Here Are Portland’s 2019 James Beard Awards Semifinalists

This morning saw the release of the list of semifinalists for the James Beard Awards, often considered the most prestigious of American food awards. The long list will get whittled down to just five per category, with the finalists announced on March 27 in a press conference from Houston and the awards ceremony on May 6 in Chicago.

Below is the full list for the Portland semi-finalists, including Gabriel Rucker’s new Canard on Best New Restaurant, and Earl Ninsom of Paadee, Hat Yai, and the newly opened Eem getting some love for Outstanding Restaurateur. And while Portland isn’t on the Outstanding Restaurant list, our neighbors to the south are, with Marché in Eugene. The full national list can be found here.

Best New Restaurant

Canard

Outstanding Baker

Kim Boyce of Bakeshop

Outstanding Bar Program

Expatriate

Outstanding Chef

Gabriel Rucker of Le Pigeon

Outstanding Restaurateur

Akkapong (Earl) Ninsom of Paadee, Langbaan, Hat Yai, and others

Outstanding Wine Service

Davenport

Best Chef: Northwest

Jose Chesa of Ataula

Peter Cho of Han Oak

Gregory Gourdet of Departure

Ha (Christina) Luu and Peter Vuong of Ha VL

Katy Millard of Coquine

Kristen Murray of Maurice

Ryan Roadhouse of Nodoguro

Justin Woodward of Castagna

Disclosure: Some Vox Media staff members are part of the voting body for the James Beard Foundation Awards