SEATTLE — The Seattle area was very well-represented among the semi-finalists for the annual James Beard Awards, honoring the best of America's "culinary and food media industries."
Fourteen restaurants and/or individual chefs from those establishments were named semi-finalists Wednesday, most of which are located in Seattle with a few scattered around western and central Washington.
- Outstanding Restaurateur: Quynh-Vy and Yenvy Pham, Phở Bắc Súp Shop, Phởcific Standard Time, and The Boat, Seattle
- Outstanding Chef: Aaron Verzosa, Archipelago, Seattle
- Outstanding Restaurant: The Walrus and the Carpenter, Seattle
- Emerging Chef: Janet Becerra, Pancita, Seattle
- Best New Restaurant: Bar Bacetto, Waitsburg, Wash.
- Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker: Ben Campbell, Ben’s Bread Co., Seattle
- Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program: Eight Row, Seattle
- Best Chef (Northwest and Pacific)
- Avery Adams, Matia Kitchen, Orcas Island, Wash.
- Derek Bray, The Table, Tacoma, Wash.
- Kristi Brown, Communion, Seattle
- Grayson Corrales, MariPili Tapas Bar, Seattle
- Dan Koommoo, Crafted, Yakima, Wash.
- Evan Leichtling, Off Alley, Seattle
- Melissa Miranda, Musang, Seattle
Quynh-Vy and Yenvy Pham were also among the top candidates for Outstanding Restaurateur in 2023, and Walrus and the Carpenter was a nominee in 2022. Its chef, Renee Erickson, is a previous winner of the Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific category.
Seattle sadly lost a prior winner in late 2023, when Thierry Rautreau, the "Chef in the Hat," passed away at the age of 64. He won the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Pacific Northwest in 1998.