SEATTLE — A number of chefs that Evening has done stories with are semi-finalists for the 2020 James Beard Awards. Evening first met Geo Quibuyen and Chera Amlag when they were preparing to open their Hood Famous Ballard Bakeshop.
The Filipino-inspired offerings were such a hit that the two conquered another 'hood, Seattle’s Chinatown-International District, opening a second location there: Hood Famous Café + Bar. Purple ube cheesecakes, ube lattes, and plenty of other Asian-Pacific flavors have earned Chef Amlag recognition as a James Beard semi-finalist for Best Chef Northwest.
Another Best Chef Northwest contender is Mitch Mayers of Sawyer in Ballard.
Jim tried chef Matsuko Soma's albacore tataki soaked in blueberry ponzu sauce at her Fremont restaurant Kamonegi. Chef Soma is another Northwest semifinalist for Best Chef.
Baker Matt Tinder is a semi-finalist for Outstanding Baker and Evening visited his bakery Saboteur in Bremerton when it first opened in 2017.
Saboteur has since changed locations to Manette, another neighborhood in Bremerton, and it continues to create, and occasionally sell out of deliciousness daily.
Finally, Capitol Hill hotspot Adana is where you'll find Rising Star of the Year semi-finalist Chef Shota Nakajima - at all hours, he admitted.
Evening visited his favorite places to eat when he's not working in a recent 'Chef Eats' segment.
Consider a visit to one of these places soon - because if they win a James Beard nomination when they’re announced on March 25, reservations might be hard to come by!
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