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CNN
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
These chefs and restaurants are the 2025 James Beard Award winners
Chefs and restaurants were honored on Monday night with James Beard Awards, one of the US culinary community's highest accolades. Bûcheron, a French American restaurant in Minneapolis, was named best new restaurant during the awards ceremony, which was held at the Lyric Opera in Chicago. The outstanding chef award went to Jungsik Yim, whose New York City restaurant Jungsik also holds three Michelin stars for Yim's 'New Korean' cuisine. Another top honor, for outstanding restaurant, was awarded to Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder, Colorado. The cuisine focuses on the flavors of the northeastern Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia through the lens of Colorado. In addition to various restaurant and beverage categories, the awards also honor the best chefs in regions across the United States. Many of the evening's honorees highlighted the role of immigrants in American culinary culture. That message was underlined at the start of the ceremony by James Beard Foundation CEO Clare Reichenbach. 'America's food scene has never been more dynamic, more diverse and exciting, and in large part we owe that dynamism, that vibrancy, to the immigrant communities that lead and underpin this industry in every way,' said Reichenbach. 'We get to taste the world because of them.' Chef Nando Chang, of Itamae AO in Miami, won the best chef award for the South. 'As bittersweet as this moment is for many immigrants in America, I want to say I could not be prouder or feel stronger to be a part of this beautiful country,' said Chang, a Peruvian American of Chinese descent who said he came to the US in 2001. This year's slate of awards featured three new categories in the beverage realm: best new bar and awards for outstanding professionals in beverage service and cocktail service. The new categories are part of an expansion over the next few years aimed at 'acknowledging the beverage industry in a more holistic way,' according to the James Beard Foundation. Identidad Cocktail Bar in San Juan, Puerto Rico, earned the inaugural best new bar award. Arjav Ezekiel of Birdie's in Austin, Texas, won the outstanding professional in beverage service award, and Ignacio 'Nacho' Jimenez, of Superbueno in New York City, won outstanding professional in cocktail service. The 2025 awards come five years after the 2020 ceremony was abruptly canceled amid the Covid-19 pandemic's upending of the restaurant industry as well as criticism of the awards' lack of diversity and inclusion of chefs accused of abusive behavior. Since then, the James Beard Foundation has made efforts to address that criticism with a new code of ethics and changes to awards program policies and procedures. The nonprofit James Beard Foundation was established in 1986, shortly after chef and TV personality James Beard's death. The first awards ceremony was held in 1991. Outstanding Restaurateur Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski, Atomic Workshop (The Anchovy Bar, State Bird Provisions, and The Progress), San Francisco, CA Sue Chin and Jason Chin, Good Salt Restaurant Group (Seito Sushi, Reyes Mezcaleria, The Osprey, and others), Orlando, FL Scott Drewno and Danny Lee, The Fried Rice Collective (Anju, Chiko, and I Egg You), Washington, D.C. Allison Gibson and Cara Tobin, Honey Road and Gray Jay, Burlington, VT WINNER: Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr, Frenchette, Le Veau d'Or, and Le Rock, New York, NY Outstanding Chef Lisa Becklund, FarmBar, Tulsa, OK Gabriel Kreuther, Gabriel Kreuther, New York, NY Josh Niernberg, Bin 707, Grand Junction, CO Cassie Piuma, Sarma, Somerville, MA WINNER: Jungsik Yim, Jungsik, New York, NY Outstanding