The James Beard Awards, among the most prestigious honors in the American culinary world — second perhaps only to Michelin stars — recognized some of the nation’s top food-and-hospitality talent on Monday night, June 15, in a ceremony in Chicago.
Sixteen California chefs and restaurants made it to the finals, including five chefs competing for Best Chef in California.
Among the Los Angeles County winners are Kato, which took home Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages. (Its chef and cofounder, Jon Yao, won Best Chef in California in 2025.) In his 2022 review of the restaurant, Bill Addison of the Los Angeles Times wrote, “If you have any interest in cocktails, begin with one of bar director Austin Hennelly’s liquid riddles. They sound ridiculously complicated yet land so cleanly.”
Dave Beran of Seline won Best Chef, California. “This has probably been the most difficult year and a half of my life,” he said in his speech. “There were points when I didn’t know if I’d be capable of going to the restaurant the next day.” Seline opened six weeks before the Palisades Fire ignited on Jan. 7, 2025. He is also the chef at Pasjoli; both restaurants survived the fires.
Providence, one of only two three-star-Michelin joints in Los Angeles (the other being Somni), won Outstanding Hospitality.
This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award went to Nancy Silverton, who won competitive James Beard Foundation medallions for Outstanding Chef in 2014 and Outstanding Pastry Chef in 1991. The Los Angeles-based chef, baker, restaurateur and author is co-founder of the Mozza Restaurant Group. She also once made a crème fraîche brioche tart that brought tears to the eyes of Julia Child.
“Restaurants are where my people are, you are my people and always will be,” she said in her speech.
Othón Nolasco and Damián Diaz of No Us Without You LA won the Humanitarian of the Year Award. Their public charity provides free food relief to underserved communities in the greater Los Angeles area. The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, or CHIRLA, was among several organizations named as Impact Award honorees.
Los Angeles County nominees who went home empty-handed included Kwang Uh of Baroo for Best Chef: California; Gilberto Cetina of Holbox and Niki Nakayama of n/naka for Outstanding Chef; Fátima Juárez of Komal for Emerging Chef, Ki for Best New Restaurant and Jack Benchakul of Endorffeine for Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service.
The evening’s other notable wins included Adrian Torres of Maximo in West University Place, Texas, who earned a standing ovation after using his acceptance speech for Emerging Chef to say, “I am a proud son of immigrants, I am proud to be an immigrant, I am proud to be a DACA recipient.” Leishla Maldonado, who won Best Bar for Loma, said during her speech, “To every immigrant kid watching this, there’s room for you at this table.”
The full list of James Beard Foundation’s 2026 winners is as follows:
Emerging Chef: Adrian Torres of Maximo, West University Place, Texas
Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker: Susan Bae, Moon Rabbit, Washington D.C.
Outstanding Bakery: Wild Crumb, Bozeman, MT
Best New Bar: Loma, Providence, RI
Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service: Kevin Diedrich, Pacific Cocktail Haven, San Francisco, CA
Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages: Kato, Los Angeles, CA
Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service: Lee Campbell, Borgo, New York, NY
Outstanding Bar: Scotch Lounge, Portland, OR
Best Chef, Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH): Jacob Potashnick, Feld, Chicago, IL
Best Chef, Southwest (AZ, NM, NV, OK): Sarah Thompson, Casa Playa, Las Vegas, NV
Best Chef: Mountain (CO, ID, MT, UT, WY): Penelope Wong, Yuan Wonton, Denver, CO
Best Chef: Northeast (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT): Evan Hennessey, Stages, Dover, NH
Best Chef: Northwest & Pacific (AK, HI, OR, WA): Ryan Roadhouse, Nodoguro, Portland, OR
Best Chef: Midwest (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD, WI): Loryn Nalic, Balkan Treat Box, Webster Groves, MO
Best Chef: South (AL, AR, FL, LA, MS, PR): Serigne Mbaye, Dakar NOLA, New Orleans, LA
Best Chef: Texas: Evelyn Garcia and Henry Lu, JŪN, Houston, TX
Best Chef: New York State: Hooni Kim, Meju, Queens, NY
Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA): Jesse Ito, Royal Sushi & Izakaya, Philadelphia, PA
Best Chef: Southeast (GA, KY, NC, SC, TN, WV): Taylor Montgomery, Montgomery Sky Farm, Leicester, NC
Best Chef: California: Dave Beran, Seline, Santa Monica, CA
Best New Restaurant: Lei, New York, NY
Outstanding Hospitality: Providence, Los Angeles, CA
Outstanding Restaurateur: Dana Street, Fore Street, Scales, Standard Baking Co., and others, Portland, ME
Outstanding Restaurant: Kalaya, Philadelphia, PA
Outstanding Chef: Michael Tusk, Quince
A panel of anonymous industry judges, including journalists, previous winners, food professionals and other culinary talent, evaluate nominees on their prowess in the kitchen or behind the bar, as well as their behavioral ethics and treatment of employees. The James Beard Foundation has handed out the awards annually since 1991, save for 2020 and 2021 when the pandemic put the ceremony on pause.
New this year was the introduction of a plaque awarded to winners, in addition to medallions, so recipients can display the achievement inside bars and restaurants.
The foundation’s media awards, honoring cookbook authors, journalists and other media professionals, were presented Saturday, June 13.