Here Are Philly’s 2018 James Beard Awards Finalists

The finalists in the 2018 James Beard Awards — the Oscars of the food world — were announced this morning from Stephen Starr’s Parc on Rittenhouse Square. Philly chefs and restaurants were nominated for four awards.

• Richard Landau of Vedge is on the short list for best chef, mid-Atlantic region. Landau also has V Street and Wiz Kid, all vegan restaurants.
• Ellen Yin of High Street on Market, Fork, a.kitchen, the new High Street Provisions, and New York City’s High Street on Hudson is nominated for outstanding restaurateur.
• Zahav, from Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook, is nominated for outstanding service.
• Camille Cogswell of Zahav is up for Rising Star Chef of the Year.

This pool of finalists was whittled down from 15-ish semifinalists in the Philadelphia area (the number varies depending on your definition of the Philly area). The semifinalists, which were picked from more than 20,000 online entries, included Ellen Yin in the outstanding restaurateur category; Talula’s Table for outstanding restaurant; Nick Elmi, Rich Landau, Cristina Martinez and Benjamin Miller, Ena Widjojo, Maylia Widjojo, and Diana Widjojo, and Joey Baldino for best chef, mid-Atlantic; Camille Cogswell and Jesse Ito for Rising Star Chef of the Year; Zahav and Chef Vola’s for outstanding service; Tova du Plessis and H. Alexander Talbot and Aki Kamozawa for outstanding baker; Pat O’Malley for outstanding pastry chef; and Teresa’s Next Door for outstanding bar program.

Next up is the award ceremony itself, which will take place at a gala in Chicago on May 7.

The full list of finalists across the country is here.

Sarah Maiellano

Sarah Maiellano

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