held outside of New York. Chicago is the host city for the coveted May 4 event taking place at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Tickets are $500 for the general public and $450 for James Beard Foundation members.
For those unfamiliar with the awards, the James Beard Awards are to the restaurant industry as the Oscars are to the film industry.
Below are the finalists for the 2015 Restaurant and Chef Award categories, from Outstanding Restaurant to Rising Star Chef of the Year. Winners will be announced on May 4, 2015.
Richard Melman of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises will receive the 2015 James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award.
Chicago nominees include: Parachute (Best New Restaurant category); The Violet Hour, (Outstanding Bar Program category); Dana Cree, Blackbird (Outstanding Pastry Chef category); Donnie Madia, One Off Hospitality Group (Outstanding Restaurateur); Topolobampo (Outstanding Service); Tanya Baker, Boarding House (Rising Star Chef of the Year); Curtis Duffy, Grace; Paul Virant, Vie; Erling Wu-Bower, Nico Osteria; and Andrew Zimmerman, Sepia (Best Chef: Great Lakes category)
Best New Restaurant
Presented by True Refrigeration®
Bâtard, NYC
Central Provisions, Portland, ME
Cosme, NYC
Parachute, Chicago
Petit Trois, Los Angeles
The Progress, San Francisco
Spoon and Stable, Minneapolis
Outstanding Baker
Joanne Chang, Flour Bakery + Cafe, Boston
Mark Furstenberg, Bread Furst, Washington, D.C.
Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery, NYC
Belinda Leong and Michel Suas, B. Patisserie, San Francisco
William Werner, Craftsman and Wolves, San Francisco
Outstanding Bar Program
Presented by Tanqueray No. TEN®
Arnaud's French 75 Bar, New Orleans
Bar Agricole, San Francisco
Maison Premiere, Brooklyn, NY
Trick Dog, San Francisco
The Violet Hour, Chicago
Outstanding Chef
Presented by All-Clad Metalcrafters
Michael Anthony, Gramercy Tavern, NYC
Sean Brock, Husk, Charleston, SC
Suzanne Goin, Lucques, Los Angeles
Donald Link, Herbsaint, New Orleans
Marc Vetri, Vetri, Philadelphia
Outstanding Pastry Chef
Dana Cree, Blackbird, Chicago
Maura Kilpatrick, Oleana, Cambridge, MA
Dahlia Narvaez, Osteria Mozza, Los Angeles
Ghaya Oliveira, Daniel, NYC
Christina Tosi, Momofuku, NYC
Outstanding Restaurant
Presented by Acqua Panna® Natural Spring Water
Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Pocantico Hills, NY
Highlands Bar and Grill, Birmingham, AL
Momofuku Noodle Bar, NYC
Per Se, NYC
The Spotted Pig, NYC
Outstanding Restaurateur
JoAnn Clevenger, Upperline, New Orleans
Donnie Madia, One Off Hospitality Group, Chicago (Blackbird, Avec, The Publican, and others)
Michael Mina, Mina Group, San Francisco (Michael Mina, RN74, Bourbon Steak, and others)
Cindy Pawlcyn, Napa, CA (Mustards Grill, Cindy's Back Street Kitchen, and Cindy's Waterfront at the Monterey Bay Aquarium)
Stephen Starr, Starr Restaurants, Philadelphia (The Dandelion, Talula's Garden, Serpico, and others);
Outstanding Service
Presented by Goose Island Beer Company
The Barn at Blackberry Farm, Walland, TN
Marea, NYC
Quince, San Francisco
Restaurant August, New Orleans
Topolobampo, Chicago
Outstanding Wine Program
A16, San Francisco
Bern's Steak House, Tampa, FL
FIG, Charleston, SC
McCrady's, Charleston, SC
Spago, Beverly Hills, CA
Outstanding Wine, Beer, or Spirits Professional
Presented by BACARDÍ® GRAN RESERVA
Sam Calagione, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, DE
Ron Cooper, Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal, Ranchos de Taos, NM
Ted Lemon, Littorai Wines, Sebastopol, CA
Rajat Parr, Mina Group, San Francisco
Harlen Wheatley, Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, KY
Rising Star Chef of the Year
Presented by S.Pellegrino® Sparkling Natural Mineral Water
Tanya Baker, Boarding House, Chicago
Alex Bois, High Street on Market, Philadelphia
Erik Bruner-Yang, Toki Underground, Washington, D.C.
