See Which Southland Chefs, Eateries Got Snubbed For A Top Foodie Award

LOS ANGELES, CA — This year, Bay Area chef Brandon Jew was the only restauranteur that took home a prestigious culinary honor as a winner in the James Beard Foundation’s 2022 Restaurant and Chef Awards, presented Monday at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

In the Southland, there were several finalists, but none made the cut. It's the first time since 2017 that no restaurant in Los Angeles made the cut for an award, Eater LA reported.

Jew, chef and owner of Mister Jiu's in San Francisco, took home the best chef in California award but Bryant Ng of Cassia in Santa Monica and Sarintip "Jazz" Singsanong of Jitlada in Los Angeles were also up for the award.

Although no California restaurants won best new restaurant, Angry Egret Dinette in Los Angeles was a runner up. Margarita Manzke of République in Los Angeles was a finalist for the seventh time for outstanding pastry chef, but lost to Warda Bouguettaya of Detroit’s Warda Pâtisserie.

The awards are regarded as the Oscars of the culinary industry.

Jew pulled ahead of other Bay Area finalists Pim Techamuanvivit of Nari in San Francisco and James Syhabout of Commis in Oakland.

Mister Jiu's serves high-end and California-influenced Chinese food. Jew and Tienlon Ho also took home an award in the Restaurant and Professional category for their cookbook "Mister Jiu’s in Chinatown: Recipes and Stories from the Birthplace of Chinese American Food."

The industry remains in a recovery phase after lost business during the pandemic and “still needs support,” James Beard Foundation CEO Clare Reichenbach said at the ceremony, according to a news release.

The awards honor not only individual winners but also “our entire industry — and the incredible resilience, fortitude, talent, and leadership so many have shown over the past two years,” Reichenbach said.

The awards had been on a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. During that time, the awards program “underwent a full audit of its policies and procedures, continuing the work to remove bias, increase transparency and accessibility, and make the program more aligned with the Foundation’s mission and values.”