Skip navigation
James Beard 'Rising Star' nominees dominated by newcomers

James Beard 'Rising Star' nominees dominated by newcomers

Only four of last year's 25 Rising Star contenders have returned

There’s been a shakeup among the semifinalists for the James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef of the Year award, one of 21 categories in the foundation’s prestigious Restaurant and Chef Awards. The semifinalists in all categories were named on Wednesday, and the majority of them also were on the long list last year.

But among Rising Star nominees, only four of last year’s 25 candidates have returned: Jessica Largey of Manresa in Los Gatos, Calif.; Marjorie Meek-Bradley of Ripple in Washington, D.C.; Cara Stadler of Tao Yuan in Brunswick, Maine; and Ari Taymor of Alma in Los Angeles.

The career-boosting Rising Star award is given to a chef age 30 or younger who, according to the Beard Foundation, “displays an impressive talent and who is likely to make a significant impact on the industry in years to come.”

Last year, the award was split by Jimmy Bannos Jr. of The Purple Pig in Chicago and Blaine Wetzel of The Willow Inn on Lummi Island in Lummi Island, Wash. Past winners have included such luminaries as David Chang, Marcus Samuelsson and Todd English.

The list of semifinalists was culled from more than 34,000 online nominations evaluated by the restaurants and chefs committee. They will be voted on by a panel of more than 600 judges, including past winners, restaurant critics, food and wine editors and culinary educators. A list of finalists will be announced on March 24, then the same panel will vote on them. The winners will be announced at a gala ceremony on May 4 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

A new category, Outstanding Baker, was created this year. All of the semifinalists in that category are new, as are those in the Best New Restaurant category.

Some notable newcomers include Traci Des Jardins of Jardinière in San Francisco, Claude le Tohic of Joël Robuchon in Las Vegas, Stephan Pyles of Stephan Pyles in Dallas and Andy Ricker of Pok Pok in Portland, Ore., for Outstanding Chef. New bars nominated in the Outstanding Bar Program category include Barmini in Washington, D.C., Butcher and the Rye in Pittsburgh, The Patterson House in Nashville and Tørst in Brooklyn.

New Outstanding Pastry Chef semifinalists include Bill Corbett of Absinthe Group in San Francisco and Kelly Fields of the Besh Restaurant Group in New Orleans.

Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary

Hide comments

Comments

  • Allowed HTML tags: <em> <strong> <blockquote> <br> <p>

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
Publish