One of the most prestigious culinary awards in the United States is the James Beard Foundation’s Awards. And, recently the James Beard Award 2020 semifinalists list came out – including a few Hawaii entries!
For those not familiar with the James Beard Awards, it is often described as the Oscars of the food world. The awards themselves are broken down into a number of categories, including Best New Restaurant, Outstanding Baker, Outstanding Bar Program, Outstanding Chef, Outstanding Hospitality, Outstanding Pastry Chef, Outstanding Restaurant, Outstanding Restauranteur, Outstanding Wine Program, Outstanding Wine/Spirits/Beer Producer, Rising Star Chef of the Year, and Best Chef (by region). And, regions for the awards are broken down into the following geographic areas: California, Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Mountain, New York State, Northeast, Northwest & Pacific, South, Southeast, Southwest, and Texas. This year, Hawaii falls into Northwest & Pacific rather than the insanely competitive California region.
Hawaii Semifinalists
For 2020, there are a few James Beard Award semifinalists from Hawaii. Those semifinalists include:
- Bar Leather Apron – Honolulu (Outstanding Bar Program)
- Mimi Mendoza, Senia – Honolulu (Outstanding Pastry Chef)
- Chris Kajioka and Anthony Rush, Senia – Honolulu (Best Chef Northwest & Pacific)
- Keji Nakazawa, Sushi Sho – Honolulu (Best Chef Northwest & Pacific)
- Sheldon Simeon, Lineage – Wailea (Best Chef Northwest & Pacific)
Of the above restaurants, I’ve been to two of them and plan on visiting a third, Lineage, later this year. That said, I have been to Sheldon Simeon’s former restaurant MiGrant before, and go to try Tin Roof last year.
A friend of mine said Sushi Sho is amazing, though, at $300/person, I don’t think I can go there any time soon.
Other Notable Semifinalists
Outside of Hawaii, I’m happy to see the following semifinalists on the 2020 list:
- Kawi (Momofuku), NYC – Best New Restaurant
- Corey Lee, Benu, San Francisco – Outstanding Chef
- Gabriel Rucker, Le Pigeon, Portland, OR – Outstanding Chef
- Canlis, Seattle – Outstanding Hospitality
- Saison, San Francisco – Outstanding Hospitality
- Swan Oyster Depot, San Francisco – Outstanding Hospitality
- Juan Contreras, Atelier Crenn, San Francisco – Outstanding Pastry Chef
- Brandon Jew, Mister Jiu’s, San Francisco – Best Chef California
- Mourad Lahlou, Mourad, San Francisco – Best Chef California
- Niki Nakayama, n/naka, Los Angeles – Best Chef California
- Sean Gray, Momofuku Ko, NYC – Best Chef New York State
- Mutsuko Soma, Kamonegi, Seattle – Best Chef Northwest & Pacific
- Alan Ji, Mott 32, Las Vegas – Best Chef Southwest
Of the above, I’ve been to Le Pigeon (review coming soon), Atelier Crenn, and Mister Jiu’s. The rest are places I admire and want to visit. And, hopefully, I’ll be able to visit one or two of them this year – Mott 32 and Kamonegi. But we shall see. It all depends on where my travels take me and how much money I have to spend lol.
By the way, it’s worth mentioning that Mourad Lahlou is opening a new restaurant with Chris Kajioka (Senia) and Justin Park (Bar Leather Apron) this year. That new restaurant is known as Miro Hawaii, which is taking the place of long-time neighborhood restaurant Cafe Miro. The trio want to preserve the spirit of Cafe Miro, but you can bet their menu will be much more refined, and the prices will undoubtedly be higher.
James Beard Award 2020 Semifinalists, Final Thoughts
Congratulations to all James Beard Award 2020 semifinalists! It is a great honor to win a James Beard Award, though making it this far is an achievement too. According to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, it’s been over a decade since a Hawaii chef/restaurant moved past the semifinalist round. Further, our last award recipient was Chef George Mavrothalassitis of Chef Mavro in 2003. That’s nearly twenty years ago!
To see a complete list of the James Beard Award 2020 semifinalists, visit jamesbeard.org. And, stay tuned for the list of finalists! That list is scheduled to drop on March 25. So, here’s to hoping that at least a couple of our Hawaii semifinalists move on to the next round.