The restaurant and chef nominees for the 2024 James Beard Awards—the food industry’s most high-profile honors—were announced this morning at DC’s Waldorf Astoria hotel. And our area had one of its most impressive showings in years, racking up several nominations in regional and national categories.
Nominees in the biggest national categories include Hollis Wells Silverman (Duck and the Peach; La Collina; the Wells) for Outstanding Restaurateur; Susan Bae (Moon Rabbit) for Outstanding Pastry Chef; and Tail Up Goat for Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program. Masako Morishita garnered plenty of accolades last year for her revitalization of Adams Morgan sushi institution Perry’s, but her nomination today in the Beards’ Emerging Chef category is her biggest yet.
Last year, there was only one local in the Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic category: Michael Rafidi of Navy Yard Levantine hit Albi. Now, Rafidi is up for the more prestigious Outstanding Chef award (last year’s went to Rob Rubba of Shaw vegetarian spot Oyster Oyster). And the 2024 Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic nominees include Tony Conte of Montgomery County pizza mecca Inferno Pizzeria Napoletana; Kevin Tien of Moon Rabbit, his newly relaunched Vietnamese restaurant in Penn Quarter; and Harley Peet, of Easton’s elegant Bas Rouge.
Succotash chef/owner Edward Lee’s Lee Initiative—an aid organization that helps small farms, Black-owned businesses, and others in the restaurant industry—takes 2024’s Humanitarian of the Year honor.
Find the full list of nominees here. Winners will be announced Monday, June 10 at a ceremony in Chicago.
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.
