Latest news with #NyeshaArrington
Eater
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
A Night of Glitz and Resistance at the James Beard Foundation's 35th Restaurant and Chef Awards
Last night's James Beard Award Foundation's 35th Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony — which bestowed awards to culinary professionals and industry leaders — was a celebration of immigrants, a rejection of immoral deportation practices, and a big night for New York City. The evening kicked off with an energetic red carpet, followed by a filled ballroom at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Chefs and television personalities Andrew Zimmern and Nyesha Arrington were gregarious hosts, channeling joyous energy in a room filled with industry veterans and newcomers on edge due to recent economic uncertainty and ICE raids devastating workforces. There were some truly exciting wins, including San Juan, Puerto Rico's Identidad Cocktail Bar taking home the award for Best New Bar (the first award of its kind in the ceremony's history), Austin's Birdie's recognition for a truly stellar wine program, and Salvador Alamilla of Idaho's Amano taking home Best Chef: Mountain, after his second nomination. From intricate garb to rousing speeches, here are some of the evening's takeaways. Immigrant-owned restaurants and bars, especially those offering fare from Asian and Latin American cuisines, won big this year, and award recipients were refreshingly unapologetic about celebrating their identity. Numerous winners, including Emerging Chef winner Phila Lorn of Mawn in Philadelphia and Julia Momose of Outstanding Bar winner Kumiko, pointed to their heritage as essential to the food and beverages that audiences so love. Sky Haneul Kim of Gift Horse in Providence, Rhode Island, thanked her parents in Korean, and Jungsik Yim of Jungsik in New York accepted his Outstanding Chef award using a Korean translator — delivering the acceptance speech their way. After years of public frustration, the James Beard Awards added several new categories to recognize the craft of beverages: Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service, Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service, and Best New Bar. This allowed for some thrilling wins: Ignacio Jimenez was awarded Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service for Superbueno, New York, and Identidad Cocktail Bar in San Juan, Puerto Rico, known for its Caribbean and Latin American influence cocktails, was named Best New Bar. Arjav Ezekiel of Birdie's won the inaugural award for Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service — having recently visited Birdie's, it appears strong wine and cocktail programs were a driving force for this year's judges. The new categories are inclusive of all beverages, such as beer, N/A cocktails, and coffee, so it'll be interesting to see if those are represented more heavily in future years. The last few James Beard ceremonies haven't been big wins for the city of New York, with spotty results ever since the ceremony's post-pandemic return in 2022; last year, the city was shut out of every national category entirely. This year was different, and NYC chefs, bartenders, and restaurateurs won in major categories across the board. Among the evening's notable wins were Vijay Kumar of New York's Semma, who took home the award for Best Chef: New York State; Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr of Frenchette, Le Rock, Le Veau d'Or won for Outstanding Restaurateur; Yim, whose restaurant Jungsik is in Lower Manhattan; and Atomix, which won for Outstanding Hospitality. Cat Cox of Country Bird Bakery in Tulsa, Oklahoma took home a particularly thrilling win for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker: It's terrific to see a baker celebrated in the category, and a woman who centers Heartland baked goods, no less. Unfortunately, Cox was one of just over a handful of women who won awards this year. James Beard has done laudable work to diversify its judgment process and awards body, and women are recognized and celebrated throughout the organization. This year's group of winners, however, did lean more male, and I look forward to more women taking home major wins in the future. The rallying cry of the evening — with regional Best Chef winners Timothy Wastell (Northwest & Pacific), Sky Hanuel Kim (Northeast), and a friend accepting on behalf of Noah Sandoval (Midwest) — all saying 'fuck ICE' as they departed the stage.
