Here’s where you can try food from James Beard’s best New York chef

If you ask us, New York has the best restaurants in the world full stop, but that diehard conviction wasn't exactly reflected in the James Beard Foundation's 2024 Restaurant and Chef Awards winners. Alas, despite the likes of numerous local finalists including Fariyal Abdullahi of Hav & Mar, Nasim Alikhani of Sofreh and Atsushi Kono from Kono, NYC was sadly shut out of most of the big awards of the night, including Best New Restaurant and Outsanding Chef. But it wasn't a total upset: one Brooklyn-based chef proved to be a winner at this year's ceremony, and what a winner he is. 

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Executive chef Charlie Mitchell of Clover Hill, a New American stunner in Brooklyn Heights that we gave a raving five-star review, rightfully took home the James Beard award for Best Chef: New York State, beating out fellow nominees such as Jeremy Salamon from Agi’s Counter (Crown Heights) and Chris Mauricio from Harana Market (Accord, New York).

At the 20-seat, reservations-required tasting room at 20 Columbia Place, Mitchell turns out dynamic, seasonally driven plates that, along with that big Beard win, also scored the chef a coveted Michelin star, making him the first Black chef in New York City to earn the distinction. On the current spring menu at Clover Hill, which is set at $305 per person, you can enjoy carefully composed dishes like Hokkaido scallops, nori tartlets, a dry-aged Rohan Duck and a strawberry cheesecake.  

As for the other winners of this year's James Beards, midsize cities continued their dominance in the major Restaurant and Chef categories: the Outstanding Chef honor went to Michael Rafidi of Albi in Washington, D.C.; the Outstanding Restaurant award went to Langbaan in Portland, Oregon; and the Best New Restaurant sparkler was awarded to Dakar NOLA from New Orleans, Louisiana.