Restaurant Coquine, Portland, OR WINNER: Frasca Food and Wine, Boulder, CO Galit, Chicago, IL Nonesuch, Oklahoma City, OK Oberlin, Providence, RI Emerging Chef Kaitlin Guerin, Lagniappe Bakehouse, New Orleans, LA WINNER: Phila Lorn, Mawn, Philadelphia, PA Nikhil Naiker, NIMKI, Providence, RI Jane Sacro Chatham, Vicia, St. Louis, MO RJ Yoakum, Georgie, Dallas, TX Best New Restaurant Alma Fonda Fina, Denver, CO Atoma, Seattle, WA WINNER: Bûcheron, Minneapolis, MN Ema, Houston, TX Fet-Fisk, Pittsburgh, PA Mābo, Dallas, TX Mita, Washington, D.C. Ômo by Jônt, Winter Park, FL Penny, New York, NY The Union, Helena, MT Outstanding Bakery Atelier Ortega, Jackson Hole, WY Gusto Bread, Long Beach, CA WINNER: JinJu Patisserie, Portland, OR Starship Bagel, Dallas and Lewisville, TX Super Secret Ice Cream, Bethlehem, NH Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker Susan Bae, Moon Rabbit, Washington, D.C. WINNER: Cat Cox, Country Bird Bakery, Tulsa, OK April Franqueza, The Dining Room at High Hampton, Cashiers, NC Crystal Kass, Valentine, Phoenix, AZ Carolyn Nugent and Alen Ramos, Poulette Bakeshop, Parker, CO Outstanding Hospitality Archipelago, Seattle, WA Aria, Atlanta, GA WINNER: Atomix, New York, NY Harbor House Inn, Elk, CA Mixtli, San Antonio, TX Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program Bar Brava, Minneapolis, MN Campo at Los Poblanos, Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, NM WINNER: Charleston, Baltimore, MD MARCH, Houston, TX Strong Water, Anaheim, CA Outstanding Bar WINNER: Kumiko, Chicago, IL Scotch Lodge, Portland, OR The Lovers Bar at Friday Saturday Sunday, Philadelphia, PA Water Witch, Salt Lake City, UT Wolf Tree, White River Junction, VT Best New Bar Agency, Milwaukee, WI Bar Colette, Dallas, TX WINNER: Identidad Cocktail Bar, San Juan, PR Merai, Brookline, MA ViceVersa, Miami, FL Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service Jacob Brown, Lazy Bear, San Francisco, CA Jose Medina Camacho, Adiõs, Birmingham, AL WINNER: Arjav Ezekiel, Birdie's, Austin, TX Cassandra Felix, Daniel, New York, NY Cristie Norman, Delilah, Las Vegas, NV Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service McLain Hedges and Mary Allison Wright, Yacht Club, Denver, CO WINNER: Ignacio 'Nacho' Jimenez, Superbueno, New York, NY Dave Newman, Pint + Jigger, Honolulu, HI Tobin Shea, Redbird, Los Angeles, CA Mike Stankovich, Longfellow, Cincinnati, OH Best Chef: California Daniel Castillo, Heritage Barbecue, San Juan Capistrano, CA Richard Lee, Saison, San Francisco, CA Tara Monsod, ANIMAE, San Diego, CA Kosuke Tada, Mijoté, San Francisco, CA WINNER: Jon Yao, Kato, Los Angeles, CA Best Chef: Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH) Jennifer Blakeslee and Eric Patterson, The Cooks' House, Traverse City, MI Thai Dang, HaiSous, Chicago, IL David Jackman, Wildweed, Cincinnati, OH Chris Jung and Erling Wu-Bower, Maxwells Trading, Chicago, IL WINNER: Noah Sandoval, Oriole, Chicago, IL Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA) Henji Cheung, Queen's English, Washington, D.C. WINNER: Carlos Delgado, Causa and Amazonia, Washington, D.C. Jesse Ito, Royal Sushi & Izakaya, Philadelphia, PA Dan Richer, Razza, Jersey City, NJ Amanda Shulman, Her Place Supper Club, Philadelphia, PA Best Chef: Midwest (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD, WI) Shigeyuki Furukawa, Kado no Mise, Minneapolis, MN Diane Moua, Diane's Place, Minneapolis, MN Loryn Nalic, Balkan Treat Box, Webster Groves, MO WINNER: Karyn Tomlinson, Myriel, St. Paul, MN David Utterback, Ota and Yoshitomo, Omaha, NE Best Chef: Mountain (CO, ID, MT, UT, WY) Joshua Adams, Campione, Livingston, MT WINNER: Salvador Alamilla, Amano, Caldwell, ID Brandon Cunningham, The Social Haus, Greenough, MT David Wells, The Tasting Room at Chico Hot Springs Resort & Day Spa, Pray, MT Penelope Wong, Yuan