James Beard Foundation announces 2024 finalists for restaurants and chefs in NYC
NEW YORK - The James Beard Foundation announced its finalists for the 2024 annual food awards.
Chefs from Kono, Sofreh, and Harana Market upstate are in the finals this year.
The winners will be announced on June 10 at a ceremony in Chicago.
Here are the finalists selected for both New York City and New York State:
Outstanding Bakery
- Mel the Bakery (Hudson, New York)
Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
- Waxlight Bar à Vin (Buffalo, New York)
Outstanding hospitality
- Melba’s
Emerging Chef
- Fariyal Abdullahi, Hav & Mar
- Ryan Fernandez, Southern Junction (Buffalo, New York)
Best Chef: New York State
- Nasim Alikhani, Sofreh
- Atsushi Kono, Kono
- Chris Mauricio, Harana Market (Accord, New York)
- Charlie Mitchell, Clover Hill
- Jeremy Salamon, Agi’s Counter
This year's New York awards carried significant weight, especially considering the outcome of last year.
Eater.com said last year no New York chef claimed an award in the national categories, marking a departure from the norm since the award's inception in 1991.
The trend persists in 2024, with no New York restaurant nominated for Best New Restaurant, despite notable contenders like Foul Witch and Foxface Natural making it to the semifinals.
General atmosphere at the Demo & Dine at Platform by James Beard Foundation hosted by JJ Johnson as part of the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival presented by Capital One on October 14, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Tasos Ka (Getty Images)
Even Superiority Burger, a contender for Outstanding Restaurant, failed to secure a spot.
Neither did Double Chicken Please nor All Night Skate, which were under consideration for Outstanding Bar, progress to the next stage.
New York also missed out on nominations for Outstanding Chef or Pastry Chef at the national level. Similarly, New York didn't receive recognition for its Outstanding Restaurateur, despite semifinalists Bryan Chunton and Pei Wei (of Zaab Zaab and Zaab Zaab Talay) and Ravi DeRossi being in the semifinals.