James Beard Foundation Announces Four Portland 2016 Awards Finalists

Today, the James Beard Foundation announced its 2016 award finalists, and Oregon sees its hefty list of eighteen semifinalists shrunken to four. But Portland still has a good chance of winning the Best Chef Northwest and Outstanding Bar Program categories, as well as the American Cooking category in the James Beard Foundation Cookbook Awards.

In the Best Chef Northwest category, five chefs (or chef teams) were announced total—two from Portland and three from Seattle. The Portland-based finalists are Justin Woodward of Castagna and Greg Denton and Gabrielle Quiñónez Denton of Ox.

Clyde Common was named a finalist in the Outstanding Bar Program category, where it faces off against three competing bars. Additionally, Adam and Jackie Sappington of The Country Cat are finalists in the James Beard Foundation Cookbook Awards' American Cooking category for their book, Heartlandia: Heritage Recipes from Portland's The Country Cat. Eater Portland heartily applauds all of these finalists.

The James Beard Foundation will announce the winning restaurants and chefs on May 2, at a gala at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Book, Broadcast, and Journalism winners will be announced at a separate event in New York City on Tuesday, April 26.

Here are the full list of finalists in the Best Chef Northwest, Outstanding Bar Program, and American Cooking Cookbook categories (click here to see all of the 2016 James Beard award chef and restaurant finalists):

Best Chef: Northwest (AK, ID, MT, OR, WA, WY)

Greg Denton and Gabrielle Quiñónez Denton, Ox, Portland, OR

Mike Easton, Il Corvo Pasta, Seattle
Renee Erickson, The Whale Wins, Seattle
Justin Woodward, Castagna, Portland, OR

Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi, Joule, Seattle

Outstanding Bar Program

A restaurant or bar that demonstrates excellence in cocktail, spirits and/or beer service.

Arnaud's French 75 Bar, New Orleans Bar Agricole, San Francisco
Clyde Common, Portland, OR
Cure, New Orleans

Maison Premiere, Brooklyn, NY

The James Beard Foundation Cookbook Awards: American Cooking

The Beetlebung Farm Cookbook, Chris Fischer, (Little, Brown and Company)

Heartlandia: Heritage Recipes from Portland's The Country Cat, Adam and Jackie Sappington with Ashley Gartland, (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

The Southerner's Cookbook, David DiBenedetto and the Editors of Garden & Gun, (Harper Wave)