Three Minnesota Chefs Are Finalists For a James Beard Award

There were 13 Minnesota chefs and restaurants named as James Beard Foundation Awards semifinalists, and of those 13, three have made it to the final.

James Beard Awards are like the Oscars of food. They're highly coveted and only the best of the best win them. This year the award ceremony will take place on May 6th, and a Minnesotan has good odds of winning Best Chef: Midwest. The category considers chefs from Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Here are the finalists from the land of 10,000 lakes:

• Grand Cafe - Jamie Malone
• Young Joni - Ann Kim
• Hai Hai - Christina Nguyen

The other twin finalists in the category were Michael Corvino of Kansas City, MO and Michael Gallina of St. Louis.

It would be fun to go and eat these chef's creations before May 6th to hopefully say "I had their food before they won a James Beard Award!" Minnesota has pretty good odds of pulling off a win in the category. I have my fingers and toes crossed for them!