North Carolina misses out at national James Beard culinary and hospitality awards
North Carolina’s culinary scene was shut out at the James Beard Awards Monday night.
Chefs and restaurants from North Carolina who were finalists in three categories went 0 for 3 at the James Beard Foundation awards, missing out on the culinary industry’s top honors for 2024.
The awards, often referred to as the “Oscars of the culinary industry,” were given out Monday night during a gala at the Lyric Opera House in Chicago.
Acclaimed Raleigh chef and restaurateur Scott Crawford and his Crawford & Son restaurant was up for the James Beard Foundation award for Outstanding Hospitality, a national award. That award went to Lula’s Cafe in Chicago.
This was Crawford’s first time as a James Beard finalist.
Two other North Carolina chefs were up for awards:
Wilmington chef Dean Neff, chef and owner of downtown Wilmington’s Seabird, was one of five finalists for Outstanding Chef. That was won by Michael Rafidi of Albi in Washington, DC.
Washington, NC chef Jamie Davis of The Hackney was a finalist for Best Chef: Southeast. Paul Smith, chef of 1010 Bridge in Charleston, WV, won the award. It’s a regional honor for the top chef in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia.
Crawford and Son, Crawford’s flagship restaurant, opened in 2016 on Person Street, serving a pulse-pounding yet refined version of the American neighborhood restaurant.
This was Crawford’s first time as a finalist, but not his first time as a contender. He was nominated as a semifinalist in 2016 for Standard Foods; three times (2011, 2013 and 2014) when he was the chef at Herons at the Umstead Hotel and Spa; and 2008 when he was chef of the Georgian Room at The Cloiser in Georgia.
Crawford now operates several restaurants in the Triangle under his Crawford Hospitality name: Jolie, a French restaurant next to Crawford and Son; Sous Terre, his new cocktail bar that opened below Jolie; Brodeto, which serves Croatian cuisine in Raleigh’s Iron Works development; and Crawford Cookshop in Clayton.
His growing group of restaurants also includes Crawford Brothers Steakhouse, which will open in Cary’s Fenton development and Crawford’s Genuine, which will open soon at Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
North Carolina names prominent on semifinalist list
North Carolina collected an impressive state-wide haul of semifinalist mentions, including several national awards. In addition to Neff, the Market Place in Asheville and the Restaurant at Gideon Ridge Inn in Blowing Rock were semifinalists for Outstanding Restaurant.
Bobby Boy Bakeshop in Winston-Salem was a semifinalist for Outstanding Baker and Ajja, the latest Raleigh restaurant from Cheetie Kumar and Paul Siler, was in the running for Best New Restaurant.
The Best Chef: Southeast semifinalists included Preeti Waas of Durham’s Cheeni, Daryl Cooper and Oscar Johnson of Jimmy Pearls in Charlotte, Jason Sellers of Plant in Asheville and Kanlaya “Gun” Supachana of Dalaya Thai Cuisine in Sylva.
Jessica Banov contributed to this report.
