2024 James Beard Award semifinalists include some locals

West Virginia hit the James Beard restaurant & chef awards jackpot this year with two semifinalists considered for Best Chef in the Southeast region. The region covers chefs from states including Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

For his second time selected as a semifinalist for best chef in the Southeast is Charleston’s Paul Smith. His restaurant, 1010 Bridge, is undoubtedly many people’s choice as the best restaurant in the city. While 1010 Bridge’s beer list is not extensive, it always contains some excellent WV craft beers. For one, Weathered Ground Brewery just dropped off an order of beer there this week.

And for the first time, Chef Scott MacGregor of the Appalachia Kitchen at Snowshoe, WV, is selected as a semifinalist for the region’s best chef. At Appalachia Kitchen, you will find Big Timber Brewing’s Porter, Blond, and IPA, among other craft beers. Not sure if West Virginia has ever had more than two semifinalists before. It is a great honor.

James Beard Award says their regional Best Chef selections are: “Chefs who set high standards in their culinary skills and leadership abilities and who are making efforts to help create a sustainable work culture in their respective regions, while contributing positively to their broader community.”

Other semifinalists from Appalachia

From our Appalachian area, several other people and businesses were honored with semifinalist selections.

Another semifinalist for Best Chef in the Southeast Region was Kanlaya “Gun” Supachana, of Dalaya Thai Cuisine, in Sylva, North Carolina. Semifinalists for Best Chef in the Mid Atlantic Region included chefs from Pittsburgh and Bristol, Virginia. From Pittsburgh, they honored Bootsaba Tongdee from Pusadee’s Garden and Kate Lasky and Tomasz Skowronski from Apteka. From Bristol is Travis Milton of Hickory at Nicewonder Farm and Vineyards.

The Greenville, South Carolina, area did well too. A semifinalist for national Outstanding Pasty Chef/Baker was Tania Cienfuegos Harris at Topsoil Kitchen & Market in Travelers Rest, SC. In the national Best New Restaurant category, Scoundrel in Greenville was named a semifinalist. Quite an honor.

West Virginia native gets prestigious selection

Possibly the most prestigious semifinalist with West Virginia connections is The Market Place in Asheville, North Carolina. It is one of 20 national semifinalists selected for 2024’s Outstanding Restaurant. The executive chef and owner of The Market Place is William Dissen, who is a Charleston, WV, native and WVU graduate. Congratulations Chef Dissen.

A second Appalachian-region restaurant is also a semifinalist for national Outstanding Restaurant. The Restaurant at Gideon Ridge Inn in Blowing Rock, NC, shows our region definitely has some culinary chops. The Outstanding Restaurant award is given to a restaurant that demonstrates consistent excellence in food, atmosphere, hospitality, and operations while contributing positively to its broader community. It’s an award any restaurant would love to win.

About the Beard Awards

On Jan. 24, 2024, the James Beard Foundation announced its 2024 Restaurant and Chef Awards semifinalists for the James Beard Awards® presented by Capital One. Once narrowed down, a group of finalists will be announced on April 3, and then category winners will be announced at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards Ceremony on June 10 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

The restaurant and chef award program was established in 1990 and first awarded in 1991. The awards recognize exceptional talent and achievement in the culinary arts, as well as a demonstrated commitment to racial and gender equity, community, sustainability, and a culture where all can thrive.

Brilliant Stream sends it best wishes to all our nominees from Appalachia.