First Nepalese Beard finalist
- Washington chef Suresh Sundas is a 2026 James Beard Awards finalist for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic, putting Tapori in D.C. on one of U.S. dining’s biggest stages. - Sundas told WTOP he is the first Nepalese chef ever named a James Beard finalist; he moved to the U.S. at 24 and began working at a 7-Eleven. - The nomination puts a Nepal-born chef into a Beard finals field announced March 31, with winners set for June 15 in Chicago. (jamesbeard.org)
Suresh Sundas of Tapori in Washington is a 2026 James Beard Awards finalist for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic. (jamesbeard.org) Sundas told WTOP he is the first Nepalese chef ever named a James Beard finalist. The James Beard Foundation announced this year’s Restaurant and Chef nominees on March 31, with winners scheduled for June 15 in Chicago. (wtop.com) (jamesbeard.org) His category is one of the foundation’s regional best-chef awards, and Eater DC reported that Sundas is D.C.’s only 2026 finalist in Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic. The other four finalists in that region are from Pennsylvania. (dc.eater.com) Sundas’s route to the shortlist did not start in restaurant school. He told WTOP he learned to cook at home in southeastern Nepal, moved to the United States at 24, and first worked at a 7-Eleven in Northern Virginia. (wtop.com) He said a roommate’s guest tasted his chicken curry and urged him to leave convenience-store work for a kitchen job. Sundas told WTOP he then found a nearby restaurant job in Virginia and later worked at Rasika in Washington. (wtop.com) From there, he joined the team behind Daru, which opened in 2021, and then Tapori, which opened on H Street Northeast in March 2025. Eater DC described Tapori as a South Asian street-food restaurant from the Daru team at 600 H Street NE. (wtop.com) (dc.eater.com) Eater later included Tapori on its list of the 15 Best New Restaurants in America in 2025. Eater DC also said the restaurant was one of its best new restaurants in the country last year. (eater.com) (dc.eater.com) In his WTOP interview, Sundas described Nepalese food through technique as much as ingredients. He said Nepalese chicken curry often uses a thinner, watery sauce called jhol, unlike the thicker gravies common in many Indian versions. (wtop.com) The Beard nomination arrives as the foundation says its awards are meant to recognize talent and leadership across the independent restaurant industry. Sundas told WTOP the recognition feels like a responsibility to his community and to the team behind his work. (jamesbeard.org) (wtop.com)
