James Beard season heating up
James Beard announcements landed big local wins — Philadelphia has seven restaurant/chef finalists for 2026 while Nancy Silverton was named the James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and nine Los Angeles finalists were also announced. The nods are amplifying Philly and LA’s restaurant profiles heading into spring. (cbsnews.com) (latimes.com)
Philadelphia’s slate of named finalists includes Lovers Bar (nominated in Outstanding Bar), Kalaya (Outstanding Restaurant), Emmett (Best New Restaurant), and chefs Jesse Ito (Royal Sushi & Izakaya), Amanda Shulman (Her Place Supper Club), and Omar Tate with Cybille St. Aude‑Tate (Honeysuckle) in the Best Chef: Mid‑Atlantic category. (cbsnews.com) Jesse Ito’s appearance on this year’s list continues a pattern of repeat recognition — this marks his sixth time as a James Beard finalist — and he recently opened a second Philadelphia restaurant called dancerobot. (axios.com) (cbsnews.com) Nancy Silverton’s decades‑long track record includes founding La Brea Bakery in 1989, co‑founding Campanile, and building the Mozza restaurant group (Osteria Mozza, Pizzeria Mozza, Chi Spacca), and she previously won a James Beard pastry award in 1991. (commercialbaking.com) (restaurantbusinessonline.com) Los Angeles finalists named on the list include Gilberto Cetina of Holbox and Niki Nakayama of n/naka (both up in Outstanding Chef), Fátima Juárez of Komal (Emerging Chef), Ki (Best New Restaurant), Providence (Outstanding Hospitality), Kato (Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program), and other L.A. nominees cited by local outlets. (restaurantbusinessonline.com) (rollingout.com) The James Beard Foundation scheduled the Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony for Monday, June 15, 2026 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, with Impact Award honorees acknowledged the day before on June 14. (jamesbeard.org)
