At a gala ceremony at the Lyric Opera of Chicago on Monday, June 10, restaurants and chefs were honored at the James Beard Awards, often regarded as the Oscars of the food world, highlighting some of the country’s most notable gastronomic talent.
The annual accolades given out by nonprofit foundation featured more than 100 restaurants as finalists across 22 categories. All winners receive a certificate and a medallion engraved with the James Beard Foundation Awards insignia.
The 2024 award recipients include Lord Maynard Llera of Los Angeles-based Kuya Lord, who won for Best Chef: California; Masako Morishita of Perry’s (Washington D.C.) for Emerging Chef of the Year; Gregory Gourdet for Best Chef: Northwest-Pacific, who scored his third consecutive medallion; and Dakar NOLA (New Orleans) for Best New Restaurant. American chef and food writer Ruth Reichl (who, incidentally, helped coin the term “Oscars of the food world“) received the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Lula Drake Wine Parlour (Columbia, South Carolina) won for Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program, a field that also included Ying Chang and Robert Adamson’s Strong Water Anaheim, the only Orange County name nominated this year in any category.
SEE ALSO: Strong Water Anaheim founders talk James Beard Awards, cocktail creation and a new project
ZU Bakery (Portland, Maine) won for Outstanding Bakery in a category featuring Gusto Bread of Long Beach. Gusto Bread’s nomination marked the first time a Long Beach eatery had been a James Beard Award finalist.
The full list of James Beard Awards 2024 winners is as follows:
Emerging ChefMasako Morishita, Perry’s, Washington, D.C.
Outstanding Pastry Chef or BakerAtsuko Fujimoto, Norimoto Bakery, Portland, Maine
Outstanding BakeryZU Bakery, Portland, Maine
Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages ProgramLula Drake Wine Parlour, Columbia, South Carolina
Outstanding BarJewel of the South, New Orleans, Louisiana
Best Chef: Mid-AtlanticHarley Peet of Bas Rouge, Easton, Maryland
SEE ALSO: Gusto Bread rises from the living room to a full-service bakery in Long Beach
Best Chef: New York StateCharlie Mitchell of Clover Hill, Cloverhill, Brooklyn, New York
Best Chef: SouthValerie Chang of Maty’s, Miami, Florida
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Best Chef: Northwest-PacificGregory Gourdet of Kann, Portland, Oregon
Best Chef: NortheastDavid Standridge of the Shipwright’s Daughter, Mystic, Connecticut
Best Chef: MidwestChristina Nguyen, Hai Hai, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Best Chef: CaliforniaLord Maynard Llera, Kuya Lord, Los Angeles, California
Best Chef: MountainMatt Vawter, Rootstalk Breck, Breckenridge, Colorado
Best Chef: SouthwestRene Andrade, Bacanora, Phoenix
Best Chef: SoutheastPaul Smith, 1010 Bridge, Charleston, West Virginia
Best Chef: Great LakesHajime Sato, Sozai, Clawson, Michigan
Best Chef: TexasAna Liz Pulido, Ana Liz Taqueria, Mission, Texas
Outstanding HospitalityLula Cafe, Chicago, Illinois
Best New RestaurantDakar, New Orleans, Louisiana
Outstanding RestauranteurErika Whitaker and Kelly Whitaker, Id Est, Boulder, Colorado
Outstanding RestaurantLangbaan, Portland, Oregon
Outstanding ChefMichael Rafidi, Albi, Washington D.C.
2024 James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement AwardRuth Reichl
2024 James Beard Foundation Humanitarian of the YearThe LEE Initiative
A body of judges in the culinary industry review nominees for their prowess in the kitchen or behind the bar, as well as behavioral ethics, including employee treatment. The James Beard Foundation has given awards since 1991, taking a pause in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The James Beard Foundation also bestows awards to the media, which includes cookbook authors, journalists and other media bodies. The media awards were handed out at a ceremony on Saturday, June 8.
