Cincinnati was once again heavily present at the James Beard Awards this year, and once again came up short.
Sarah Dworak, Jeff Harris and Dave Willocks—chef/owners of Sudova, Nolia and The Baker’s Table, respectively—were all named as finalists at this year’s ceremony in Chicago, but all three walked away from the awards tonight empty-handed.
It’s not the first time the Queen City has made it to the final stages of the awards and came back with nothing.
Harris is a multi-time nominee, having already been nominated in 2023 and 2024. Last year, Wildweed owner David Jackman and Longfellow owner Mike Stankovich were finalists; the year before, Jose Salazar was the main representative for our city at the awards. In 2023, Cincinnati had a whopping six nominations, the most notable of which was Salazar’s restaurant Mita’s making the cut for Most Outstanding Restaurant in the United States.
Still, despite our city putting up contenders every year—and this is the first year that there have been as many finalists from Cincinnati as there are from Chicago—it seems Queen City chefs always fall short at the goal line. Even Jean-Robert de Cavel, the city’s most legendary chef, somehow never made it past the semi-finalist stage during his lifetime.
The last time a Cincinnati restaurant won at the ceremony was in 2000, when Camp Washington Chili took home the award for “American Regional Classic.”
Regardless, this is the highest number of finalists our city has ever had, proving that our burgeoning food scene is up there with the biggest cities in the country. One day soon, maybe a Cincinnati chef will take home the gold.
