Five Twin Cities chefs and restaurants have been nominated for 2020 James Beard Foundation awards.
The prestigious awards, in their 30th year, recognize and celebrate excellence in restaurants, cookbooks, journalism and design.
Four-star Demi is in the running for Best New Restaurant, which honors "A restaurant opened in 2019 that already demonstrates excellence in cuisine and hospitality, and that is likely to make a significant impact in years to come."
Spoon and Stable pastry chef Diane Moua is nominated for Outstanding Pastry Chef, which honors "A pastry chef or baker who demonstrates exceptional skill, integrity and character in the preparation of desserts, pastries or breads served in a restaurant." Moua is a 2018 nominee in this category. Demi and Spoon and Stable are the work of two-time James Beard award-winning chef Gavin Kaysen.
In the category of Best Chef Midwest, the nominees include Steven Brown of Tilia, Jamie Malone of Grand Cafe and Christina Nguyen of Hai Hai. Brown was a 2017 and 2018 nominee, and Malone and Nguyen were both 2019 nominees. The category's other nominees are Michael Corvino of Corvino Supper Club & Tasting Room in Kansas City, Mo., and Michael Gallina of Vicia in St. Louis.
The Best Chef Midwest category is one of 12 regional chef awards. The Beard's Midwest region includes Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas. The award goes to chefs in any kind of dining establishment "who set high culinary standards and also demonstrate integrity and admirable leadership skills in their respective regions."
Restaurant and chef semifinalists were announced in February. For a complete list of the nominees, go to jamesbeard.org.
In the foundation's media awards, Credo Nonfiction of Minneapolis is nominated in the Visual and Audio Technical Excellence category for its "The Taste of Place" episode on wild rice, and writer Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl of Mpls.-St. Paul magazine is nominated in the Jonathan Gold Local Voice category.
The nominees were announced on Monday. The foundation's annual awards gala was originally scheduled for Monday evening in Chicago, but postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. The foundation will announce media winners online on May 27 and all other awards in Chicago on Sept. 25.
"We want every James Beard Award winner to have a chance to have their moment in the spotlight," said foundation vice president Mitchell Davis in a statement. "We have partners who support this industry, who support the foundation, who are willing to work with us to figure out what's best for all."
Congratulations to all of the nominees.
