David Standridge joins James Beard finalists

David Standridge of Shipwright’s Daughter in Mystic and Neale Asato of Asato Family Shop in Honolulu are both still in the running for 2026 James Beard Awards. (jamesbeard.org) (hawaiipublicradio.org) Standridge is one of five national finalists for Outstanding Chef, a category the James Beard Foundation lists alongside names from Los Angeles, Grand Junction, San Francisco and Mystic. (jamesbeard.org) Neale Asato is a finalist for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker, and Hawaiʻi Public Radio reported he was the only Hawaii semifinalist to advance to the final round. (hawaiipublicradio.org) The two finalists come from very different corners of the food world. Standridge is a restaurant chef whose national profile has grown around sustainable New England seafood; Asato built a family sherbet business from recipes he first sold to friends and relatives. (prnewswire.com) (hawaiipublicradio.org) Standridge already won James Beard’s Best Chef: Northeast in 2024, and his restaurant has become one of Connecticut’s most visible fine-dining destinations in Mystic. (prnewswire.com) (nbcconnecticut.com) His restaurant group says he has centered dishes around responsibly harvested fish, invasive species and underused local catch, including green crab, sea robin and kelp. (prnewswire.com) Asato told Hawaiʻi Public Radio that his family’s sherbet business grew out of childhood memories of Maui’s Tasaka Guri Guri and years of making sherbet and ice cream at home on Oʻahu. (hawaiipublicradio.org) He said the business began as a home side project to earn extra money, then expanded as his mother joined after retiring from Hawaii’s Department of Education and more relatives came in. (hawaiipublicradio.org) For Connecticut, Standridge is part of a broader 2026 finalist class that also includes chef David DiStasi and Mystic bar program nominee The Port of Call. (nbcconnecticut.com) For Hawaii, Asato’s nomination narrowed a larger semifinal field of nine local chefs and restaurants down to one finalist. (hawaiipublicradio.org 1) (hawaiipublicradio.org 2) The James Beard Foundation says winners will be announced June 15, 2026, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Until then, Standridge and Asato remain two of the country’s most closely watched finalists from smaller regional food scenes. (jamesbeard.org 1) (jamesbeard.org 2)