James Beard Foundation Shows Love to Black Restaurants and Chefs With 2023 Award Semifinalists
This week, we told you that on Yelp’s list of Top 100 Places to Eat, only five of the restaurants were Black-owned. Welp, the James Beard Awards? just announced their 2023 Restaurant and Chef Awards semifinalists and the news was much better for Black folks.
The James Beard Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a restaurant industry where everyone can thrive, has recognized noteworthy restaurants and chefs with their highly-coveted award since 1991. This year’s standouts were chosen across 23 categories, including Outstanding Restaurant, Emerging Chef and Outstanding Bakery. Winners will be honored at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards Ceremony on Monday, June 5, 2023, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
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A Beard award carries a tremendous amount weight in the industry, mostly because the winners are chosen by their peers. A committee of industry professionals (including past winners) vote on recommendations submitted by other restaurants, chefs, and creatives.
These are some of the outstanding Black restaurants and chefs being considered for the awards this year.
Outstanding Restaurant: The Grey, Savannah, GA
Located inside a restored 1938 art deco Greyhound Bus Terminal, The Grey in Savannah, GA is a partnership between owners, Johno Morisano and Chef Mashama Bailey. They use a combination of regional produce, seafood and meat and creative flavor to put a unique twist on old favorites.
Emerging Chef: Damarr Brown - Virtue, Chicago, IL
A graduate of the Cooking and Hospitality Institute in Chicago, Damarr Brown grew up cooking alongside his mother who often bought him cookbooks. Brown found his way into the national spotlight as a contestant on Bravo TV’s Top Chef Houston, where he made it to the final four and was voted, “Fan Favorite.”
Emerging Chef: Rashida Holmes - Bridgetown Roti, Los Angeles, CA
Chef Rashida Holmes saw her family-owned and operated pop-up, Bridgetown Roti, as an opportunity to share her Caribbean heritage with her city. “I was excited by the fact that there weren’t a lot of West Indian places [in L.A.], so I knew I could kind of exist in this unique space where I was presenting something that a lot of people hadn’t tried before,” she told the Los Angeles Times in an interview.
Emerging Chef: Charlie Mitchell - Clover Hill, Brooklyn, NY
Charlie Mitchell got his culinary training on the job working at restaurants in his native Detroit. Now the Owner and Executive Chef at Brooklyn’s Clover Hill, Mitchell is the first Black executive chef at a Michelin-starred restaurant in New York, and only the second Black chef to receive a star in the country.
Emerging Chef: Elias Taddesse - Mélange, Washington, D.C
Ethiopian-born chef Elias Taddesse has a diverse culinary background that includes interning in France and working in a Michelin-starred restaurant in New York City. He’s currently the Owner and Head Chef at Mélange in Washington, D.C. and was named Eater DC’s “Chef of the Year 2021.
Outstanding Chef: Nina Compton - Compère Lapin, New Orleans, LA
Chef Nina Compton is a native of St. Lucia. But after being a contestant on Top Chef Season 11: New Orleans, where she was runner-up and fan favorite, she decided the Big Easy was the perfect place to open Compère Lapin, a restaurant that combines her classical French culinary training with her Caribbean roots.
Outstanding Chef: Greg Collier - Leah & Louise, Charlotte, NC
Chef Greg Collier, and wife Sabrina, are the owners of the Charlotte restaurant, Leah & Louise, a place they describe as a “modern juke joint.” Their menu puts a unique spin on some classic soul food faves. Cornmeal pound cake with white miso diplomat cream and seasonal fruit compote? Yes, please!
Best New Restaurant: Dept of Culture - Brooklyn, NY
Born out of a pop-up dinner series, Brooklyn’s Dept of Culture offers a tasting menu inspired by the flavors of North-Central Nigeria. The concept was created to offer patrons an evening of conversation in an intimate setting over delicious food.
Best New Restaurant: Sambou’s African Kitchen - Jackson, MS
Joseph Sambou opened Sambou’s African Kitchen in response to a lack of African restaurants in Mississippi. Mainly a family affair, they offer a full menu of traditional West African dishes along with a weekday special.
Best New Restaurant: Nolia - Cincinnati, OH
Nolia may be in Cincinnati, but the menu is all about New Orleans, Chef Jeff Harris’ hometown. From the gulf oysters to the skillet cornbread, everything about this place is rooted in classic southern cuisine.
Outstanding Restauranteur: Greg Dulan - Dulan’s Soul Food Kitchen, Dulan’s on Crenshaw, and Dulanville, Los Angeles, CA
For Greg Dulan, the restaurant industry is in his blood. His father, Adolf Dulan, was the founder of Dulan’s Soul Food Kitchen in Los Angeles, a cafeteria-styled restaurant serving up delicious comfort food. Today Greg manages Dulan’s three South LA locations, along with his siblings and children and continues its tradition of award-winning soul food.
Outstanding Restauranteur: Chris Williams, Lucille’s Hospitality Group, Houston, TX
Chris Williams founded Lucille’s Hospitality Group as a way to honor his great-grandmother — culinary pioneer Lucille B. Smith. With restaurants across Houston and Canada, Williams is continuing Lucille’s legacy of using food to share culture. They even take inspiration from some of her classic recipes.
Outstanding Restauranteur: Clinton Gray, Derrick Moore, and Emanuel Reed, Slim & Husky’s Pizza Beeria, Nashville, TN
Clinton Gray, Derrick Moore and Emanuel Reed are the three Nashville natives behind Slim & Husky’s Pizza Beeria. A place that’s all about the community, they specialize in artisan pizzas made with locally sourced ingredients and locally brewed craft beer.
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