PORTLAND, Ore. — The James Beard Foundation announced the semi-finalists for its 2024 Restaurant and Chef Awards on Wednesday. Among several nominees across the country, 11 Oregon restaurants and chefs made the list.
The annual James Beard Awards, also known as the "Oscars of the food world," recognizes exceptional talent and achievement in the culinary arts, according to the foundation's website.
National categories
Sarah Minnick from Lovely's Fifty-Fifty is the only Portland chef nominated for national recognition. She's a semi-finalist in the "Outstanding Chef" category.
Minnick was featured in the Netflix series "Chef's Table: Pizza." She's known for her unconventional ingredients and flower-topped pizza.
Four Portland restaurants are semi-finalists in national categories:
- Han Oak, "Outstanding Hospitality"
- Langbaan, "Outstanding Restaurant"
- JinJu Patisserie, "Outstanding Bakery"
- OK Omens, "Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages"
Hayward in McMinnville has been nominated in the "Best New Restaurant" category.
Regional categories
Five culinary artists made it to the category for best chef in the Northwest, which includes Washington, Hawaii and Alaska:
- Gregory Gourdet, Kann, Portland
- Ryan Roadhouse, Nodoguro, Portland
- Peter Vuong, Ha VL, Portland
- Josh Dorcak, Mas, Ashland
- Matthew Lightner, Okta, McMinnville
While it's his fifth time receiving a nomination, Peter Vuong said this is the first one he has received since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I just do it from my heart," Vuong said. "I thank all the customers for supporting me the last 21 years. That's why I love it and I keep doing my best — to let people know that we're here and we serve the right Vietnamese soup."
That love for food and cooking rings the same for Ryan Roadhouse. He has been nominated for the James Beard Award seven times.
Roadhouse said Oregon has been the perfect place for creating his Japanese-inspired cuisine. For him, this year's award shows 10 years of hard work come to fruition.
"Being true to the form of highlighting those ingredients and making it part of the menus that we weave — Oregon has been a great place to do that." Roadhouse said. "It's actually what drew us out here — the ingredients, the growers, the food artisans. This kind of award really honors that community."
Finalists will be announced on April 3. Winners will be celebrated at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards Ceremony on June 10 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.