Wildweed 1301 Walnut St., Over-the-Rhine With a penchant for non-traditional pastas and sauces and some cool and funky artwork, Wildweed is worth checking out in its new, permanent home on Walnut Street. Chef David Jackman and his wife, chef Lydia Jackman, started Wildweed as the Sunday Sauce pop-up in Oakley in 2019, and it’s gone through a few iterations since. The duo decided to plant roots in OTR and opened their own brick-and-mortar space this July, with Bon Appetit naming it one of its must-visit restaurants for the summer of 2024. While the menu is pasta-centric, don’t call Wildweed an Italian restaurant. Instead of traditional Italian pastas, the menu highlights the best cultivated and wild-harvested products our region has to offer, like the Urbanstead Quark Mezzaluna, featuring wild mushroom, crispy garlic, chili oil, parmesan and mushroom XO sauce, or the Doppio Ravioli, with bean and cheese, braised lobster mushroom, basil and preserved lemon. You can dine in the main dining room, or book the chef’s counter for a unique experience that blends Wildweed’s culinary creations into a story of food and place. While you’re there, be sure to take time to appreciate the murals, including one of a variety of mushrooms, created by local artists. Photo: Jon Medina

A Cincinnati chef and a Cincinnati bartender have been announced as nominees for the prestigious 2025 James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards.

The Restaurant and Chef Awards is one of five recognition programs from the James Beard Foundation and one of the most prestigious culinary honors, celebrating excellence in everything from fine dining to casual eateries and emerging talents to established luminaries. Nominees in this program are recognized across 25 categories, including three new ones recognizing bars and bar service professionals.

Chef David Jackman of Wildweed in Over-the-Rhine is a nominee in the category of Best Chef in the Great Lakes region (IL, IN, MI, OH). Chefs in this category “set high standards in their culinary skills and leadership abilities” and are “making efforts to help create a sustainable work culture in their respective regions while contributing positively to their broader community.”

And in one of the new categories, Longfellow owner and bartender Mike Stankovich is a nominee for Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service. This category recognizes service professionals who create and serve cocktails as well as have set high standards, demonstrate creativity and consistency and have made efforts to create a sustainable work culture while also serving as an outstanding example or mentor for other beverage professionals.

Chef Jordan Anthony-Brown of The Aperture in Walnut Hills was named a semifinalist in the Emerging Chefs category in January, but will not move on.

“This year brings renewed energy to the Restaurant and Chef Awards, as we shine a spotlight on the exciting talent shaping American food culture as well as beverage, which is a focus for us,” Dawn Padmore, vice president of awards for the James Beard Foundation, said in a press release in January. “We are also grateful to the committees and judges … whose invaluable contributions make the Awards possible.”

The award winners will be celebrated at a ceremony on Monday, June 16 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. You can see the full list of nominees here.

This article appears in Apr 2-8, 2025.

Katherine Barrier is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati’s journalism program and has nearly 10 years of experience reporting local and national news as a digital journalist. At CityBeat, she...