The James Beard Foundation announced the semifinalists for its 36th annual food awards today, and the list is full of New York City restaurants and chefs.
The longlist includes Sunny Lee of Korean wine bar Sunn’s in Chinatown and Rasheeda Purdie of the recently opened restaurant Ramen by Ra in the East Village under the Emerging Chef category. The Outstanding Restaurant category includes two sides of NYC Italian restaurants: the Four Horsemen in Williamsburg and West Village’s Via Carota. Best New Restaurant slot includes two of Eater’s best new restaurants of 2025: Cambodian restaurant Bong in Crown Heights and Caribbean prix fixe Kabawa in the East Village, as well as Chinese American wine bar Lei in Chinatown (whose owner Annie Shi won the Sommelier Award in Michelin’s Northeast ceremony last November). For the Outstanding Hospitality category, there’s Mexican restaurant Cosme in Flatiron, Red Hook Tavern, and Prospect Heights Persian restaurant Sofreh.
There are two NYC semifinalists in the Outstanding Restaurateur: Simon Kim of the luxe restaurant empire, including Korean steakhouse Cote (which just opened in Vegas), plus an upcoming spot this year; and Jennifer Vitagliano and Nicole Vitagliano of restaurants like the Musket Room and Raf’s…