Minnesota Chefs And Restaurant Shine As Finalists For Prestigious James Beard Awards

Three nominees from Minnesota are advancing to the finals for the highest honors for cooking in America -- The James Beard Awards.

The James Beard Foundation has named its finalists for its 2024 Restaurant and Chef Awards.  And two Minnesota chefs and one Minneapolis restaurant are among those finalists.

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BEST NEW RESTAURANT FINALIST

Northeast Minneapolis Mexican restaurant Oro by Nixta is among 10 restaurants from around the country vying for Best New Restaurant.

The restaurant focuses on dishes highlighting corn and masa and high-quality tortillas.

Here's the complete list of nominees:

Best New Restaurant Finalists

• Bar Bacetto, Waitsburg, WA
• Barbs-B-Q, Lockhart, TX
• Chez Noir, Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
• Comfort Kitchen, Dorchester, MA
• Dakar NOLA, New Orleans, LA
• Hayward, McMinnville, OR
• Kaya, Orlando, FL
• Kisser, Nashville, TN
• Oro by Nixta, Minneapolis, MN
• Shan, Bozeman, MT

BEST CHEF OF THE MIDWEST

Two Minnesota chefs will face-off in the Best Chef of the Midwest category. They are Chef Ann Ahmed of Laotian restaurant Khaluna and Chef Christina Nguyen of Southeast Asian restaurant Hai Hai.

Both have been nominated for Beard Awards in the past at their current restaurants.

The full list:

Best Chef: Midwest Finalists (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD, WI)

• Ann Ahmed, Khâluna, Minneapolis, MN
• Rob Connoley, Bulrush, St. Louis, MO
• Dan Jacobs and Dan Van Rite, EsterEv, Milwaukee, WI
• Christina Nguyen, Hai Hai, Minneapolis, MN
• Tim Nicholson, The Boiler Room, Omaha, NE

THE SHOW

The ceremony for The James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards will be held in Chicago June 10th. The show will be livestreamed on "Eater."

(H/T: Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal -- Paywall)