Las Vegas Gets Shut Out of the 2025 James Beard Awards
On June 16, luminaries of the restaurant and bar world gathered at the Lyric Opera House in Chicago to celebrate the finalists and winners of the 2025 James Beard Foundation Awards. However, none of those winners represented the city of Las Vegas.
Eater hosted the official livestream that showed Vegas-based finalists Cristie Norman of Delilah for Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service; Sarah Thompson (Casa Playa); and Eleazar Villanueva (Restaurant de Joël Robuchon) for Best Chef: Southwest representing Las Vegas's prodigious and talented dining scene. Vegas did come away with a victory of sorts. Though no longer based in Las Vegas, the founders of Portland, Oregon's JinJu Patisserie Kyurim 'Q' Lee and Jin Caldwell won the national award for Outstanding Bakery. They worked extensively in Las Vegas, including Aria, Wynn, Bellagio, and Joel Robuchon, prior to opening their now award-winning bakery in Portland.
The James Beard Awards, often considered 'the Oscars of food,' are among the most prestigious awards in the food and hospitality industry. Each year, the James Beard Foundation gives awards in categories like Outstanding Restaurant, Best Chef, and Best New Chef. This year's awards introduce three brand-new categories into the mix: Best New Bar, Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service, and Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service.
The first James Beard Awards ceremony was held in 1991, when chefs like Rick Bayless, Nancy Silverton, and Wolfgang Puck walked away as winners. In recent years, the foundation has been under increased scrutiny after canceling its programming in 2020 and 2021 due to misbehavior and abuse allegations against nominated chefs, and a lack of nominated and winning Black chefs among the categories. In response, the James Beard Foundation conducted an internal audit to make its voting processes more inclusive and equitable before returning in 2022. The awards have also shifted the Best Chef category to a regional model to better recognize the diversity and depth of talent.
Disclosure: Some Vox Media staff members are part of the voting body for the James Beard Awards. Eater is partnering with the James Beard Foundation to livestream the awards in 2025. All editorial content is produced independently of the James Beard Foundation. See More:
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