The James Beard Foundation recently released their list of finalists for the Award Ceremony that will take place in June at Chicago’s Lyric Opera House.
In my former life as a restaurant chef and line cook, the annual late winter announcements of James Beard Award Nominees for excellence in various categories of hospitality always held both anticipation and trepidation. On one hand, even a nomination for Outstanding Chef, Outstanding Service, Best New Restaurant, Outstanding Beverage Program, et cetera was a tremendous acknowledgement of respect – a serious nod to the hours of hard work, aggravation and stress one offered up to the chosen vocation of restaurant life.
A spike in business typically followed the press announcement, often providing a windfall for the nominees that could be used for newer, more reliable equipment, increased compensation for staff, or – in many situations – an elimination of vendor debt accumulated in a line of work that carries, even in the good times, the thinnest of profit margins.
On the other hand, scouring the list of announced nominees and not seeing one’s name or establishment is a silent and brutal kick in the gut – especially when the restaurateur, chef or drink-slinger has privately set their sights on that achievement. Despite a lot of brave faces and feigned, practiced disinterest, any hospitality proprietor worth their locking-up keys – the ones who aspired to a James Beard Nomination and didn’t get one – often harbor a quiet heartbreak to which few would admit.
Hospitality work is highly and perennially underappreciated labor as it is. Most of the general public considers it transient labor – a job one has to do until one is able to land the job they want to do. For those of us on both sides of the house, front and back, the looks of disappointment, bemusement and pity (often simultaneous) on the faces of our guests, parents and loved ones remind us of that on a daily basis – no matter how much we love the restaurant environment and how much pride we take in our work. Pair that with the verbal abuse doled out on the regular by snide and entitled guests and, well, any positive acknowledgement of one’s dedication to the craft – especially presented by an objective and respected institution like the James Beard Foundation – can be a serious boon to staff morale and mental health. That is why, despite the disappointment some of us have felt when skipped over for a nomination, there is still a tremendous amount of respect, gratitude and celebration we share with colleagues in our community who have been given that honor. It is one of the aspects of hospitality work I have always cherished most.
When the semi-finalists for the 2025 awards were released at the end of January, hearts all over Minnesota’s hospitality community swelled with pride to see an unprecedented ELEVEN nominees from the North Star State. To the our west, both North and South Dakota opened outposts that made the finalist cut. Fireworks must have erupted in our neighbor to the east as Wisconsin carried seven nominations of their own:
MINNESOTA
Ann Ahmed – Khaluna – Outstanding Chef
Spoon and Stable – Outstanding Restaurant
Bucheron – Best New Restaurant
Vinai – Best New Restaurant
Mucci’s – Outstanding Hospitality
Bar Brava – Outstanding Wine and Beverage Program
Mateo Mackbee, Krewe – Best Chef Midwest
Karyn Tomlinson, Myriel – Best Chef Midwest
Diane Moua, Diane’s Place – Best Chef Midwest
Shigeyuki Furukawa, Kado No Mise – Best Chef Midwest
Abraham Gessesse, Hyacinth – Best Chef Midwest
WISCONSIN
Gregory Leon – Outstanding Chef
Bryant’s Cocktail Lounge – Outstanding Bar
Agency – Best New Bar
Ross Bachhuber/Samuel Ek, Odd Duck – Best Chef Midwest
Jamie Brown-Soukaseume/Chuckie Brown-Soukaseume, Ahan – Best Chef Midwest
Dan Jacobs/Dan Van Rite, EsterEv – Best Chef Midwest
Kyle Knall, Birch – Best Chef Midwest
SOUTH DAKOTA
Joseph Raney, Skogen Kitchen – Best Chef Midwest
NORTH DAKOTA
Cody Monson, Huckleberry House – Best Chef Midwest
Not only do the nominations for Minnesota and Wisconsin cover more than just the urban population centers of the state - Mateo Mackbee’s Krewe, for example, is in tiny Saint Joseph - a college town in central Minnesota – but they represent a grand departure from the upscale European-influenced cuisine typically nominated for excellence in this neck of the woods. Ann Ahmed’s Khaluna, Yia Vang’s Vinai, Diane’s Place from Diane Moua, and Ahan in Madison Wisconsin all offer world-class, upscale preparations of the nominees’ Southeast Asian heritage. The aforementioned Krewe celebrates Chef Mateo’s lauded and refined approach to the cuisine of his family’s New Orleans roots. Shigeyuki Furukawa manages, through exhaustive and meticulous effort, to source and prepare the finest, freshest Japanese cuisine to the burgeoning community of sushi aficionados in Minneapolis – a city long-associated with Swedish Meatballs and mashed potatoes.
Twenty James Beard Nominations in four states is an embarrassment of riches – particularly when those riches accurately reflect the diversity of cultures that have chosen to celebrate their lives in the Upper Midwest.
From the coffee shops and burger bars in rural communities to hospitals and educational centers to the finest standards of dining in the electrifying bustle of our big cities, Daly & DeRoma is proud to partner with the hardworking hospitality professionals in Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas. It is our great honor to provide the tools, equipment and support that helps the talent, heart and ambition of those who make the North Country a delicious place to live.
JD Fratzke
Plymouth, MN
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