As our NY colleagues just reported, the James Beard Foundationrevealed the listof finalists today for the 2013 awards, to be presented on May 6, and San Francisco is even more well represented among the nominees than it has been in recent years. Both local contenders for the Best New Restaurant prize,Rich TableandState Bird Provisions, made the cut from theinitial list of semi-finalists, and two local chefs are among the Rising Star finalists as well: Danny Bowien ofMission Chinese Food, and Thomas McNaughton ofFlour + Water.
Also, the Bay Area dominates in the category of Best Chef in the West, which covers California, Nevada, and Hawaii. Three local chefs who were previously nominated in 2012— Daniel Patterson, Chris Cosentino, and Christopher Kostow — are all finalists in the category again, alongside Corey Lee ofBenu. And the sole SoCal nomination in the category is the team of Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo of Animal in L.A. An L.A. chef, Matt Molina of Mozza, won in the category last year after a few years of S.F. domination, and we expect an S.F. chef to take the award again this year.
Other re-nominations includeSlanted Doorfor Outstanding Restaurant in the nation, Gary Danko for Outstanding Chef, Melissa Chou ofAzizafor Outstanding Pastry Chef, andA16for Outstanding Wine Program.Bar Agricole第二次被提名为两-year-old category of Outstanding Bar Program.
And both Quince and Meadowood are nominated in the Outstanding Service category.
As we’ve discussed earlier, most of these nominees can thank Michael Bauer for the honor, as he sits on the committee that nominates chefs and restaurants, as well as Beard Foundation President and local pastry chef Emily Lucchetti.
Good luck to all, and go San Francisco.
James Beard Foundation Announces 2013 Restaurant and Chef Awards Finalists[Grub Street NY]
