The James Beard Foundation dropped the list of finalists for its 2024 awards cycle this morning, recognizing the country’s top restaurants, chefs, bakers, sommeliers, and more in the so-called Oscars of the food world.
Here Are New England’s 2024 James Beard Award Finalists
Comfort Kitchen and Talulla are on the short list
Erika Adams is the former deputy editor of Eater’s Northeast region, where she covered Boston, Philly, D.C. and New York. Based in Boston, she has spent years covering the local restaurant industry.
New England chefs and restaurateurs were represented in eight categories across the final list of nominees. Dorchester darling Comfort Kitchen, which, in its first year of operation, snagged an Eater Boston Award, a spot on Boston Magazine’s Top 50 list, a five-star review from the Boston Globe, and a spot on the New York Times’ list of the best restaurants in America in 2023, was crowned a finalist for the national Best New Restaurant award from the foundation. Conor Dennehy is the other Boston-area nominee on the list; he’s a finalist for Best Chef: Northeast for his work leading Talulla, a cozy little six-year-old restaurant in Cambridge that follows the New England seasons across both an a la carte menu and a five-course tasting menu.
Check out all of the New England finalists below, and see the full list of finalists here. The winners will be announced in an awards ceremony in Chicago on Monday, June 10.
Outstanding Restaurateur
Outstanding Chef
- Renee Touponce, The Port of Call, Mystic, CT
Best New Restaurant
(Note: Restaurants that opened between October 1, 2022 and September 30, 2023 were considered eligible for this award.)
- Comfort Kitchen, Dorchester, MA
Outstanding Bakery
- ZU Bakery, Portland, ME
Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker
- Atsuko Fujimoto, Norimoto Bakery, Portland, ME
Outstanding Hospitality
- Woodford Food & Beverage, Portland, ME
Outstanding Bar
- Barr Hill Cocktail Bar, Montpelier, VT
Best Chef: Northeast
- Cara Tobin, Honey Road, Burlington, VT
- Conor Dennehy, Talulla, Cambridge, MA
- Maria Meza, Dolores, Providence, RI
- David Standridge, The Shipwright’s Daughter, Mystic, CT
- Jake Stevens, Leeward, Portland, ME
Disclosure: Some Vox Media staff members are part of the voting body for the James Beard Awards. Eater is partnering with the James Beard Foundation to livestream the awards in 2024.
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