Wonton, Denver, CO Best Chef: New York State Nasim Alikhani, Sofreh, Brooklyn, NY Ryan Fernandez, Southern Junction Barbecue, Buffalo, NY Eiji Ichimura, Sushi Ichimura, New York, NY Atsushi Kono, Kono, New York, NY WINNER: Vijay Kumar, Semma, New York, NY Best Chef: Northeast (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT) Avery Buck, May Day, Burlington, VT WINNER: Sky Haneul Kim, Gift Horse, Providence, RI Brian Lewis, The Cottage, Westport, CT Erin Miller, Urban Hearth, Cambridge, MA Derek Wagner, Nicks on Broadway, Providence, RI Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific (AK, HI, OR, WA) Jay Blackinton, Houlme, Orcas Island, WA Joshua Dorcak, MÄS, Ashland, OR Ryan Roadhouse, Nodoguro, Portland, OR Beau Schooler, In Bocca Al Lupo, Juneau, AK WINNER: Timothy Wastell, Antica Terra, Amity, OR Best Chef: South (AL, AR, FL, LA, MS, PR) WINNER: Nando Chang, Itamae AO, Miami, FL Matthew Cooper, Conifer, Bentonville, AR Kevin Garcia, La Faena AgroCocina, Guaynabo, PR Angel David Moreno Zayas, El Gallo Pinto, Guayama, PR Rafael Rios, Yeyo's El Alma de Mexico, Bentonville, AR Best Chef: Southeast (GA, KY, NC, SC, TN, WV) Noam Bilitzer, MeeshMeesh Mediterranean, Louisville, KY Sara Bradley, freight house, Paducah, KY WINNER: Jake Howell, Peninsula, Nashville, TN Silver Iocovozzi, Neng Jr.'s, Asheville, NC Robbie Robinson, City Limits Barbeque, West Columbia, SC Best Chef: Southwest (AZ, NM, NV, OK) Olivier Bouzerand, Fait Maison, Edmond, OK WINNER: Yotaka Martin, Lom Wong, Phoenix, AZ Sarah Thompson, Casa Playa, Las Vegas, NV Eleazar Villanueva, Restaurant de Joël Robuchon, Las Vegas, NV Zack Walters, Sedalia's Oyster & Seafood, Oklahoma City, OK Best Chef: Texas WINNER: Thomas Bille, Belly of the Beast, Spring, TX Emmanuel Chavez, Tatemó, Houston, TX Emil Oliva, Leche de Tigre, San Antonio, TX Regino Rojas, Purépecha, Dallas, TX Michael Anthony Serva, Bordo, Marfa, TX
CNN
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
These chefs and restaurants are the 2025 James Beard Award winners
Chefs and restaurants were honored on Monday night with James Beard Awards, one of the US culinary community's highest accolades. Bûcheron, a French American restaurant in Minneapolis, was named best new restaurant during the awards ceremony, which was held at the Lyric Opera in Chicago. The outstanding chef award went to Jungsik Yim, whose New York City restaurant Jungsik also holds three Michelin stars for Yim's 'New Korean' cuisine. Another top honor, for outstanding restaurant, was awarded to Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder, Colorado. The cuisine focuses on the flavors of the northeastern Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia through the lens of Colorado. In addition to various restaurant and beverage categories, the awards also honor the best chefs in regions across the United States. Many of the evening's honorees highlighted the role of immigrants in American culinary culture. That message was underlined at the start of the ceremony by James Beard Foundation CEO Clare Reichenbach. 'America's food scene has never been more dynamic, more diverse and exciting, and in large part we owe that dynamism, that vibrancy, to the immigrant communities that lead and underpin this industry in every way,' said Reichenbach. 'We get to taste the world because of them.' Chef Nando Chang, of Itamae AO in Miami, won the best chef award for the South. 