South California nominees for 2025 James Beard Foundation Awards

Wednesday morning on The James Beard Foundation announced Chefs, drinking programs, restaurants and nominated bars for its 2025 culinary prices – largely reducing the number of names in the Los Angeles region before.

In January, the James Beard Foundation recognized nearly 20 Restaurants, chefs and others from the Los Angeles region as semi-finalists. From this morning, only five of Orange County will proceed as candidates.

Each year, James Beard Foundation Awards recognize individuals, businesses and programs in the restaurant and hotel industry; The distinctions are largely considered to be among the most prestigious in the country in the culinary world. This year winners will be announced during a ceremony held on June 16 at the Lyric Opera in Chicago.

The heads of the Los Angeles region were on a role in the category of best chief: California. Last year won the honorAnd in 2023, Justin Pichetrungsi by Anajak Thai was awarded the title. The nominees for this year include two chiefs appointed on the La Times 2024 101 Best Restaurants Guide:: Jon Yao And Daniel Castillo.

Yao serves a famous tasting menu lit by its Taiwanese heritage. Not only was her district district restaurant, Kato, landed in the first place on the list of the best restaurants in La Times two years in a row, but she also collected a Michelin star and a placement in the 50 best restaurants in the world.

Yao was semi-finalist or nominated in the Rising Star Chef of the Year category in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Castillo Helms Heritage Barbecue in San Juan Capistrano, where some of the most tender creative smoke sausages and intercultural specials in gender flexion can be found regularly. This is the first appointment of James Beard (or a sign of the semi-finalist) for Castillo and Heritage.

Castillo said he celebrated victory as a team effect and hopes that the appointment would shed more light on the County of Orange and his culinary community – as well as on the barbecue as a whole.

“The light has been shown on the quantity of work which consists in operating a barbecue restaurant,” said Castillo. “It’s a marathon and it’s a lot of hard work, it’s a lot of dedication. It is no different than to make a chef work in a gourmet restaurant: consistency is important. Above everything, you work with live fire against a switch in a kitchen that you can introduce yourself and master something like that. ”

In San Diego, Tara Monsod is also a candidate. Monsod made waves with modern Philippine cuisine in Aniae, and also leads cooking to the restaurant brothers Le Coq, a French steakhouse at La Jolla. Two heads of San Francisco are the other finalists for the best head of state: Richard Lee de season and Kosuke Tada de Mijoté.

Gusto bread Long Beach comes back as a candidate in the exceptional bakery category; The artisanal panadería of owners Arturo Enciso and Ana Belén Salatino started as a home operation But flourished in a full -fledged bakery focusing on heritage grains and local and seasonal supply.

Anaheim’s Tall water was also nominated in its category last year. THE Ambitious Tiki destination From the duo husband and wife Robert Adamson and Ying Chang is once again a competitor in the category of wines or other exceptional drinks, and one of the Best Tiki bars in South California.

Tobin Shea – Director of the Redbird Bar – is a candidate for an exceptional professional in cocktail service alongside drinks colleagues in Honolulu, New York, Cincinnati and Denver.

It is the first sign of the Shea’s beard, as well as Redbird. At the downtown restaurant, he focuses on themed menus with high classics, as well as a program without ABV.

Shea, now in her 30th Bartending year, distinctly remembers listening to a podcast which announced that the foundation added a category for bar programs in 2012, finally recognizing cocktails after a long history celebrating wine.

“In my head, I said to myself:” God is the justification I have to continue the bartender “,” he said. “My parents still accepted it, but they were always like:” Do you think of finding a job other than the bartender now? ” In 2012, I just remember listening to this podcast and being like: it would be absolutely incredible to have this for my career, or simply in general – something to work. »»

Shea has been a member of the Redbird opening team and has been working in a loyal restaurant for more than a decade. He considers that the appointment is in recognition of all his bar staff, not simply himself.

Shea’s 50th anniversary is the week before the James Beard 2025 Foundation ceremony – so that he and his family can eventually celebrate the two events in Chicago.

“It’s going to be a great week,” he said.

The majority of the semi-finalists of 2025 in Los Angeles did not proceed to the appointments.

In the Best Chef category: California, almost half of the semi-finalists came from Los Angeles or the County of Orange. In addition to Yao, Castillo and Monsod, the semi-finalists of the Foundation included Kwang Uh of Baroo, Alex and Elvia Garcia de Evil Cooks, Evan Algorri d’Etra, Charles Namba of Camelia, Danielle Duran-Zecca of Amiga Amore, Melissa López de Barra Santos and Roberto Alcocer de Valle Inside.

In the national categories, Gilberto Cetina de Holbox was appointed semi-finalist in the category of exceptional chefs, while the Pasjoli de Santa Monica was semi-finalist for the exceptional restaurant. Jesus of Damian “Chuy” Cervantes was the only semi-finalist in southern California for this year’s emerging chief’s prize, and Bridgetown Roti was noted in the semi-finalist in the best group of restaurants. Republic was semi-finalist for exceptional hospitality while Thunderbolt was semi-finalist in the exceptional bar and Nicole Rucker was semi-finalist for an exceptional chief or baker.