Greater Cincinnati came up short again at the 2026 James Beard Awards.
Of three local chefs who were nominated, each were bested by others across the Midwest and Southeast when the final awards were announced in a ceremony at the Lyric Opera House, in Chicago, on Monday night.
Chefs Jeff Harris, of Nolia Kitchen, in Over-the-Rhine, and Sarah Dworak of Sudova, Downtown, were beat out by Jacob Potashnick from Feld Restaurant in Chicago in the Best Chef Great Lakes category.
Meanwhile, David Willocks, owner of Baker’s Table, in Newport, was bested by Taylor Montgomery of Montgomery Sky Farm in Leicester, North Carolina, for Best Chef Southeast.
The Best Chef Great Lakes category had Harris and Dworak competing against chefs from Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, while Best Chef Southeast put Willocks up against chefs from Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina South Carolina and West Virginia.
This year marked Willocks’ and Dworak’s first appearance as James Beard finalists. Harris was nominated in the same category in 2024, and Nolia Kitchen was a finalist for the national award of Best New Restaurant in America in 2023.
Despite the loss, each chef has given Greater Cincinnati something it never had before. Dworak, a Youngstown native, introduced the city to Eastern European food, first at Babushka Pierogis, a pierogi stand run out of Findlay Market, followed by Wodka Bar (now shuttered) and then Sudova.
“I don’t even understand how this happened,” Dworak told The Enquirer in January when she found out she was a semifinalist. “I am astonished. I honestly never saw myself in this type of category. I feel so proud that Eastern European food is worthy of a James Beard nomination.”
Harris introduced the refined tastes of his native New Orleans, as well as the global south, to Over-the-Rhine. And Willocks helped change the face of Northern Kentucky dining when he opened Baker’s Table in 2018. In 2019, it was named among the country’s best new restaurants by the food and restaurant website Eater.com.
Unlike years past, when Chicago dominated the Great Lakes region, Cincinnati held its own. Of the five finalists from the region, Cincinnati and Chicago received two nominations each. The fifth finalist was Vinnie Cimino, chef and owner of Cordelia, in Cleveland.
Along with the three Greater Cincinnati chefs who made it to the finalist round this year, two others made it to the semifinalist round. Hideki Harada, owner of Kiki on Ludlow, was a semifinalist for Best Chef Great Lakes, and Mike Stankovich, owner of Longfellow Bar and Mid-City Restaurant, was semifinalist for the national award of Outstanding Beverage Professional.
While no Greater Cincinnati chefs have brought home a James Beard Award, in 2000, Camp Washington Chili was recognized in the James Beard Foundation’s America’s Classics category, honoring legendary, locally owned restaurants that have stood the test of time and reflect the character of their communities. To this day, it remains Cincinnati’s only James Beard Award recipient, other than The Enquirer’s Keith Pandolfi, who received a James Beard Journalism Award in 2017.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati comes up short at James Beard Awards after 3 nominations
Reporting by David Ferrara, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By David Ferrara, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
