Somerville Chef Named James Beard Award Semifinalist

SOMERVILLE, MA – Like Sarma? So do the James Beard Award judges. The restaurant's chef, Cassie Piuma, was named a semifinalist Wednesday in the James Beard Foundation's 2017 Restaurant and Chef Awards, plucked from a pool of more than 24,000 online entries in 21 categories.

Piuma is one of 20 contenders for best chef in the Northeast region, which includes Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. Together with Ana Sortun, Piuma runs the kitchen at the Pearl Street eatery, which serves Mediterranean and Middle Eastern-inspired fare.

The James Beard Award finalists will be announced March 15, and the winners will be named May 1 at the James Beard Foundation Awards Gala at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Founded in 1986, the James Beard Foundation celebrates, nurtures, and honors chefs and other leaders making America's food culture more delicious, diverse, and sustainable for everyone. A cookbook author and teacher with an encyclopedic knowledge about food, the late James Beard was a champion of American cuisine.

He helped educate and mentor generations of professional chefs and food enthusiasts, instilling in them the value of wholesome, healthful, and delicious food. Today JBF continues in the same spirit by administering a number of diverse programs that include educational initiatives, food industry awards, scholarships for culinary students, publications, chef advocacy training, and thought-leader convening.

Photo by John Mettraux via Flickr Commons

Beth Dalbey (Patch Staff) contributed to this report.