James Beard Foundation Announces 2022's Top Chefs and Restaurants

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.

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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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