Bay Area Chef Wins 2022 James Beard Award

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — This year the Golden State congratulated chef, cookbook author and restaurant owner Brandon Jew for picking up 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.

Brandon Jew, chef and owner of Mister Jiu's in San Francisco, took home the best chef in California award.

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

The Southland finalists for the best chef award included Bryant Ng of Cassia in Santa Monica and Sarintip "Jazz" Singsanong of Jitlada in Los Angeles.

Mister Jiu's serves high-end and California-influenced Chinese food. Jew and Tienlon Ho previously 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."

Although no California restaurants won best new restaurant, notable finalists included Horn BBQ in Oakland and Angry Egret Dinette in Los Angeles.

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

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.”