James Beard pastry nod

Neale Asato of Honolulu’s Asato Family Shop is a 2026 James Beard Award nominee for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker. (jamesbeard.org) The James Beard Foundation announced its 2026 Restaurant and Chef Award nominees on March 31. Winners are scheduled to be named June 15 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. (jamesbeard.org) Asato Family Shop operates on Pali Highway in downtown Honolulu, and Aloha State Daily reported April 18 that the business is known for sherbet in local flavors including strawberry, pineapple and Green River. The same report said some flavors had sold out during a recent Sunday service. (alohastatedaily.com) Aloha State Daily said Asato is the only Hawaiʻi semifinalist from January’s James Beard list to advance to the final nominee stage. In January, the paper counted nine semifinalists from the Islands across the 2026 Restaurant and Chef Awards. (alohastatedaily.com 1) (alohastatedaily.com 2) That makes Asato’s nomination one of Hawaiʻi’s remaining entries in the national chef-and-restaurant awards as the June ceremony approaches. The James Beard Foundation says the awards recognize talent in food, beverage and hospitality and have been presented for nearly four decades. (jamesbeard.org 1) (jamesbeard.org 2) The category matters because it puts pastry and baking work on the same national stage as chef and restaurant honors. In the semifinal round announced Jan. 21, Asato was listed specifically in Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker. (jamesbeard.org) (alohastatedaily.com) Aloha State Daily reported that Asato’s Pali Highway shop has been open for a little more than seven years, while the company itself started about a year and a half before that. The business also opened a Waikīkī location at the Hyatt Regency Waikīkī Beach Resort & Spa in late 2025. (alohastatedaily.com 1) (alohastatedaily.com 2) The April 18 profile said the company plans to shift time toward wholesale growth, and April 12 was its last Sunday open for retail sales at the Pali Highway shop. Asato told Aloha State Daily that his wife, children, parents and siblings have all helped build the business. (alohastatedaily.com) For now, the nomination puts a family-run Honolulu dessert shop into one of the country’s highest-profile food awards before the June 15 ceremony. (jamesbeard.org) (alohastatedaily.com)