'Proud Of My Mom': Chef At Small Hudson County Restaurant Snags Big James Beard Nomination

HUDSON COUNTY, NJ — Hoboken and Jersey City are bustling with well-reviewed restaurants, and Jersey City was even named an up-and-coming foodie town in 2022 by Food & Wine Magazine. But among the most popular eateries, only one local chef has earned a prestigious James Beard Award nomination — and it's someone with "no formal culinary training," according to the restaurant.

The James Beard Foundation awards, sometimes known as the “Oscars of food,” are among the nation’s most prestigious culinary honors. The awards fete both restaurants and their chefs in various categories.

In New Jersey, only three restaurants and chefs were named semifinalists for 2024, and only one is in North Jersey.

Mom And Daughter Prevail

For 2024, Chef Nur-E Gulshan Rahman was short-listed for Best Chef in the Mid-Atlantic region for her work at Korai Kitchen, a Bangladeshi restaurant in Jersey City. The nominations were announced this week.

Chef Gulshan, in her sixties, runs the restaurant with her daughter out of a former deli, the New York Times noted in a story in 2018, the year the eatery opened.

Korai Kitchen, located in the rapidly redeveloping Journal Square neighborhood — in the city's interior, away from the waterfront — may not be on everyone's radar like the city's more publicized pizzerias or waterfront eateries, but it's gotten its share of plaudits.

"Amma was nominated for a James Beard Award today!!" gushed the restaurant on social media on Wednesday. "Words cannot express just how proud I am of my mom and our incredible team. What a beautiful moment of recognition for Bangladeshi food and for my insanely talented mother, who has honed her craft for over FIFTY YEARS!"

The post added, "My mom would sometimes say she felt like an imposter because she has no formal culinary training. Amma, you've shon that it's out culinary school that makes a chef; it's passion, talent, grit, and love."

"Korai Kitchen offers an experience, both culinary and atmospheric, that is more akin to visiting a Bangladeshi home," noted the Times in 2018. "The restaurant is small, offering a buffet of 12 dishes for lunch and dinner. The menu changes twice a day. There are bhorthas, or mashes, made of boiled eggplants, of tomatoes, of potatoes. Light curries of fish like hilsa or rui, of hard-boiled eggs, of chicken in coconut milk...."

"Here you'll find slow food – homestyle, halal Bangladeshi dishes, all made with love by chef and owner Nur-E Gulshan Rahman," says the restaurant's website.

The awards were established in 1990 and first awarded in 1991. The outstanding chef category recognizes chefs who set “high culinary standards” and serve as a positive example for other food professionals, while making an impact on the broader community.

The other two restaurants and chefs nominated were located in Aberdeen and Haddonfield. READ MORE: 3 NJ Restaurants, Chefs Named 2024 James Beard Semifinalists

While winning a James Beard gives a boost to a local restaurant, it can't always save it. Read this story about a Hoboken winner that eventually closed during the covid pandemic. READ MORE: James Beard-Winning Hoboken Restaurant Closes, Points To Pandemic

Read more about Korai Kitchen here. Read more about the Journal Square area and development here.