The 2018 James Beard Award Nominees Will Be Announced From Philly

On March 14, the James Beard Foundation and Philly’s tourism board, Visit Philadelphia, will head to Parc on Rittenhouse Square to reveal the 2018 James Beard Award nominees. The awards are basically the Oscars of the food world. This is the first time Philly is hosting this event, but Philadelphians should already be familiar with the categories: The city got a lot of buzz last year when Michael Solomonov won the outstanding chef award, Greg Vernick nabbed the title of best chef in the mid-Atlantic region, and Stephen Starr, who owns Parc, earned both outstanding restaurateur and best new restaurant (the latter for his New York City eatery Le Coucou).

During the press conference next month, Meryl Levitz, president and CEO of Visit Philadelphia, and Clare Reichenbach, CEO of the James Beard Foundation, will announce the chefs, restaurants, designers, and journalists nominated in more than 50 categories. (Side note: Levitz, who has been a driving force in Philadelphia tourism over the last 20 years, is leaving Visit Philly by the end of the year.) The nominations will be live-streamed via the James Beard website starting at 9:30 a.m.

The evening before the announcement, Jeff Michaud and Michael Schulson of Osteria will host a dinner benefitting the James Beard Foundation.

The winners will be revealed at a gala in Chicago on May 7.