It's official: It's time to update your restaurant bucket list. That's because you've got a fresh crop of James Beard Award winners to eat and drink your way through. Following the Padma Lakshmi-hosted James Beard Foundation Media Awards over the weekend, food's biggest night — i.e. the James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards — took place yesterday, June 16, at the Lyric Opera in Chicago, with Nyesha Arrington and Andrew Zimmern acting as the masters of ceremony and announcing this year's illustrious class of winners.
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And an exciting group they are — for the first time this year, the awards body gave extra recognition to excellency across cocktail and bar culture with three new categories, handing out golden honors for Best New Bar (to Identidad Cocktail Bar in San Juan, Puerto Rico), Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service (to Arjav Ezekiel from Birdie’s in Austin, TX) and Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service (to Ignacio Jimenez of New York City drinks den Superbueno).
As for the biggies — that would be Best New Restaurant, Outstanding Chef and Outstanding Restaurant — those honors were nicely dispersed among culinary talents from across the country. Bûcheron, a French-American stunner in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was named Best New Restaurant, while Outstanding Restaurant was awarded to Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder, Colorado, a favorite for its refined Northern Italian plates and top-shelf wines.
And continuing a dominant streak by New York's food scene — New York City won five of its seven nominations this year, a bit of redemption after being completely shut out from the major categories last year — the Outstanding Chef Award went to Jungsik Yim, who helms the three-Michelin-starred "New Korean" dining room Jungsik in New York City.
Outstanding Restaurateur
Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr, Frenchette, Le Veau d’ Or, and Le Rock, New York, NY
Outstanding Chef
Jungsik Yim, Jungsik, New York, NY
Outstanding Restaurant
Frasca Food and Wine, Boulder, CO
Emerging Chef
Phila Lorn, Mawn, Philadelphia, PA
Best New Restaurant
Bûcheron, Minneapolis, MN
Outstanding Bakery
JinJu Patisserie, Portland, OR
Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker
Cat Cox, Country Bird Bakery, Tulsa, OK
Outstanding Hospitality
Atomix, New York, NY
Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
Charleston, Baltimore, MD
Best New Bar
Identidad Cocktail Bar, San Juan, PR
Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service
Arjav Ezekiel, Birdie’s, Austin, TX
Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service
Ignacio Jimenez, Superbueno, New York, NY
Outstanding Bar
Kumiko, Chicago, IL
Best Chef: California
Jon Yao, Kato, Los Angeles, CA
Best Chef: Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH)
Noah Sandoval, Oriole, Chicago, IL
Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA)
Carlos Delgado, Causa and Amazonia, Washington, D.C.
Best Chef: Midwest (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD, WI)
Karyn Tomlinson, Myriel, St. Paul, MN
Best Chef: Mountain (CO, ID, MT, UT, WY)
Salvador Alamilla, Amano, Caldwell, ID
Best Chef: New York State
Vijay Kumar, Semma, New York, NY
Best Chef: Northeast (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT)
Sky Haneul Kim, Gift Horse, Providence, RI
Best Chef: Northwest & Pacific (AK, HI, OR, WA)
Timothy Wastell, Antica Terra, Amity, OR
Best Chef: South (AL, AR, FL, LA, MS, PR)
Nando Chang, Itamae AO, Miami, FL
Best Chef: Southeast (GA, KY, NC, SC, TN, WV)
Jake Howell, Peninsula, Nashville, TN
Best Chef: Southwest (AZ, NM, NV, OK)
Yotaka Martin, Lom Wong, Phoenix, AZ
Best Chef: Texas
Thomas Bille, Belly of the Beast, Spring, TX
2025 James Beard America’s Classics
• Lem’s Bar-B-Q, Chicago
• The Pioneer Saloon, Ketchum, ID
• Sullivan’s Castle Island, Boston
• Lucky Wishbone, Anchorage, AK
• Dooky Chase, New Orleans, LA
• Gaido’s, Galveston, TX