The James Beard Foundation announced its much-anticipated list of Restaurant and Chef Award semifinalists for 2014. Washington toques and eateries scored 19 nominations out of more than 38,000 entries, qualifying in categories including Best Chef Mid-Atlantic and Best New Restaurant. The five final nominees for each category will be chosen by a panel of judges and announced on March 18; the winners will be revealed in May. Good luck to all our local contenders, listed below.
BEST NEW RESTAURANT
OUTSTANDING BAR PROGRAM
OUTSTANDING PASTRY CHEF
Tiffany MacIsaac, Birch & Barley
OUTSTANDING RESTAURANT
OUTSTANDING RESTAURATEUR
Ashok Bajaj, Knightsbridge Restaurant Group (The Bombay Club, Oval Room, and others)
Stephen Starr (not entirely local, but a Washington presence with Le Diplomate)
OUTSTANDING SERVICE
OUTSTANDING WINE PROGRAM
RISING STAR CHEF OF THE YEAR
Marjorie Meek-Bradley, Ripple
BEST CHEF: MID-ATLANTIC
Cathal Armstrong, Restaurant Eve
Anthony Chittum, Iron Gate
Haidar Karoum, Proof
Tarver King, the Restaurant at Patowmack Farm
Cedric Maupillier, Mintwood Place
Vikram Sunderam, Rasika
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
