The James Beard Foundation has announced the finalists in the chef and restaurant categories for the prestigious awards known as the “Oscars of the food world.” Rod Lassiter and Parnass Savang of Thai restaurant Talat Market in Summerhill were among the finalists for Best Chef: Southeast.
It was a light year for Atlanta, with only seven semifinalists from metro area restaurants. Most of the semifinalists from Georgia were under the Best Chef: Southeast category. Chef Pete Amadhanirundr of Puma Yu’s in Athens was also a semifinalist for the Southeast.
Atsushi Hayakawa of Hayakawa at Star Metals was a semifinalist for Outstanding Chef, while Cook & Soldiers at 14th and Howell Mill Road was a semifinalist for Outstanding Hospitality. Kimball Brienza and Stephen Palmer of Indigo Road Hospitality in Charleston, South Carolina, were semifinalists in the Outstanding Restaurateur category. The group owns O-Ku Sushi, Indaco, and Oak Steakhouse in Atlanta.
Despite having nearly a dozen nominees in 2023, The Deer and the Dove chef Terry Koval was the lone medal winner from Atlanta last year. Koval won for Best Chef: Southeast.
Presented annually by the James Beard Foundation, the awards cover several categories like Best Chef: Southeast, Outstanding Restaurant, Best New Restaurant, and Emerging Chef. Winners will be announced during an awards ceremony in Chicago on Mon., June 10.
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