'As bittersweet as this moment is for many immigrants in America, I want to say I could not be prouder or feel stronger to be a part of this beautiful country,' said Chang, a Peruvian American of Chinese descent who said he came to the US in 2001. This year's slate of awards featured three new categories in the beverage realm: best new bar and awards for outstanding professionals in beverage service and cocktail service. The new categories are part of an expansion over the next few years aimed at 'acknowledging the beverage industry in a more holistic way,' according to the James Beard Foundation. Identidad Cocktail Bar in San Juan, Puerto Rico, earned the inaugural best new bar award. Arjav Ezekiel of Birdie's in Austin, Texas, won the outstanding professional in beverage service award, and Ignacio 'Nacho' Jimenez, of Superbueno in New York City, won outstanding professional in cocktail service. The 2025 awards come five years after the 2020 ceremony was abruptly canceled amid the Covid-19 pandemic's upending of the restaurant industry as well as criticism of the awards' lack of diversity and inclusion of chefs accused of abusive behavior. Since then, the James Beard Foundation has made efforts to address that criticism with a new code of ethics and changes to awards program policies and procedures. The nonprofit James Beard Foundation was established in 1986, shortly after chef and TV personality James Beard's death. The first awards ceremony was held in 1991. Outstanding Restaurateur Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski, Atomic Workshop (The Anchovy Bar, State Bird Provisions, and The Progress), San Francisco, CA Sue Chin and Jason Chin, Good Salt Restaurant Group (Seito Sushi, Reyes Mezcaleria, The Osprey, and others), Orlando, FL Scott Drewno and Danny Lee, The Fried Rice Collective (Anju, Chiko, and I Egg You), Washington, D.C. Allison Gibson and Cara Tobin, Honey Road and Gray Jay, Burlington, VT WINNER: Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr, Frenchette, Le Veau d'Or, and Le Rock, New York, NY Outstanding Chef Lisa Becklund, FarmBar, Tulsa, OK Gabriel Kreuther, Gabriel Kreuther, New York, NY Josh Niernberg, Bin 707, Grand Junction, CO Cassie Piuma, Sarma, Somerville, MA WINNER: Jungsik Yim, Jungsik, New York, NY Outstanding Restaurant Coquine, Portland, OR WINNER: Frasca Food and Wine, Boulder, CO Galit, Chicago, IL Nonesuch, Oklahoma City, OK Oberlin, Providence, RI Emerging Chef Kaitlin Guerin, Lagniappe Bakehouse, New Orleans, LA WINNER: Phila Lorn, Mawn, Philadelphia, PA Nikhil Naiker, NIMKI, Providence, RI Jane Sacro Chatham, Vicia, St. Louis, MO RJ Yoakum, Georgie, Dallas, TX Best New Restaurant Alma Fonda Fina, Denver, CO Atoma, Seattle, WA WINNER: Bûcheron, Minneapolis, MN Ema, Houston, TX Fet-Fisk, Pittsburgh, PA Mābo, Dallas, TX Mita, Washington, D.C. Ômo by Jônt, Winter Park, FL Penny, New York, NY The Union, Helena, MT Outstanding Bakery Atelier Ortega, Jackson Hole, WY Gusto Bread, Long Beach, CA WINNER: JinJu Patisserie, Portland, OR Starship Bagel, Dallas and Lewisville, TX Super Secret Ice Cream, Bethlehem, NH Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker Susan Bae, Moon Rabbit, Washington, D.C. WINNER: Cat Cox, Country Bird Bakery, Tulsa, OK April Franqueza, The Dining Room at High Hampton, Cashiers, NC Crystal Kass, Valentine, Phoenix, AZ Carolyn Nugent and Alen Ramos, Poulette Bakeshop, Parker, CO Outstanding Hospitality Archipelago, Seattle, WA Aria, Atlanta, GA WINNER: Atomix, New York, NY Harbor House Inn, Elk, CA Mixtli, San Antonio, TX Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program Bar Brava, Minneapolis, MN Campo at Los Poblanos, Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, NM WINNER: Charleston, Baltimore, MD MARCH, Houston, TX Strong Water, Anaheim, CA Outstanding Bar WINNER: Kumiko, Chicago, IL Scotch Lodge, Portland, OR The Lovers Bar at Friday Saturday Sunday, Philadelphia, PA Water Witch, Salt Lake City, UT Wolf Tree, White River Junction, VT Best New Bar Agency, Milwaukee, WI Bar Colette, Dallas, TX WINNER: Identidad Cocktail Bar, San Juan, PR Merai, Brookline, MA ViceVersa, Miami, FL Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service Jacob Brown, Lazy Bear, San Francisco, CA Jose Medina Camacho, Adiõs, Birmingham, AL WINNER: