James Beard award finalists: Oakland chefs Assil, Horn, Wahpepah make the cut
The James Beard Foundation on Tuesday narrowed the list of nominees for its coveted awards of excellence, with several Oakland and San Francisco notables honored as finalists.
Named after the legendary chef, the James Beard Foundation’s restaurant and chef awards were established in 1991.
The 2022 winners will be announced June 13.
Outstanding Chef
In Oakland and San Francisco, chef Reem Assil dives deep into Middle Eastern cuisine, especially the dishes of her Syrian and Palestinian heritage. She is the only finalist from California in the running for this coveted national award that goes to “a chef who sets high culinary standards and has served as a positive example for other food professionals.” The other four finalists represent restaurants in Seattle, Chicago, Virginia/Maryland and Savannah, Georgia.
Emerging Chef
In this category, the sole finalist from the Bay Area is Crystal Wahpepah, a caterer-turned-restaurateur who in 2021 brought attention to native American cuisine by opening Wahpepah’s Kitchen in Oakland. According to the foundation, this award will highlight “a chef who displays exceptional talent, character, and leadership ability, and who is likely to make a significant impact in years to come.”
Best New Restaurant
Pitmaster Matt Horn’s Horn BBQ of Oakland is one of 11 national finalists for this award that will go to “a restaurant opened in 2020 or 2021 that already demonstrates excellence in cuisine and hospitality and seems likely to make a significant impact in years to come.” Horn is the only nominee from Northern California. The other California contender is the Angry Egret Dinette of Los Angeles.
Outstanding Hospitality
San Francisco’s House of Prime Rib — where your selection is carved tableside — made the cut. The silver serving carts have been rolling at this Van Ness Avenue landmark for more than 70 years. There are four other contenders for this award that will go to a restaurant that “demonstrates consistent and excellent hospitality and service to its dining community, while also making efforts to provide a sustainable work culture. Must have been in operation for five or more years.”
Best Chef: California
Out of 10 Northern California semifinalists, three chefs are still in the running for this regional award. They are James Syhabout of Commis in Oakland; Pim Techamuanvivit of Nari in San Francisco; and Brandon Jew of Mister Jiu’s in San Francisco. The two other finalists are Bryant Ng of Cassia restaurant in Santa Monica and Sarintip “Jazz” Singsanong of Jitlada in Los Angeles.
About the awards
These will be the first Beards since 2019. The awards had gone on hiatus in 2020 and 2021, with the foundation citing the pandemic-caused disruption to the industry. In the interim, the group pledged to work toward its stated objectives to “remove any systemic bias, increase the diversity of the pool of candidates, maintain relevance, and align the awards more outwardly with the foundation’s values of equity, equality, sustainability, and excellence for the restaurant industry.”
During that time, the foundation established a code of ethics as a guideline for all entrants, semifinalists and nominees, as well as its voting body. An independent volunteer ethics committee was set up to provide oversight.