance in the culinary industry; advocacy training through our Chefs Boot Camp for Policy and Change; and the James Beard Foundation Leadership Awards, which shine a spotlight on successful change makers. The organization is committed to giving chefs and their colleagues a voice and the tools they need to make the world more sustainable, equitable, and delicious for everyone. For more information, please visit jamesbeard.org and follow @beardfoundation on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.