Arjav Ezekiel, Birdie's, Austin, TX Cassandra Felix, Daniel, New York, NY Cristie Norman, Delilah, Las Vegas, NV Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service McLain Hedges and Mary Allison Wright, Yacht Club, Denver, CO WINNER: Ignacio 'Nacho' Jimenez, Superbueno, New York, NY Dave Newman, Pint + Jigger, Honolulu, HI Tobin Shea, Redbird, Los Angeles, CA Mike Stankovich, Longfellow, Cincinnati, OH Best Chef: California Daniel Castillo, Heritage Barbecue, San Juan Capistrano, CA Richard Lee, Saison, San Francisco, CA Tara Monsod, ANIMAE, San Diego, CA Kosuke Tada, Mijoté, San Francisco, CA WINNER: Jon Yao, Kato, Los Angeles, CA Best Chef: Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH) Jennifer Blakeslee and Eric Patterson, The Cooks' House, Traverse City, MI Thai Dang, HaiSous, Chicago, IL David Jackman, Wildweed, Cincinnati, OH Chris Jung and Erling Wu-Bower, Maxwells Trading, Chicago, IL WINNER: Noah Sandoval, Oriole, Chicago, IL Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA) Henji Cheung, Queen's English, Washington, D.C. WINNER: Carlos Delgado, Causa and Amazonia, Washington, D.C. Jesse Ito, Royal Sushi & Izakaya, Philadelphia, PA Dan Richer, Razza, Jersey City, NJ Amanda Shulman, Her Place Supper Club, Philadelphia, PA Best Chef: Midwest (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD, WI) Shigeyuki Furukawa, Kado no Mise, Minneapolis, MN Diane Moua, Diane's Place, Minneapolis, MN Loryn Nalic, Balkan Treat Box, Webster Groves, MO WINNER: Karyn Tomlinson, Myriel, St. Paul, MN David Utterback, Ota and Yoshitomo, Omaha, NE Best Chef: Mountain (CO, ID, MT, UT, WY) Joshua Adams, Campione, Livingston, MT WINNER: Salvador Alamilla, Amano, Caldwell, ID Brandon Cunningham, The Social Haus, Greenough, MT David Wells, The Tasting Room at Chico Hot Springs Resort & Day Spa, Pray, MT Penelope Wong, Yuan Wonton, Denver, CO Best Chef: New York State Nasim Alikhani, Sofreh, Brooklyn, NY Ryan Fernandez, Southern Junction Barbecue, Buffalo, NY Eiji Ichimura, Sushi Ichimura, New York, NY Atsushi Kono, Kono, New York, NY WINNER: Vijay Kumar, Semma, New York, NY Best Chef: Northeast (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT) Avery Buck, May Day, Burlington, VT WINNER: Sky Haneul Kim, Gift Horse, Providence, RI Brian Lewis, The Cottage, Westport, CT Erin Miller, Urban Hearth, Cambridge, MA Derek Wagner, Nicks on Broadway, Providence, RI Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific (AK, HI, OR, WA) Jay Blackinton, Houlme, Orcas Island, WA Joshua Dorcak, MÄS, Ashland, OR Ryan Roadhouse, Nodoguro, Portland, OR Beau Schooler, In Bocca Al Lupo, Juneau, AK WINNER: Timothy Wastell, Antica Terra, Amity, OR Best Chef: South (AL, AR, FL, LA, MS, PR) WINNER: Nando Chang, Itamae AO, Miami, FL Matthew Cooper, Conifer, Bentonville, AR Kevin Garcia, La Faena AgroCocina, Guaynabo, PR Angel David Moreno Zayas, El Gallo Pinto, Guayama, PR Rafael Rios, Yeyo's El Alma de Mexico, Bentonville, AR Best Chef: Southeast (GA, KY, NC, SC, TN, WV) Noam Bilitzer, MeeshMeesh Mediterranean, Louisville, KY Sara Bradley, freight house, Paducah, KY WINNER: Jake Howell, Peninsula, Nashville, TN Silver Iocovozzi, Neng Jr.'s, Asheville, NC Robbie Robinson, City Limits Barbeque, West Columbia, SC Best Chef: Southwest (AZ, NM, NV, OK) Olivier Bouzerand, Fait Maison, Edmond, OK WINNER: Yotaka Martin, Lom Wong, Phoenix, AZ Sarah Thompson, Casa Playa, Las Vegas, NV Eleazar Villanueva, Restaurant de Joël Robuchon, Las Vegas, NV Zack Walters, Sedalia's Oyster & Seafood, Oklahoma City, OK Best Chef: Texas WINNER: Thomas Bille, Belly of the Beast, Spring, TX Emmanuel Chavez, Tatemó, Houston, TX Emil Oliva, Leche de Tigre, San Antonio, TX Regino Rojas, Purépecha, Dallas, TX Michael Anthony Serva, Bordo, Marfa, TX
Eater
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Eater
Here Is the Full List of James Beard Awards 2025 Winners
