The actual nominees for the James Beard Awards—the annual crowning of the year’s best chefs, wine and spirits pros, restaurateurs, and restaurants—will be announced on March 15. Today though, the Beard Foundation juiced some excitement by releasing its list of semi-finalists. Our region was decently represented (Kinship and the Dabney might earn a nod in the Best New Restaurant category; Ashok Bajaj is up—again—for Outstanding Restaurateur), though we struck out with zero nominees in the Outstanding Chef and Rising Star Chef categories. Herewith, the list of regional (maybe) nominees.
Best new restaurant:
Outstanding baker:
Mark Furstenberg, Bread Furst
Outstanding bar program:
Outstanding chef:
N/A
Outstanding pastry chef:
Aggie Chin, the Grill Room
Outstanding restaurant:
Outstanding restaurateur:
Ashok Bajaj, Knightsbridge Restaurant Group (The Bombay Club, the Oval Room, Rasika, 701, Bibiana, Ardeo & Bardeo, Nopa)
Stephen Starr (Le Diplomate and numerous restaurants in Philadelphia and New York)
Outstanding service:
Outstanding wine program:
Charleston (Baltimore)
Outstanding wine, beer, or spirits professional
Rutger de Vink, RdV (Delaplane, VA)
Diane Flint, Foggy Ridge Cider (Dugspur, VA)
Rising star chef:
N/A
Best chef, Mid-Atlantic:
Victor Albisu, Del Campo
Erik Bruner-Yang, Maketto
Hari Cameron, a(MUSE) (Rehoboth Beach)
Peter Chang, Peter Chang
Jose De Brito, the Alley Light (Charlottesville)
Tarver King, the Restaurant at Patowmack Farm (Lovettsville, VA)
Cedric Maupillier, Convivial
Aaron Silverman, Rose’s Luxury
Cindy Wolf, Charleston (Baltimore)
Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.
