6 local chefs hope to cook up prestigious award
Six Houston chefs may be among those vying for a James Beard Award in May.
Manabu Horiuchi of Kata Robata, Anita Jaisinghani of Pondicheri, Hugo Ortega of Hugo’s, Jianyun Ye of Mala Sichuan and Seth Siegel-Gardner and Terrence Gallivan of The Pass & Provisions all were announced as semifinalists in the Best Chef Southwest category on Wednesday, when the James Beard Foundation released the long list for its prestigious awards, considered the Oscars of the food world.
In all, it’s a good showing for Houston. Other semifinalists include Anvil Bar & Refuge for Outstanding Bar Program; Tracy Vaught of H Town Restaurant Group (Hugo’s, Caracol, Backstreet Cafe, Xochi) for Outstanding Restaurateur; Hugo’s for Outstanding Service; and William Wright of Helen Greek Food and Wine for Rising Star Chef of the Year.
Additionally, Ford Fry of Atlanta, who owns State of Grace in Houston, is a semifinalist for Outstanding Restaurateur, as is Sam Fox of Fox Restaurant Concepts, which has True Food Kitchen and North Italia in Houston.
If Ortega makes it to the finals, it will be his sixth nomination for Best Chef Southwest.
Finalists will be announced on March 15, and the restaurant and chef awards will be presented May 1 at the James Beard Foundation Awards Gala at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.