Tonight, in a star-studded ceremony at the Lyric Opera in Chicago, the James Beard Foundation announced the winners of the 2025 James Beard Awards, considered the highest accolade for chefs and restaurateurs in America. In the major categories, Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder, Colorado was named Outstanding Restaurant, Jungsik Yim of Jungsik in New York City took home the award for Outstanding Chef, and Bûcheron in Minneapolis was named Best New Restaurant. It was a big night in general for NYC, which was shut out of the major categories entirely last year: This year, Atomix won for Outstanding Hospitality, while the team of Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr (of Frenchette, Le Veau d' Or, and Le Rock) won Outstanding Restaurateur. This evening's Restaurant and Chef Awards follow Saturday's Media Awards hosted by Padma Lakshmi, which celebrated food media working in cookbooks, journalism, and television and audio. For this 35th-annual Restaurant and Chef Awards, Nyesha Arrington and Andrew Zimmern acted as the ceremony hosts. Tonight's award winners, selected from a finalists list announced on April 2, follow previously announced 2025 Beard Award recipients: journalist and historian Toni Tipton-Martin (who earned the Lifetime Achievement Award), Cafe Momentum founder Chad Houser (who received the Humanitarian of the Year Award), and the five winners of the Impact Award. Several winners addressed the current political moment directly in their speeches — three specifically emphatically declared 'fuck ICE' at the end of their remarks. The full list of winners, below: Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr, Frenchette, Le Veau d' Or, and Le Rock, New York, NY Jungsik Yim, Jungsik, New York, NY Frasca Food and Wine, Boulder, CO Phila Lorn, Mawn, Philadelphia, PA Bûcheron, Minneapolis, MN JinJu Patisserie, Portland, OR Cat Cox, Country Bird Bakery, Tulsa, OK Charleston, Baltimore, MD Identidad Cocktail Bar, San Juan, PR Arjav Ezekiel, Birdie's, Austin, TX Ignacio Jimenez, Superbueno, New York, NY Jon Yao, Kato, Los Angeles, CA Noah Sandoval, Oriole, Chicago, IL Carlos Delgado, Causa and Amazonia, Washington, D.C. Karyn Tomlinson, Myriel, St. Paul, MN Salvador Alamilla, Amano, Caldwell, ID Vijay Kumar, Semma, New York, NY Sky Haneul Kim, Gift Horse, Providence, RI Timothy Wastell, Antica Terra, Amity, OR Nando Chang, Itamae AO, Miami, FL Jake Howell, Peninsula, Nashville, TN Yotaka Martin, Lom Wong, Phoenix, AZ Thomas Bille, Belly of the Beast, Spring, TX The following wins were previously announced: • Lucky Wishbone, Anchorage, AK • Dooky Chase, New Orleans, LA • U.S. Representative Angie Craig (the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Agriculture) • Anthony Edwards, Jr., (co-founder of Black-owned restaurants guide EatOkra) • Seanicaa Edwards Herron (founder and executive director of the Freedmen Heirs Foundation) • Dune Lankard (president and founder of Native Conservancy) 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. Additional photo illustration credits: Getty Images for the James Beard Foundation
Eater
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Eater
NYC Restaurants Score Five 2025 James Beard Awards
The James Beard Foundation announced the winners of its restaurant awards — the equivalent of the food world Oscars. The evening netted five prestigious medals for New York City including chef Vijay Kumar of Semma in Greenwich Village winning Best Chef: New York State and Jungsik Yim of Downtown's Jungsik landing the Outstanding Chef Award. Best Chef: New York State Award went to chef Vijay Kumar of Semma — one of the most renowned restaurants among those under the Unapologetic Foods umbrella from chef Chintan Pandya and Roni Mazumdar. The accolade follows Semma landing a Michelin star, the only NYC Indian restaurant to have one at the moment, as well as its number one ranking on the New York Times 100 Best Restaurants in New York City earlier this month. South Indian-leaning Semma opened in Greenwich Village in 2021 and landed the medal three years after Pandya's Best Chef: New York State James Beard in 2022. 