Western Springs Chef Named 2015 James Beard Award Semifinalist

Chef Paul Virant of Western Springs has been named a semifinalist for the James Beard 2015 Restaurant and Chef Awards in the category Best Chef: Great Lakes.

Virant earned a degree in nutrition from Wesleyan College, and he graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, according to the website for his Western Springs restaurant, Vie. The chef has also worked in restaurants such as March in New York and Charlie Trotter, Ambria, Everest and Blackbird in Chicago.

Five semifinalists in each category will be selected as finalists for the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Award, and they will be announced March 24, according to the James Beard Foundation.

The process for selecting semifinalists began in October with an open call for entries. The Restaurant and Chef Awards Committee received almost 35,000 submissions, and the semifinalists were chosen in each category.

Former Beard Award winners, Restaurant and Chef Award Committee members and other regional panelists will vote to select the finalists.

This is the 25th anniversary of the James Beard Awards, and the 2015 James Beard Awards gala will be held in Chicago for the first time, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago on May 4.

For more information and to view the full list of semifinalists, visit the James Beard Foundation website.

Image via Twitter.