by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 10:40 AM ET, Tue June 14, 2022
The James Beard Foundation honored its 2022 Restaurant and Chef Award winners during the foundation's awards ceremony at the Lyric Opera of Chicago on June 13, recognizing some of the best of the best restaurants and chefs.
The James Beard Awards are some of the highest honors for chefs and restaurants in the United States; beyond honoring chefs with incredible talent, they also honor their commitments to diversity and equity, community, sustainability and more.
The winners in each category are as follows:
Outstanding Restaurateur
Chris Bianco, Tratto, Pane Bianco and Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix, Arizona
Outstanding Chef
Mashama Bailey, The Grey in Savannah, Georgia
Outstanding Restaurant
Chani Pani in Asheville, North Carolina
Emerging Chef
Edgar Rico, Nixta Taqueria in Austin, Texas
Best New Restaurant
Owamni in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Outstanding Pastry Chef
Warda Bouguettaya, Warda Pâtisserie in Detroit, Michigan
Outstanding Baker
Don Guerra, Barrio Bread in Tucson, Arizona
Outstanding Hospitality
Cúrate in Asheville, North Carolina
Outstanding Wine Program
The Four Horsemen in New York City, New York
Outstanding Bar Program
Julep in Houston, Texas
Best Chefs (by region)
- California: Brandon Jew, Mister Jiu's in San Francisco
- Great Lakes: Erick Williams, Virtue Restaurant & Bar in Chicago
- Mid-Atlantic: Christina Martinez, South Philly Barbacoa in Philadelphia
- Midwest: Dane Baldwin, The Diplomat in Milwaukee
- Mountain: Caroline Glover, Annette in Aurora, Colorado
- New York: Chintan Pandya, Dhamaka in New York City
- Northeast: Nisachon Morgan, Saap in Randolph, Vermont
- Northwest and Pacific: Robynne Maii, Fête in Honolulu
- Southeast: Ricky Moore, SALTBOX Seafood Joint in Durham, North Carolina
- South: Adam Evans, Automatic Seafood and Oysters in Birmingham
- Southwest: Fernando Olea, Sazón in Santa Fe
- Texas: Iliana de la Vega, El Naranjo in Austin
Other James Beard Awards given during the event include the Humanitarian of the Year award, which was awarded to Grace Young for her effort to save America's Chinatowns and combatting Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) hate during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Lifetime Achievement award was given to Martin Yan, a prolific TV chef who has published 30 cookbooks and aired 3,500 episodes during his career as a chef.
This year's ceremony is the first to occur since the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I am honored to celebrate the return of the Restaurant and Chef Awards after a two-year hiatus," said Kwame Onwuachi, James Beard Award-winner and host of the 2022 Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony. "As we know, a James Beard Award can be transformative to a career or business, and as we move forward from the pandemic, this weekend was an important opportunity to lift up the independent restaurant community as a whole, doing amazing work across the country."
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