'When I started cooking, I never thought a kid like me from Tamil Nadu could make it to a room like this,' said Kumar in his acceptance speech. 'But the food I grew up with — food made with care and fire, with soul — is now taking the main stage. There's no such thing as poor people's food or rich people's food. If it's true, it's powerful. The real luxury is to be able to connect with each other around a table.' Kumar joined New York finalists such as Nasim Alikhani of Sofreh in Brooklyn; Ryan Fernandez of Southern Junction Barbecue in Buffalo; Eiji Ichimura of Sushi Ichimura in Tribeca; Atsushi Kono of Kono on Bowery. Winner of Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service Award is Ignacio 'Nacho' Jimenez of Superbueno in the East Village. Superbueno 'isn't one of those places you just pop into for a quick round. Not if Ignacio 'Nacho' Jimenez, the bar's charismatic co-owner, has anything to say about it,' says Punch. His 10-or-so drink menu has honored 'various notable Mexican ingredients and dishes,' with drinks like the popular vodka-soda that's 'anything but basic.' The two-Michelin-starred Atomix won the Outstanding Hospitality Award, the tasting menu restaurant from Junghyun 'JP' Park, and his wife, Ellia Park. The duo opened the restaurant in Nomad in 2018, which the New York Times awarded three stars the year it opened. Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr of Frenchette, Le Veau d'Or, and Le Rock won the Outstanding Restaurateur Award. The duo has long been famous since their early days in Balthazar under restaurateur Keith McNally. More recently they have wowed diners in reviving the storied Le Veau d'Or on the Upper East Side as well as creating destination spot with the polished Le Rock in Rockefeller Center, Frenchette at the Whitney, and Tribeca neighborhood staple, Frenchette. Jungsik Yim of Jungsik won the final award of the night for Outstanding Chef. The Korean chef opened his first New York restaurant in 2011 followed by SEA, a less formal Southeast Asian restaurant that debuted in 2024. Yim, whose restaurant earned three Michelin stars this year, has helped define Korean dining in New York, with chefs like Park of Atomix cooking under him before he opened their own restaurant. Following Yim's win, commentator Francis Lam noted that 'New York City is in the golden age of Korean dining right now. Speaking through a translator in his acceptance speech, Yim said it seemed like yesterday that he opened his first New York City restaurant, 'but somehow, 14 years have gone by. Looking back, I really wasn't ready to open a fine dining restaurant, not even close. I had no idea what I was doing, but I did it anyways. I was young and maybe a little too brave. Maybe ignorance was a kind of courage. I had passion and that was enough to open the doors.' This year's James Beard awards were hosted by Nyesha Arrington and Andrew Zimmern and featured red carpet coverage by Hav & Mar chef Fariyal Abdullahi; Top Chef' s Gregory Gourdet of Portland's James Beard winner, Kann, and NYC's new Maison Passerelle; writer and editor as well as host of the Splendid Table, Francis Lam; and Iron Chef judge, editor, and global food expert Nilou Motamed. Each Beard category features a winner voted on by a panel of judges. They choose among finalists whittled down from a longer list of semifinalists announced in January. The winners were revealed a ceremony held at the Lyric Opera House in Chicago and livestreamed on Eater. 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:
