The James Beard Foundation announced the semifinalists for its 36th annual food awards today, and the list is full of New York City restaurants and chefs.
The longlist includes Sunny Lee of Korean wine bar Sunn’s in Chinatown and Rasheeda Purdie of the recently opened restaurant Ramen by Ra in the East Village under the Emerging Chef category. The Outstanding Restaurant category includes two sides of NYC Italian restaurants: the Four Horsemen in Williamsburg and West Village’s Via Carota. Best New Restaurant slot includes two of Eater’s best new restaurants of 2025: Cambodian restaurant Bong in Crown Heights and Caribbean prix fixe Kabawa in the East Village, as well as Chinese American wine bar Lei in Chinatown (whose owner Annie Shi won the Sommelier Award in Michelin’s Northeast ceremony last November).
The Best Chef: New York State category is stacked with NYC chefs such as Sadie Mae Burns and Anthony Ha of Vietnamese French restaurant Ha’s Snack Bar, Joshua Pinsky of Claud, Vikas Khanna of Bunaglow, Rafiq Salim of Rolo’s, and many others. Outstanding Chef includes Gabriel Kruether of his namesake restaurant, D.C. chef Kwame Onwuachi of Tatiana at Lincoln Center, and Missy Robbins of Lilia in Williamsburg.
As for the rest of the state of New York, Finger Lakes fine-dining restaurant F.L.X. Table was nominated in the Outstanding Wine and Other Program category. Then, under the Best Chef: New York State category, there’s Efrén Hernández of Leeds Mexican restaurant Casa Susanna and Corwin Kave of hotel restaurant Deer Mountain Inn in Tannersville. Scope out the full list below.
In 2025, the NYC James Beard Awards winners included chef Vijay Kumar of South Indian restaurant Semma in Greenwich Village for Best Chef: New York State; Jungsik Yim of Korean restaurant Jungsik in Tribeca (Outstanding Chef); Ignacio “Nacho” Jimenez of Mexican cocktail bar Superbueno in the East Village (Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service Award); Korean tasting menu restaurant Atomix in Nomad (Outstanding Hospitality Award); and Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr of various NYC restaurant such as Frenchette and the revitalized Le Veau d’Or (Outstanding Restaurateur Award).
Best Chef: New York State
Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker
Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service
Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service
James Beard’s finalist list will be announced on Tuesday, March 31; the awards ceremony with the winners is happening on Monday, June 15, in Chicago again.
Disclosure: Some Vox Media staff members are part of the voting body for the James Beard Foundation Awards.