02-04-2025
Here are Boston's 2025 James Beard Award finalists
A Brookline bar and a Cambridge chef were named James Beard Award finalists Wednesday.
Why it matters: These chefs will represent Greater Boston on the national stage of the restaurant world's biggest night — and hopefully take home an award, unlike last year.
These are our finalists:
Merai, a Thai-inspired bar in Brookline — Best New Bar
Erin Miller of Urban Hearth in Cambridge — Best Chef: Northeast
What's new: Three new categories center around cocktails and other beverages: Best New Bar, Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service, and Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service.
Alyssa Mikiko DiPasquale from The Koji Club in Brighton had been named a semifinalist for outstanding professional in beverage service, but got knocked out this round.
Zoom out: The finalists include other New England eateries.
Nikhil Naiker of Providence's NIMKI — Emerging Chef
Wolf Tree of White River Junction, Vermont — Outstanding Bar
Three other contestants for Best Chef: Northeast: Avery Buck of May Day in Burlington, Vermont; Sky Haneul Kim of Gift Horse in Providence; and Brian Lewis of The Cottage in Westport, Connecticut.
