January 24, 2024
@honeysuckleprojects/Facebook
The Philadelphia semifinalists for the 2024 James Beard Awards include My Loup, Isgro Pastries, a.kitchen+bar and the chefs from El Chingon, Royal Sushi & Izakaya, River Twice and Honeysuckle Provisions.
The James Beard Foundation has announced the semifinalists for its annual culinary awards — and nine Philadelphia restaurants or chefs made the cut.
a.kitchen+bar is a semifinalist in the Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages program, marking another accolade for its owner and 2023 James Beard Award winner Ellen Yin. Other familiar faces include Jesse Ito, the chef behind Royal Sushi & Izakaya, and Dionicio Jiménez, of Cantina La Martina. Both men were 2023 nominees in the Best Mid-Atlantic Chef category; Ito will compete in that category again in 2024, while Jiménez is a semifinalist for Outstanding Chef, a nationwide honor.
The rest of the semifinalists from Philadelphia, however, are gunning for their first James Beard Award nominations. They include Carlos Aparicio of El Chingon, Randy Rucker of River Twice and Omar Tate of Honeysuckle Provisions. All three chefs join Ito in the Mid-Atlantic chef category. My Loup, the buzzy French restaurant in Center City, is a semifinalist for Best New Restaurant, while the century-old Isgro Pastries made the long list for Outstanding Bakery.
And from South Jersey, a Haddonfield chef is also up for consideration in the Best Mid-Atlantic Chef category: Dane DeMarco of Gass & Main.
Yun Fuentes, of the new Latin American restaurant and rum bar Bolo, is also a semifinalist in the Emerging Chef category.
Philadelphia won big at the 2023 awards show. Friday Saturday Sunday took home the prize for outstanding restaurant, while Yin won outstanding restauranteur. Chutatip "Nok" Suntaranon, of Kalaya, was also named best chef in the Mid-Atlantic region.
The final nominations for the 2024 James Beard Awards will be announced on Wednesday, April 3. The awards ceremony will follow on Monday, June 10 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
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