Akron chef, Vinnie Cimino, fell short in the 2026 James Beard Awards. Nominated for Best Chef in the Great Lakes region, Cimino was beat out by Chicago chef Jacob Potashnick of Feld.
This was Cimino’s second time being named as a finalist for Best Chef in the Great Lakes region category.
Potashnick’s “relationship-to-table” restaurant, which opened in June 2024, earned a MICHELIN star by December 2025.
The James Beard Awards is the pinnacle of culinary recognition in the U.S. The Restaurant and Chef nominees recognized embody exceptional talent and leadership within the independent restaurant industry.
Cimino is the chef and co-owner of restaurants Cordelia — known for its “Midwest nice” approach to food — and Rosy, both in Cleveland, alongside partner Andrew Watts. It was his work at the former that earned him his nomination.
Cimino and his Cordelia staff traveled to the Lyric Opera of Chicago for the June 15 ceremony, a server told the Beacon Journal.
The voicemail message at Cordelia says, “We are headed to Chicago to help support our chef at the James Beard Awards,” and goes on to say the restaurant is closed June 14-17 and will reopen at 4 p.m. June 18.
Cimino grew up in Akron’s Ellet neighborhood and graduated from St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in 2001. The chef currently lives with his family in Highland Square.
Who else was nominated for a James Beard Award in the Great Lakes region?
Cimino was up against four other chefs — including two from Ohio — in the Best Chef: Great Lakes category. The category considered chefs from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.
David Willocks, the chef at The Baker’s Table in Newport, Kentucky, was also nominated for the same award, but was placed in the Southeast category even though Newport is very much considered part of the Greater Cincinnati area. The Southeast category considered chefs from Georgia, Kentucky, North and South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia.
Willocks – a first-time nominee – was beat out by Taylor Montgomery, the chef at Montgomery Sky Farm in Leicester, North Carolina.
The other Southeast nominees included chefs Joe Cash (Scoundrel in Greenville, South Carolina); Mary Ellen Diaz (Alma Bea in Shepherdstown, West Virginia) and J. Trent Harris (Mujō in Atlanta, Georgia).
Beacon Journal reporter Kerry Clawson contributed to this report.
The Cincinnati Enquirer, the Greenville News and the Asheville Citizen-Times, all part of the USA TODAY NETWORK, also contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron native Vinnie Cimino beat out by Chicago chef at James Beard Awards
Reporting by Alisson Toro-Lagos and Lauren J. Young, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Alisson Toro-Lagos and Lauren J. Young, Akron Beacon Journal | USA TODAY Network
