Phila Lorn, chef and co-owner of Mawn in Philadelphia, was named Emerging Chef of the year by the James Beard Foundation at a gala ceremony held at Lyric Opera of Chicago Monday.
Lorn is a first-generation American whose family emigrated from Cambodia, and his restaurant is what he calls a “no rules” noodle house, although it also has a full menu, including an omakase option.
The Emerging Chef award, formerly called Rising Star, is a potentially career-boosting recognition. Past winners have included Marcus Samuelsson, Bobby Flay, Grant Achatz, David Chang, Christina Tosi, and Kwame Onwuachi.
Bûcheron, a Minneapolis restaurant operated by husband-and-wife team Adam Ritter and Jeanie Janas Ritter, was named Best New Restaurant.
Traditionally, those two awards have been the most newsworthy of the couple dozen Restaurant and Chef Awards granted each year by the foundation, which established the awards in 1991. The awards process has changed since the pandemic, which were essentially cancelled for two years as the industry focused on survival, and now have a social responsibility component as well as the traditional food & beverage and service aspects that have been its traditional focus.
The result has been a new roster of winners, many from smaller markets, as opposed to winners in previous years who primarily came from the same small set of restaurant companies in major restaurant cities. This year, major restaurant cities and traditional operators have made a bit of a comeback, with operations in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago taking many awards, although San Francisco was uncharacteristically shut out.
The Beard Foundation also added three new awards, to highlight the importance of beverages both in sales and in innovation: Best New Bar, Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service, and Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service.
The winners of those categories were:
Best New Bar: Identidad Cocktail Bar, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service: Arjav Ezekiel of Birdie’s in Austin, Texas
Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service: Ignacio “Nacho” Jimenez of Superbueno in New York City
The remaining national award winners were:
Outstanding Restaurateurs: Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr of Frenchette, Le Veau d’ Or, and Le Rock in New York City
Outstanding Chef: Jungsik Yim of Jungsik in New York City
Outstanding Restaurant: Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder, Colo.
Outstanding Bakery: JinJu Patisserie on Portland, Ore.
Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker: Cat Cox of Country Bird Bakery in Tulsa, Okla.
Outstanding Hospitality: Atomix in New York City
Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program: Charleston in Baltimore, Md.
Outstanding Bar: Kumiko in Chicago
The winners of the regional awards were:
Best Chef: California: Jon Yao of Kato in Los Angeles
Best Chef: Great Lakes (Ill., Ind., Mich,. and Ohio): Noah Sandoval of Oriole in Chicago
Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (Del., Md., N.J. Pa., Va., and Washington, D.C.): Carlos Delgado of Causa and Amazonia in Washington, D.C.
Best Chef: Midwest (Iowa, Kan., Minn., Mo., Neb. N.D., S.D., and Wis.): Karyn Tomlinson of Myriel in St. Paul, Minn.
Best Chef: Mountain (Colo., Idaho, Mont., Utah, and Wyo.): Salvador Alamilla of Amano in Caldwell, Idaho
Best Chef: New York State: Vijay Kumar of Semma in New York City
Best Chef: Northeast (Conn., Maine, Mass., N.H., R.I., and Vt.): Sky Haneul Kim of Gift Horse in Providence, R.I.
Best Chef: Northwest & Pacific (Alaska, Hawaii, Ore., and Wash): Timothy Wastell of Antica Terra in Amity, Ore.
Best Chef: South (Ala., Ark, Fla., La., Miss., and Puerto Rico): Nando Chang of Itamae AO in Miami
Best Chef: Southeast (Ga., Ky., N.C., S.C., Tenn., and W.Va.): Jake Howell of Peninsula in Nashville
Best Chef: Southwest (Ariz., N.M. Nev., and Okla.): Yotaka Martin of Lom Wong in Phoenix
Best Chef: Texas: Thomas Bill of, Belly of the Beast in Spring, Texas
Sometimes referred to as the “Oscars” of the restaurant world, the James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards have lost some of their luster in recent years as the foundation has worked to shift the awards’ focus beyond food, beverage, and hospitality, causing industry watchers to question what, exactly, the awards do represent. However, they are still widely regarded as a prestigious honor within the industry.
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected]
