James Beard Awards: Boka, Oriole Among Chicago Restaurants Named Semifinalists

CHICAGO, IL — More than 30 restaurants, chefs and restaurateurs made it to the semifinals in various categories of the 27th annual James Beard Foundation Awards.

Boka — the popular Lincoln Park restaurant known for its stylish American cuisine since 2003 — had the most semifinalists, 4, across the foundation's multiple award cateogries. Those semifinalist selections included:

• Outstanding Pastry Chef: Meg Galus
• Outstanding Restaurateur: Kevin Boehm and Rob Katz, Boka Restaurant Group, which also owns and operates Girl & the Goat, Momotaro and others eateries.
• Outstanding Service
• Best Chef, Great Lakes (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio): Lee Wolen, Boka

Except for outstanding service, Boka was a finalist in all those categories last year, too.

Oriole has less than a year in business under its belt, but the intimate West Loop restaurant was named a Best New Restaurant semifinalist, and Noah Sandoval earned that distinction in the Best Chef, Great Lakes category.

Fulton Market's trendy Roister and Smyth in the West Loop also earned spots in the Best New Restaurant category along with Oriole. In the foundation's prestigious Outstanding Restaurant category, Topolobampo was the only Chicago establishment to be named a semifinalist. Last year, Alinea — one of Chicago's two three-star Michelin Guide restaurants and run by the same ownership group behind Roister — won Outstanding Restaurant.

Overall, 31 Chicago semifinalists made the foundation's award list. That includes 13 chefs from the city in the Best Chef, Great Lakes category. Curtis Duffy of Grace — Chicago's other three-star Michelin Guide restaurant — was the 2016 Best Chef, Great Lakes winner.

Created in 1990, the James Beard Foundation Awards are considered the Oscars of the U.S. culinary world, and winners eventually are chosen from more than 24,000 entries in 21 categories. Finalists will be announced March 15 at a press conference in Los Angeles that will be streamed online on the foundation's Facebook page and Twitter account.

Winners will be announced at the James Beard Foundation Awards Gala on May 1 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Here's a look at the Chicago semifinalists for the restaurant and chef categories of the 2017 James Beard Foundation Awards:

Best New Restaurant

How It's Judged: A restaurant opened in the calendar year before the award will be given that already displays excellence in food, beverage, and service, and that is likely to make a significant impact in years to come.

• Oriole
• Roister
• Smyth

Outstanding Baker

How It's Judged: A chef or baker who prepares breads, pastries, or desserts in a retail bakery, and who serves as a national standard-bearer of excellence. Must have been working as a baker or pastry chef for at least five years.

Greg Wade, Publican Quality Bread

Outstanding Bar Program

How It's Judged: A restaurant or bar that demonstrates excellence in cocktail, spirits, and/or beer service.

Lost Lake

Outstanding Chef

How It's Judged: A working chef in America whose career has set national industry standards and who has served as an inspiration to other food professionals. Must have been working as a chef for the past five years.

• Tony Mantuano, Spiaggia
• Carrie Nahabedian, Naha

Outstanding Pastry Chef

How It's Judged: A chef or baker who prepares desserts, pastries, or breads in a restaurant, and who serves as a national standard bearer of excellence. Must have been working as a pastry chef or baker for the past five years.

• Aya Fukai, Maple & Ash
• Meg Galus, Boka

Outstanding Restaurant

How It's Judged: A restaurant in the United States that serves as a national standard bearer of consistent quality and excellence in food, atmosphere and service. Must have been in operation 10 or more consecutive years.

Topolobampo

Outstanding Restaurateur

How It's Judged: A working restaurateur who sets high national standards in restaurant operations and entrepreneurship. Must have been in the restaurant business for at least 10 years. Must not have been nominated for a James Beard Foundation chef award in the past five years.

Kevin Boehm and Rob Katz, Boka Restaurant Group

Outstanding Service

How It's Judged: A restaurant in operation five or more years that demonstrates high standards of hospitality and service.

• Boka
• North Pond

Outstanding Wine Program

How It's Judged: A restaurant in operation five or more years that serves as a standard bearer for excellence in wine service through a well-presented wine list, knowledgeable staff, and efforts to educate customers about wine.

Sepia, Chicago

Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer Professional

How It's Judged: A beer, wine, or spirits professional who has made a significant national impact on the restaurant industry.

Charles Joly, Crafthouse Cocktails

Rising Star Chef of the Year

How It's Judged: A chef age 30 or younger who displays an impressive talent and who is likely to make a significant impact on the industry in years to come.

Jenner Tomaska, Next

Best Chefs, Great Lakes (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio)

How It's Judged: Chefs who have set new or consistent standards of excellence in their respective regions. Eligible candidates may be from any kind of dining establishment and must have been working as a chef for at least five years, with the three most recent years spent in the region.

• Jake Bickelhaupt, 42 Grams
• Abraham Conlon, Fat Rice
• Paul Fehribach, Big Jones
• Phillip Foss, EL Ideas
• Sarah Grueneberg, Monteverde
• Gene Kato, Sumi Robata Bar
• Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark, Parachute
• Edward Kim, Ruxbin
• Ryan McCaskey, Acadia
• Iliana Regan, Elizabeth
• Noah Sandoval, Oriole
• Lee Wolen, Boka
• Erling Wu-Bower, Nico Osteria

photo via James Beard Foundation

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