James Beard Awards: See How The Bay Area Fared

BAY AREA — Foodies rejoice: you have some new restaurants to seek out. The semifinalists for this year’s James Beard Foundation Awards — dubbed the Oscars for restaurants — have been released and 54 restaurants and chefs from California made the list.

The awards across 21 categories for national and regional chef and restaurant awards were released on Thursday. Categories include best new restaurant, best chef, outstanding baker and outstanding service, among others.

Out of more than 20,000 entrants, 30 from the San Francisco Bay Area made the list. (We included one from Monterey County, because who doesn't need an excuse to go to Monterey!)

They are:

Outstanding Restaurant:

• Quince, San Francisco
• Swan Oyster Depot, San Francisco
• Koi Palace, Daly City

Outstanding Baker:

• Belinda Leong and Michel Suas, B. Patisserie, San Francisco

Outstanding Bar Program:

• Bar Agricole, San Francisco
• Trick Dog, San Francisco

Outstanding Pastry Chef:

• Michelle Polzine, 20th Century Café, San Francisco

Outstanding Service:

• Saison, San Francisco
• Zuni Cafe, San Francisco

Outstanding Wine Program:

• Benu, San Francisco
• Great China, Berkeley
• Passionfish, Pacific Grove

Rising Star Chef:

• Rachel Aronow, The Alembic, San Francisco

Best Chef West:

• Kim Alter, Nightbird, San Francisco
• Val M. Cantu, Californios, San Francisco
• Dominique Crenn, Atelier Crenn, San Francisco
• Brandon Jew, Mister Jiu’s, San Francisco
• Evan Rich and Sarah Rich, Rich Table, San Francisco
• Joshua Skenes, Saison, San Francisco
• Reem Assil, Reem’s California, Oakland
• Preeti Mistry, Juhu Beach Club, Oakland
• Karen Taylor, El Molino Central, Sonoma

New Restaurant:

• The Charter Oak, St. Helena

Outstanding Chef:

• David Kinch, Manresa, Los Gatos
• Christopher Kostow, The Restaurant at Meadowood, St. Helena

Outstanding Wine, Spirits or Beer Professional

• Cathy Corison, Corison Winery, St. Helena
• Tony Coturri, Coturri Winery, Glen Ellen
• Miljenko Grgich, Grgich Hills Estate, Rutherford
• Steve Matthiasson, Matthiasson Wines, Napa
• Lance Winters, St. George Spirits, Alameda

The foundation holds an online open call for entries every year. A committee reviews thousands of entries to come up with a nominating ballot of semifinalists in each category.

An independent volunteer panel of more than 600 judges — comprised of top regional restaurant critics, food and wine editors, culinary educators, and past winners — then votes on specific award categories to determine the final five nominees in each category.

They then vote on these five nominees to select the winners.

The foundation will announce the final nominees on the morning of March 14 at Parc in Philadelphia. The event will be live-streamed.

The winners will be announced at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers in New York City on April 27. They’ll receive a certificate and a medallion engraved with the James Beard Foundation Awards insignia. There are no cash prizes.

Click here to see the full list of awards.

— Photo credit: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for #Culinary Kickoff