Familiar Local Names Dominate James Beard Award Finalists

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Mar 18, 2014 4:40PM

The James Beard Foundation announced the finalists for their annual awards Tuesday morning Lisa White was at the announcement ceremony at The Publican this morning and will have more reaction from the nominees and the ceremony later.

The Publican was a fitting locale as four nominees from Paul Kahan's One Off Hospitality Group earned nods for the awards ceremony May 5 in New York City. Kahan and One Off Hospitality are arguably the driving force in Chicago restaurants and the nominations are further proof a national audience has noticed. Kahan's longtime business partner Donnie Madia earned another nomination for Outstanding Restaurateur; maybe this will be the year he wins.

Blackbird's David Posey is a nominee for Rising Star Chef along with The Purple Pig's Jimmy Bannos Jr., while Blackbird's Dana Cree is a finalist for Outstanding Pastry Chef. The Violet Hour earned another nomination for Outstanding Bar Program.

The Best Chef, Great Lakes category was once again dominated by chefs from Chicago. Dave Beran (Next), Curtis Duffy (Grace), Paul Virant (Vie) and Andrew Zimmerman (Sepia) are all up for the award. The other nominee is Jonathan Sawyer of The Greenhouse Tavern in Cleveland, Ohio.

Spiaggia is a finalist for Outstanding Restaurant and Topobolampo earned another nomination for Outstanding Service.

Read the full list of nominees here.