NEW ORLEANS – The world's most prestigious culinary awards have officially begun.
Today, the list of restaurant and chef award semifinalists were announced on the James Beard Foundation's official Twitter.
Several New Orleans chefs, mixologists and restaurants were selected for culinary excellence, including Best New Restaurant for Saffron on Magazine Street and seven Best Chef: South nominees, including Mike Gulotta of Maypop and Nina Compton of Compère Lapin.
The semifinalists were chosen by a committee of industry professionals from over 23,000 online entries. The semifinalists will be narrowed down to a final list of nominees on March 14 and the The James Beard Foundation Awards Gala will be presented at the Lyric Opera of Chicago on May 7.
Below are the New Orleans area chefs and restaurants recognized as semifinalists this year:
Best New Restaurant
Outstanding Bar Program
Outstanding Chef
Outstanding Pastry Chef
Kelly Fields, Willa Jean
Outstanding Restaurateur
JoAnn Clevenger, Upperline
Outstanding Service
Outstanding Wine Program
Best Chef: South
Nina Compton, Compère Lapin
Kristen Essig and Michael Stoltzfus, Coquette
Michael Gulotta, Maypop
Slade Rushing, Brennan’s
Hieu Than, Kin
Isaac Toups, Toups’ Meatery
Martha Wiggins, Sylvain
​For a full list of semifinalists, click here.
-By Jenny Peterson, Associate News Editor, Biz New Orleans
