Aaron Silverman of Rose’s Luxury and Pineapple & Pearls claimed one of the highest honors in the restaurant industry last night at the James Beard Awards ceremony in Chicago, clinching the title of Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic.
The native Washingtonian beat fellow area chef Peter Chang, who was also a finalist in the category for Peter Chang Arlington, as well as Cindy Wolfe of Baltimore’s Charleston restaurant. Unfortunately Mark Furstenberg, nominated for Outstanding Baker for the second year in a row, didn’t take home a win to Bread Furst.
Though the Mid-Atlantic category includes Philadelphia, Richmond, and other cities with considerable culinary talent, Washington has fared well at the James Beard Awards in recent years. The last DC chef to claim the title of Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic was Vikram Sunderam (Rasika) in 2014; Baltimore’s Spike Gjerde of Woodberry Kitchen won last year, and will soon have a presence in the District with the opening of The Line hotel.
Silverman is no stranger to awards for Rose’s Luxury, having just received another coveted ranking: Food & Wine magazine’s Best New Chefs 2016, not to mention similar accolades in Bon Appetit, GQ, and others.
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.
