19 James Beard Semifinalists From Pennsylvania

Foodies rejoice: you have some new restaurants to seek out. The semifinalists for this year’s James Beard Foundation Awards — dubbed the Oscars for restaurants — have been released and 17 restaurants from Pennsylvania made the list.

The awards across 21 categories for national and regional chef and restaurant awards were released on Thursday. Categories include best new restaurant, best chef, outstanding baker and outstanding service, among others.

Out of more than 20,000 entrants, 19 from Pennsylvania made the list.

They are:

Outstanding Restaurant

• Talula’s Table, Kennet Square, Chester County
• Legume Bistro, Pittsburgh

Outstanding Restaurateur

• Ellen Yin – High Street Hospitality Group, Philadelphia
• Rick DeShantz and Tolga Sevdik – Richard DeShantz Restaurant Group, Pittsburgh

Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer Professional

• Meredith Meyer Grelli and Alex Grelli – Wigle Whiskey, Pittsburgh

Outstanding Service

• Zahav, Philadelphia

Rising Star Chef of the Year

• Camille Cogswell – Zahav, Philadelphia
• Becca Hegarty – Bitter Ends Garden & Luncheonette, Pittsburgh

Outstanding Baker

• Tova du Plessis – Essen Bakery, Philadelphia

Outstanding Pastry Chef

• Pat O’Malley – The Hungry Pigeon, Philadelphia
• Casey Renee – Whitfield, Pittsburgh

Outstanding Bar Program

• Teresa’s Next Door, Wayne, Delaware County

Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (D.C., DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA)

• Kristin Butterworth – Lautrec, Farmington, Fayette County
• Nicholas Elmi — Laurel, Philadelphia
• Rich Landau — Vedge, Philadelphia
• Cristina Martinez and Benjamin Miller — El Compadre, Philadelphia
• Ena Widjojo, Maylia Widjojo and Diana Widjojo — Hardena, Philadelphia
• Wei Zhu – Chengdu Gourmet, Pittsburgh
• Bethany Zozula – Whitfield, Pittsburgh

The foundation holds an online open call for entries every year. A committee reviews thousands of entries to come up with a nominating ballot of semifinalists in each category.

An independent volunteer panel of more than 600 judges — comprised of top regional restaurant critics, food and wine editors, culinary educators, and past winners — then votes on specific award categories to determine the final five nominees in each category.

They then vote on these five nominees to select the winners.

The foundation will announce the final nominees on the morning of March 14 at Parc in Philadelphia. The event will be live-streamed.

The winners will be announced at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers in New York City on April 27. They’ll receive a certificate and a medallion engraved with the James Beard Foundation Awards insignia. There are no cash prizes.

Click here to see the full list of awards.

Photo credit: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for #Culinary Kickoff