Baltimore Has Two James Beard Award Semifinalists For 2019

BALTIMORE, MD — Two Baltimore restaurants were named semifinalists in the annual James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards for 2019. One has made the cut for an outstanding bar program, while another is up for best chef in the mid-Atlantic.

Clavel Mezcaleria on West 23rd Street is among the contenders for outstanding bar.

Cindy Wolf of Charleston in Harbor East is in the running for best chef in the Mid-Atlantic.

The James Beard Foundation solicits entries for the awards in mid-October of each year. They are reviewed by the Restaurant and Chef Committee to determine eligibility and regional representation, and are then voted on by more than 600 judges from across the country to determine the final nominees.

There are 20 semifinalists in each category.

Outstanding Bar Program

Anvil Bar & Refuge, Houston
The Atomic Lounge, Birmingham, AL
The Baldwin Bar, Woburn, MA
Bar Agricole, San Francisco
Bryant’s Cocktail Lounge, Milwaukee
Clavel Mezcaleria, Baltimore
Columbia Room, Washington, D.C.
Dead Rabbit, NYC
Expatriate, Portland, OR
Kimball House, Decatur, GA
La Factoría, San Juan, PR
Leyenda, Brooklyn, NY
Lost Lake, Chicago
The Monarch Bar, Kansas City, MO
Monk’s Café, Philadelphia
No Anchor, Seattle
Old Lightning, Marina Del Rey, CA
Planter’s House, St. Louis
Saint Leo, Oxford, MS
Ticonderoga Club, Atlanta

Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic

Joey Baldino, Zeppoli, Collingswood, NJ
Sandeep “Sunny” Baweja, Lehja, Richmond, VA
Jamilka Borges, The Independent Brewing Company, Pittsburgh
Amy Brandwein, Centrolina, Washington, D.C.
Erik Bruner-Yang, Brothers and Sisters, Washington, D.C.
Kristin Butterworth, Lautrec, Farmington, PA
Tom Cunanan, Bad Saint, Washington, D.C.
Nicholas Elmi, Laurel, Philadelphia
Randy Forrester, Osteria Radici, Allentown, NJ
Jerome Grant, Sweet Home Café, Washington, D.C.
Haidar Karoum, Chloë, Washington, D.C.
Matthew Kern, Heirloom, Lewes, DE
Rich Landau, Vedge, Philadelphia
Cristina Martinez, South Philly Barbacoa, Philadelphia
Dan Richer, Razza Pizza Artigianale, Jersey City, NJ
Jon Sybert, Tail Up Goat, Washington, D.C.
Kevin Tien, Himitsu, Washington, D.C.
Cindy Wolf, Charleston, Baltimore
Nobu Yamazaki, Sushi Taro, Washington, D.C.
Wei Zhu, Chengdu Gourmet, Pittsburgh

Executive Chef Cindy Wolf is a five-time finalist for the Best Chef in the Mid-Atlantic. Chefs are nominated if they have set "new or consistent standards of excellence in their respective regions," according to the James Beard Foundation, which states they must have been in the field as a chef for at least five years, including three regionally.

See the full list of James Beard semifinalists for 2019.

A panel of more than 600 judges — mainly restaurant critics, food and wine editors, culinary educators and past James Beard award winners — will pare down the list from 20 to five nominees. The James Beard Foundation will announce the finalists on March 27.

Tabulations to determine the nominees and winners are done by independent auditors Lutz & Carr. The governing Awards committee, board of trustees, and staff of the James Beard Foundation do not vote, and the results are kept confidential until the presentation of winners in May.

The same judges will then determine the winners, to be announced on May 6.

Patch national editor Beth Dalbey contributed.