Eater Awards 2019: Here Are the Philly Finalists

Today, the process of choosing this year’s stars in the Philadelphia restaurant world — the Eater Awards winners for 2019 — continues apace. After fielding many solid ideas from readers during the course of our month-long nomination period, it’s time to narrow the playing field. There are three finalists in three categories: Restaurant of the Year, Design of the Year, and Chef of the Year.

Restaurant of the Year:

Fiore
Chef-owners Justine MacNeil and Ed Crochet and sous chef Gina Nalbone draw diners to this ambitious Italian restaurant in Queen Village for pastries and breakfast sandwiches in the morning and pastas, grilled meat, and whole fish at night.

Kalaya
Southern Thai food, a cuisine not seen often in Philly, shines at My-Le Vuong and chef Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon’s lively Bella Vista BYOB.

Elwood
This graceful Fishtown BYOB from chef Adam Diltz and Jenny Ko adds something new to the Philly restaurant scene by looking to the past.

Design of the Year:

Alpen Rose
Michael Schulson and Nina Tinari’s intimate steakhouse is a sophisticated addition to 13th Street.

Jean-Georges Philadelphia
Internationally acclaimed chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten makes his first foray into Philly with a sky-high restaurant offering the best views in town.

Forsythia
Chef Chris Kearse, known for Will BYOB, mixes industrial accents with a garden aesthetic at his creative French restaurant in Old City.

Chef of the Year:

Camille Cogswell
James Beard Award winner Camille Cogswell moves into an executive chef role for the Zahav team’s new K’Far in Rittenhouse.

Hiroki Fujiyama
Executive chef Hiroki Fujiyama is going for precision at his minimalist Japanese restaurant Hiroki in Fishtown, where omakase is the only option.

Adam Diltz
At Elwood in Fishtown, Adam Diltz takes inspiration from Pennsylvania Dutch recipes and the Philly region’s culinary history for an unusual, locally sourced menu.

All of these finalists are either new to the Philly scene or have come into their own in a new way since we nominated the winners last year. All of them were key contributors to making 2019 a great year of eating in Philly. So take a moment to give these finalists a round of applause. Winners will be crowned on December 10, 2019.