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Yotaka Martin of Phoenix Restaurant Lom Wong Wins James Beard Award
is a cities manager at Eater overseeing editorial operations for city sites in the Southern California/Southwest and Texas regions. She earned a master's degree in multidisciplinary writing at the University of Southern California.
The James Beard Foundation Awards were held tonight, June 16, and Phoenix, Arizona walked away with one winner.
In April, the James Beard Foundation revealed Arizona's two finalists, whittled down from a semifinalists list that spanned 12 categories: Crystal Kass, of Valentine in Phoenix, received an Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker nomination for her genre-bending desserts — think an apricot tostada with burnt honey cremeux and sweet salsa macha — that speak to the soul of the Southwest. Cat Cox of Country Bird Bakery in Tulsa, Oklahoma, took home that award.
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 restaurants, bars, and hospitality professionals in categories like Outstanding Restaurant, Best Chef, and Best New Chef. This year's awards added three brand-new categories: 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.
Get the full list of James Beard Award winners from across the country on Eater.
Chef Yotaka Martin, of Lom Wong in Phoenix, holds up a freshly caught fish by the tail. Lom Wong
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.
