Last month, the James Beard Foundation Awards nominated 18 LA chefs, restaurants and bars as semifinalists. The 2015 finalist nominations were announced this morning, and we're now down to 7—the same number, interestingly enough, as last year.
Here are the final LA nominees:
Best new restaurant: Petit Trois.
Ludo Lefebvre's Trois Mec earned a nomination in this same category last year, so it wouldn't be surprising if he took home the award. And I mean, c'mon, that omelette.
Outstanding Chef: Suzanne Goin, Lucques.
Goin was a finalist in this category last year but was eventually beat out by Nancy Silverton, LA's only win last year.
Outstanding Pastry Chef: Dahlia Narvaez, Osteria Mozza.
Narvaez was a finalist in this same category last year—could this be her year?
Rising Star Chef of the Year: Ari Taymor, Alma.
Alimento's Zach Pollack was also a semifinalist in this category, and I'm a little surprised that he didn't secure a spot in the finals. Have you had his tortellini in brodo?
Outstanding Wine Program: Spago.
A LA restaurant didn't even make it to the Outstanding Wine Program finals last year, so I'm excited to see how far Spago will go.
Best Chef: Michael Cimarusti, Providence; Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo, Animal.
Déjà vu. Chefs Cimarusti, Shook and Dotolo were all finalists in this category last year, as well.
LA made a few other appearances in the list of final nominations as well: Lesley Bargar Suter at Los Angeles Magazine received a nod for Food Coverage in a General-Interest Publication; and Dana Goodyear at The New Yorker was nominated in the Profile category for her article "Elite Meat," about Belcampo Meat Co. Don't forget, too, that Guelaguetza was named a James Beard America's Classics Award nominee.
For a full list of 2015 finalists across the country, check out the James Beard Awards announcement. Winners will be announced on May 4. Who are you hoping will win? Let us know in the comments below!