NC chefs advance as James Beard Award finalists. Here’s a list of the nominees
The restaurant and chef finalists for the prestigious 2022 James Beard Awards were announced Wednesday, and North Carolina stands out among them.
The Triangle boasts two of the five nominees for Best Chef Southeast and one nominee for Outstanding Bar Program.
Cheetie Kumar of Garland in Raleigh and Ricky Moore of Saltbox Seafood Joint in Durham both advance in the Best Chef Southeast category. The category represents restaurants in North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia. Four of the five nominees are from North Carolina.
Alley Twenty Six, owned by Shannon Healy, in Durham, is a finalist for the Best Bar program.
Several Asheville restaurants also advance to the finalist list, including Cúrate, whose chef Katie Button is nominated for Best Chef Southeast. Cúrate is also nominated for the Best Hospitality award.
This is Kumar’s second finalist nod. She was a finalist in 2020 and was a semifinalist three years prior.
This is Moore’s first time as finalist. He was a semifinalist in 2020.
Here’s a look at categories with North Carolina represented. Each category started with 20 semifinalists and was narrowed down to five finalists.
The winners will be named June 13 at a ceremony at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Best Chef Southeast
▪ Cheetie Kumar of Garland, Raleigh
▪ Ricky Moore of Saltbox Seafood Joint, Durham
▪ Katie Button of Cúrate, Asheville
▪ Greg Collier of Leah & Louise, Charlotte
▪ Philip Krajeck, Rolf and Daughters, Nashville
Outstanding Bar Program
▪ Alley Twenty Six, Durham
▪ Attaboy, Nashville
▪ barmini by José Andrés, Washington, D.C.
▪ Julep, Houston
▪ Nobody’s Darling, Chicago
Outstanding Restaurant
▪ Chai Pani in Asheville
▪ Brennan’s, New Orleans
▪ Butcher & Bee, Charleston, S.C.
▪ Parachute, Chicago
▪ The Walrus and the Carpenter, Seattle
Emerging Chef
▪ Cleophus Hethington of Benne on Eagle in Asheville
▪ Angel Barreto, Anju, Washington
▪ Calvin Eng, Bonnie’s, New York City
▪ Serigne Mbaye, Dakar Nola, New Orleans
▪ Edgar Rico, Nixta Taqueria, Austin
▪ Crystal Wahpepah, Wahpepah’s Kitchen, Oakland, Calif.
Outstanding Hospitality
▪ Cúrate, Asheville
▪ House of Prime Rib, San Francisco
▪ Hugo’s, Houston
▪ Sylvia’s Restaurant, New York City
▪ Ticonderoga Club, Atlanta
Durham cocktail bar’s first nomination
This is the first year Alley Twenty Six has been nominated for a James Beard, and Healy, the owner, said he was stunned with the news that the Durham establishment had reached the finalist shortlist.
“I was shocked,” Healy told The News & Observer in a phone interview Wednesday after learning of the nomination.
When Alley Twenty Six was nominated last month as a semifinalist in the Outstanding Bar Program category, Healy remembers thinking, “We’re going to take this as a win. Because we have a zero chance of being the finalist.”
“Now, I have no idea what’s going on,” said Healy. “It’s lovely.”
Alley Twenty Six is the first North Carolina bar to be nominated in this national category, which was created in 2012.
Healy said his surprise is owed to “being an underdog” and other finalist bars being from major cities with more exposure, he said, particularly after two years of the pandemic affecting bars.
“For us, it’s very humbling, because there’s a lot of friends and colleagues that we get to represent,” said Healy. “We get to carry the North Carolina flag for this category and we’re proud to do it as representatives of a lot of other outstanding bar programs in the state.
“This is our tenth year here and it’s really nice having something to not only share with our current staff ... I’m getting messages from folks who have worked here over the last year. It’s something that anybody who has ever been here gets to be proud of,” Healy said.
The James Beard Awards have not been held for two years due to the pandemic and amid efforts to diversify the nominees.
Previous James Beard Award winners from the Triangle include Ben and Karen Barker of Magnolia Grill in Durham, who won Best Chef: Southeast and Outstanding Pastry Chef.
Andrea Reusing of Lantern in Chapel Hill and Ashley Christensen of Poole’s Diner in Raleigh have also won Best Chef: Southeast.
In 2019, Christensen won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef in the country.
This story was originally published March 16, 2022 at 3:06 PM.