Jessica Largey, Manresa, Los Gatos, CA
Cara Stadler, Tao Yuan, Brunswick, ME
Ari Taymor, Alma, Los Angeles
Best Chef: Great Lakes
Curtis Duffy, Grace, Chicago
Jonathon Sawyer, The Greenhouse Tavern, Cleveland
Paul Virant, Vie, Western Springs, IL
Erling Wu-Bower, Nico Osteria, Chicago
Andrew Zimmerman, Sepia, Chicago
Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic
Joe Cicala, Le Virtù, Philadelphia
Spike Gjerde, Woodberry Kitchen, Baltimore
Rich Landau, Vedge, Philadelphia
Greg Vernick, Vernick Food & Drink, Philadelphia
Cindy Wolf, Charleston, Baltimore
Best Chef: Midwest
Paul Berglund, The Bachelor Farmer, Minneapolis
Justin Carlisle, Ardent, Milwaukee
Gerard Craft, Niche, Clayton, MO
Michelle Gayer, Salty Tart, Minneapolis
Lenny Russo, Heartland Restaurant & Farm Direct Market, St. Paul, MN
Best Chef: Northeast
Karen Akunowicz, Myers + Chang, Boston
Barry Maiden, Hungry Mother, Cambridge, MA
Masa Miyake, Miyake, Portland, ME
Cassie Piuma, Sarma, Somerville, MA
Andrew Taylor and Mike Wiley, Eventide Oyster Co., Portland, ME
Best Chef: Northwest
Greg Denton and Gabrielle Quiñónez Denton, Ox, Portland, OR
Renee Erickson, The Whale Wins, Seattle
Blaine Wetzel, The Willows Inn on Lummi Island, Lummi Island, WA
Justin Woodward, Castagna, Portland, OR
Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi, Joule, Seattle
Best Chef: NYC
Marco Canora, Hearth
Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi, Carbone
Mark Ladner, Del Posto
Anita Lo, Annisa
Ignacio Mattos, Estela
Jonathan Waxman, Barbuto
Best Chef: South
Vishwesh Bhatt, Snackbar, Oxford, MS
Justin Devillier, La Petite Grocery, New Orleans
Jose Enrique, Jose Enrique, San Juan, PR
Slade Rushing, Brennan's, New Orleans
Alon Shaya, Domenica, New Orleans
Best Chef: Southeast
John Fleer, Rhubarb, Asheville, NC
Edward Lee, 610 Magnolia, Louisville, KY
Steven Satterfield, Miller Union, Atlanta
Jason Stanhope, FIG, Charleston, SC
Andrew Ticer and Michael Hudman, Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen, Memphis
Tandy Wilson, City House, Nashville
Best Chef: Southwest
Kevin Binkley, Binkley’s, Cave Creek, AZ
Aaron Franklin, Franklin Barbecue, Austin
Bryce Gilmore, Barley Swine, Austin
Hugo Ortega, Hugo’s, Houston
Martín Rios, Restaurant Martín, Santa Fe
Justin Yu, Oxheart, Houston
Best Chef: West
Matthew Accarrino, SPQR, San Francisco
Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski, State Bird Provisions, San Francisco
Michael Cimarusti, Providence, Los Angeles
Corey Lee, Benu, San Francisco
Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo, Animal, Los Angeles
2015 James Beard Foundation America’s Classics
Presented by Brand USA
Archie’s Waeside, Le Mars, IA
Owner: Robert Rand
Beaumont Inn, Harrodsburg, KY
Owners: Elizabeth and Dixon Dedman, Helen and
Chuck Dedman
Guelaguetza, Los Angeles
Owners: The Lopez Family
Sally Bell’s Kitchen, Richmond, VA
Owners: Martha Crowe Jones and Scott Jones
Sevilla Restaurant, NYC
Owners: Jose Lloves and Bienvenido Alvarez
2015 James Beard Foundation Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America
Allan Benton
Pork Producer and Purveyor
Madisonville, TN
Dale DeGroff
Mixologist
NYC
Wylie Dufresne
Chef and Restaurateur
NYC
Nathalie Dupree
Cookbook Author and Television Personality
Charleston, SC
Maricel Presilla
Chef, Restaurateur, and Cookbook Author
Hoboken, NJ
2015 James Beard Foundation Humanitarian of the Year
Michel Nischan
CEO, President and Co-Founder of Wholesome Wave
Westport, CT
2015 James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award
Richard Melman
Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises
Chicago
Book, Broadcast and Journalism Awards
Carla Hall will host our Book, Broadcast, and Journalism Awards Dinner, taking place at New York City's Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers on Friday, April 24. Tickets to the main gala go on sale April 1, while BBJ ceremony tickets are now available online.
The Feed Podcast with hosts: Rick Bayless and Steve Dolinsky; producers: Matt Cunningham and Steve Dolinsky which airs on: soundcloud.com/thefeedpodcast was also nominated under the category podcast.
The Hungry Hound, host Steve Dolinsky and producer Irit Nayden which airs on: ABC 7 Chicago were nominated under the television segment category.
Additionally, the Chicago Reader's Mike Sula has been nominated for a Food and Culture Journalism Award for his feature “What Happens When All-Star Chefs Get in Bed with Big Food? and Brindille's design team of James Gorski and Tom Nahabedian, Bureau of Architecture and Design have been nominated for the 2015 James Beard Foundation Outstanding Restaurant Design Awards
75 Seats and Under (for the best restaurant design or renovation in North America since January 1, 2012).