The Oscars of food, the Super Bowl for restaurants, the Olympics for chefs—call it what you want, but the James Beard Awards are a big deal for the culinary industry. This year, in particular, is major for Miami as the list of 2022 Restaurant and Chef Awards semifinalists includes several local greats—Jeremy Ford, Michael Pirolo and Niven Patel, just to name a few.
This list of seminfinalists will be culled down one more time before the nominees are announced on April 27. The winners will be celebrated at a ceremony in Chicago’s Lyric Opera on June 13. Until then, peep the list of categories where Miami earned a semifinalist nomination below, and click through to the James Beard Foundation for the full list of 2022 Restaurant and Chef Awards semifinalists. Good luck to all! We’ll be rooting for you.
Best New Restaurants
Zitz Sum, Coral Gables, FL
- ABACÁ, San Francisco
- Angry Egret Dinette, Los Angeles
- Bacanora, Phoenix
- BARDA, Detroit
- Café Mamajuana, Burlington, VT
- Casian Seafood, Lafayette, CO
- Dhamaka, NYC
- Fritai, New Orleans
- Gage & Tollner, NYC
- Horn BBQ, Oakland, CA
- Kasama, Chicago
- Kimika, NYC
- Laser Wolf, Philadelphia
- Leeward, Portland, ME
- Lengua Madre, New Orleans
- MACHETE, Greensboro, NC
- Matia Kitchen & Bar, Orcas Island, WA
- The Marble Table, Billings, MT
- Nani's Piri Piri Chicken, Asheville, NC
- NiHao, Baltimore
- Owamni, Minneapolis
- Oyster Oyster, Washington, D.C.
- Pier 6 Seafood & Oyster House, San Leon, TX
- República, Portland, OR
- Roots Southern Table, Farmers Branch, TX
- Sooper Secret Izakaya, Honolulu
- Union Hmong Kitchen, Minneapolis
- Ursula, NYC
- Zacatlán Restaurant, Santa Fe
Outstanding Pastry Chef
Antonio Bachour, Bachour, Coral Gables and Doral, FL
- Nicolas Blouin, Destination Kohler, Kohler, WI
- Warda Bouguettaya, Warda Pâtisserie, Detroit
- Mark Chacón, Chacónne Patisserie, Phoenix
- Angela Cicala, Cicala at the Divine Lorraine, Philadelphia
- Kate Fisher Hamm, Leeward, Portland, ME
- Michelle Karr-Ueoka, MW Restaurant, Honolulu
- Margarita Manzke, République, Los Angeles
- Claudia Martinez, Miller Union, Atlanta
- Elise Mensing, Brasserie by Niche, St. Louis
- Camari Mick, The Musket Room, NYC
- Ruben Ortega, Xochi, Houston
- Shannah Primiano, Porto, Chicago
- Rabii Saber, Four Seasons, Orlando, FL
- Caroline Schiff, Gage & Tollner, NYC
- Anne Specker, Kinship, Washington, D.C.
