Ryan Santos, chef and owner of highly-esteemed Over-the-Rhine eatery Please, has been nominated as a semifinalist for the 2020 James Beard Awards in the Best Chef: Great Lakes region.
This year marks the award ceremony's 30th anniversary of honoring the nation's most respected chefs, restaurants, journalists, authors and food and beverage industry leaders.
"We'll announce the final Restaurant and Chef Award nominees, as well as the nominees for our Media and Restaurant Design Awards, in Philadelphia on Wednesday, March 25," the website says.
The announcements will begin at 9 a.m. via a live stream as well as via their Twitter page.
Following the finalist announcements, the awards ceremony will be held at the Lyric Opera of Chicago on May 4.
Santos was nominated as the Best Chef in the Great Lakes region (which encompasses Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio) — the only Cincinnati chef nominated this year in the category and one of only three Ohio chefs represented.
Best Chef nominees are those who "set high culinary standards and also demonstrate integrity and admirable leadership skills." Also nominated within the Great Lakes region are:
- James Anderson, Ray Ray's Hog Pit, Columbus, OH
- Abra Berens, Granor Farm, Three Oaks, MI
- Thai Dang, HaiSous, Chicago
- Brian Jupiter, Frontier, Chicago
- Gene Kato, Momotaro, Chicago
- Ji Hye Kim, Miss Kim, Ann Arbor, MI
- Jason Hammel, Lula Cafe, Chicago
- Andy Hollyday, Selden Standard, Detroit
- Allie La Valle-Umansky, Jeremy Umansky, and Kenny Scott, Larder Delicatessen & Bakery, Cleveland
- Abbi Merriss, Bluebeard, Indianapolis
- Ethan Pikas, Cellar Door Provisions, Chicago
- Noah Sandoval, Oriole, Chicago
- Ryan Santos, Please, Cincinnati
- John Shields and Karen Urie Shields, Smyth, Chicago
- James Rigato, Mabel Gray, Hazel Park, MI
- Mike Ransom, Ima, Detroit
- Mariya Russell, Kikkō, Chicago
- Sarah Welch, Marrow, Detroit
- Erick Williams, Virtue, Chicago
- Lee Wolen, Boka, Chicago
The James Beard Foundation recognizes chefs and restaurants across 10 different regions — Great Lakes, Mid Atlantic, Midwest, New York City, Northeast, Northwest, South, Southeast, Southwest and West — and in categories like Best New Restaurant, Outstanding Pastry Chef, Outstanding Wine Program, etc. Each year, the James Beard Foundation holds an open call for entries and combines that input with the input of 250 panelists from across the country, all of which is then reviewed by the "Restaurant and Chef Committee" to determine the eligibility and regional representation of each nominee.
More voting details: "Taking into consideration the public and regional panelists’ recommendations, the Restaurant and Chef Awards Committee produces a ballot with approximately 20 semifinalists in each category. These semifinalists are announced in late February. This ballot is distributed online to a voting body comprised of over 300 previous James Beard Restaurant & Chef Award winners; over 250 panelists divided evenly among the award regions; and the 18 members of the Restaurant and Chef Award subcommittee. All votes count equally and are tabulated by the independent accounting firm. The five semifinalists with the highest number of votes become the nominees.The nominees in each category are announced in late March. A second ballot with the nominees is then distributed to the same voting body to determine the winners. Winners are announced at the Awards ceremony in May."
See the full list of semifinalists in other categories here.
