For culinary pros, winning a prestigious James Beard award is like winning an Oscar. Today, the James Beard Foundation announced its Restaurant and Chef Awards semifinalists for 2019. A newly instituted, diverse panel of 19 judges helped in the nominations that included several well-known Kansas City chefs, bartenders and a few newbies. Congrats to all the local nominees:
Outstanding Baker:
- Taylor Petrehn, 1900 Barker, Lawrence, KS
Outstanding Bar Program
- The Monarch Bar, Kansas City, MO
Outstanding Chef
- Colby Garrelts, Bluestem, Kansas City, MO
Outstanding Pastry Chef
- Megan Garrelts, Rye, Leawood, KS
Rising Star Chef of the Year
- Calvin Davis, Freshwater, Kansas City, MO
Best Chef: Midwest
- Linda Duerr, The Restaurant at 1900, Mission Woods, KS
- Michael Corvino, Corvino Supper Club & Tasting Room, Kansas City, MO
- Nicholas Goellner, The Antler Room, Kansas City, MO
After voting by judges and committee members, this preliminary list will drop down to five finalist nominees per category, to be announced on Wednesday, March 27 in Houston. We raise our glasses—uh, and our forks to all of the metro’s stalwart culinary nominees. Good luck!