- Krystle Swenson, The Social Haus, Greenough, MT
- Sofia Tejeda, Mixtli, San Antonio, TX
- Jen Yee, Hopkins and Company, Atlanta
Best Chef: South (AL, AR, FL, LA, MS, PR)
Michael Beltran, Ariete, Coconut Grove, FL
Valerie, Nando, and Fernando Chang, Itamae, Miami
Jeremy Ford, Stubborn Seed, Miami
Niven Patel, Ghee Indian Kitchen, Kendall, FL
Michael Pirolo, Macchialina, Miami
- Clay Conley, Buccan, Palm Beach, FL
- Blake Aguillard and Trey Smith, Saint-Germain, New Orleans
- Adam Evans, Automatic Seafood and Oysters, Birmingham, AL
- Hao Gong, LUVI Restaurant, New Orleans
- Francis Guzmán, Vianda, San Juan, PR
- Timothy Hontzas, Johnny’s Restaurant, Homewood, AL
- Melissa M. Martin, Mosquito Supper Club, New Orleans
- Matthew McClure, The Hive, Bentonville, AR
- Abel Mendoza, Estela, Rincón, PR
- Henry Moso, Kabooki Sushi, Orlando, FL
- Michael Nelson, GW Fins, New Orleans
- Alex Perry, Vestige, Ocean Springs, MS
- Allison Richard, High Hat Cafe, New Orleans
- Rafael Rios, Yeyo's, Bentonville, AR
- Isaac Toups, Toups’ Meatery, New Orleans
Outstanding Chef
Michael Schwartz, Michael's Genuine Food & Drink, Miami
- Reem Assil, Reem's, Oakland and San Francisco, CA
- Mashama Bailey, The Grey, Savannah, GA
- Andrew Black, Grey Sweater, Oklahoma City
- Peter Chang, Peter Chang, VA and MD
- Austin Covert, Rosewild, Fargo, ND
- Christopher Gross, Christopher's, Phoenix
- Stephen Jones, The Larder + The Delta, Phoenix
- Ji Hye Kim, Miss Kim, Ann Arbor, MI
- Kyle Knall, Birch, Milwaukee
- Emiliano Marentes, ELEMI, El Paso, TX
- Niki Nakayama, n/naka, Los Angeles
- Keiji Nakazawa, Sushi Sho, Honolulu
- Josh Niernberg, Bin 707 Foodbar, Grand Junction, CO
- Alex Raij and Eder Montero, La Vara, NYC
- Angie Rito and Scott Tacinelli, Don Angie, NYC
- Douglass Williams, MIDA, Boston
- Cindy Wolf, Charleston, Baltimore
- Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi, Joule, Seattle
Outstanding Baker
Zak Stern, Zak the Baker, Miami
- David Cáceres, La Panadería, San Antonio, TX
- Maya-Camille Broussard, Justice of the Pies, Chicago
- Atsuko Fujimoto, Norimoto Bakery, Portland, ME
- Susannah Gebhart, Old World Levain (OWL) Bakery, Asheville, NC
- Marissa and Mark Gencarelli, Yoli Tortilleria, Kansas City, MO
- Joseph, Archalous, and Caroline Geragosian, Old Sasoon Bakery, Pasadena, CA
- Don Guerra, Barrio Bread, Tucson, AZ
- Aaron Hall, The Local Crumb, Mount Vernon, IA
- Mike Hirao, Nisshodo Candy Store, Honolulu
- Clement Hsu, Katherine Campecino-Wong, and James Wong, Breadbelly, San Francisco
- Nobutoshi “Nobu” Mizushima and Yuko Kawashiwo, Ihatov Bread and Coffee, Albuquerque, NM
- Evette Rahman, Sister Honey's, Orlando, FL
- Rhonda Saltzman and Mercedes Brooks, Second Daughter Baking Co., Philadelphia
- Caroline Schweitzer and Lauren Heemstra, Wild Crumb, Bozeman, MT
- Khatera Shams, Sunshine Spice Bakery & Cafe, Boise, ID
- Elaine Townsend, Café Mochiko, Cincinnati, OH
- Maricsa Trejo, La Casita Bakeshop, Richardson, TX
- Louis Volle, Lodi, NYC
- Pamela Vuong, The Flour Box, Seattle
Outstanding Bar Program
Cafe La Trova, Miami
- Alley Twenty Six, Durham, NC
- Attaboy, Nashville
- Avenue Pub, New Orleans
- Bar Leather Apron, Honolulu
- barmini by José Andrés, Washington, D.C.
- Chapel Tavern, Reno, NV
- Friends and Family, Oakland, CA
- Genever, Los Angeles
- Goodkind, Milwaukee
- The Jewel Box, Portland, ME
- Julep, Houston
- La Factoría, San Juan, PR
- Las Almas Rotas, Dallas
- Llama San, NYC
- Nobody's Darling, Chicago
- Shelby, Detroit
- Valkyrie, Tulsa, OK
- Vicia, St. Louis
- Water Witch, Salt Lake City