Time Out
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Here are the 2025 James Beard Restaurant and Chef Award winners
James Beard Awards season is finally here! Over the past few days, the James Beard Foundation descended up Chicago to celebrate the food, drink and hospitality industry. The 2025 James Beard Awards included various ceremonies, including the Impact Awards and the Media Awards, all culminating in the Restaurant and Chef Awards on June 16. Held at the Lyric Opera House in Chicago, the James Beard Awards honor excellence in the culinary industry, from fine dining establishments to casual neighborhood favorites. Nyesha Arrington and Andrew Zimmern hosted this year's mainstage, while the red carpet and ceremony livestream was hosted by some of New York's own, including Fariyal Abdullahi of Hav & Mar and Gregory Gourdet of Maison Passerelle, alongside Nilou Motamed and Francis Lam. The final awards ceremony was livestreamed via Eater. Out of the seven awards this year, New York brought home a whopping five. This year's awards ceremony included three new categories: Best New Bar, Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service and Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service. New York took home one of the inaugural awards, as Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service was awarded to Ignacio Jimenez of Superbueno. As for Outstanding Hospitality, the honor went to Atomix. This isn't the first win for the Nomad restaurant, which previously won two James Beard Awards, including Best Chef: New York State in 2023 and Outstanding Restaurant Design (75 Seats and Under) in 2019. Outstanding Restaurateur went to Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr for their trio of French restaurants— Frenchette, Le Rock and Le Veau d'Or. The duo beat out fellow New York restaurateur Simon Kim of COTE, Undercote and COQODAQ. As for the title of Best Chef: New York State, the award went to Vijay Kumar of Semma. Kumar follows in the footsteps of his Unapologetic Foods colleague, Chintan Pandya, who won the award in 2022 for his work at Dhamaka. Chef Kumar won over Nasim Alikhani of Sofreh, Ryan Fernandez of Southern Junction Barbecue in Buffalo, NY, Eiji Ichimura of Sushi Ichimura and Atsushi Kono of Kono. When asked in a post-interview if New York was soon to be the new central hub of Indian cuisine, Kumar agreed, saying, 'a lot more Indian every year from every single state, not just from New York.' One of the most important awards of the evening, Jungsik Yim of Jungsik won Outstanding Chef. Nominated for the first time, Jungsik's award follows a three-Michelin-star rating from the Michelin Guide in 2024, the first Korean restaurant in the U.S. to receive the honor. Gabriel Kreuether of his eponymous restaurant, Gabriel Kreuther, was also up for the award. Leading up to the Restaurant and Chef Awards, the Foundation held the 2025 James Beard Media Awards on Saturday, June 14, honoring the nation's top food authors, broadcast producers, hosts and journalists. While the winners of the Impact Awards were announced in April, the Foundation honored them on Sunday, June 14. Previously known as the Leadership Awards, the Impact Awards recognized leaders and organizations 'focused on climate change mitigation, the Farm Bill, racial and gender equity, and innovative business and staffing practices that set new standards for the independent restaurant industry.' Brooklyn's Anthony Edwards Jr was one of the recipients of the award for his work at EatOkra. Together with his fellow co-founder and partner Janique Edwards, the two created the app to connect foodies with Black-owned restaurants, eateries and food trucks across the nation. Also announced this past April were the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Humanitarian of the Year Award. The awards went to author, culinary journalist and activist Toni Tipton-Martin and founder of Cafe Momentum Chad Houser, respectively. Here are the winning 2025 James Beard Restaurant and Chef Award winners for New York: Ignacio Jimenez of Superbueno Best Chef: New York State Vijay Kumar, Semma, New York, NY Outstanding Hospitality Atomix, New York, NY Outstanding Restaurateur Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr, Frenchette, Le Rock and Le Veau d'Or Outstanding Chef Jungsik Yim, Jungsik
New York Times
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Here Are the 2025 James Beard Restaurant Award Winners
The James Beard Foundation gave out its annual culinary awards Monday night in Chicago, with the chefs and co-hosts Andrew Zimmern and Nyesha Arrington handing out gold medals to chefs, restaurateurs, bakers and bartenders from across the United States. To reflect the growing influence of cocktail and bar culture, three new awards were given out this year: best new bar, outstanding professional in beverage service and outstanding professional in cocktail service. New York City restaurants won three of the six major national awards: outstanding chef (Jungsik Yim of Jungsik), outstanding hospitality (Atomix) and outstanding restaurateur (Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr of Frenchette, Le Rock and Le Veau d'Or). It was the 35th edition of the black-tie gala, which has been transformed from a Monday-night-only event (to allow chefs to squeeze in a trip when restaurants are traditionally closed) to a full weekend of panels and pop-ups. (Food media professionals like writers, directors, podcasters and influencers received their awards at a ceremony on Saturday.) The awards program was suspended in 2020 and 2021 as the industry responded to the pandemic, and as the foundation tried to incorporate rapidly evolving ideas about race, gender, privilege and workers' rights. Since then, priorities have shifted away from the traditional guest experience — food, service and décor — and toward evaluating chefs and restaurants as employers, community members and professional leaders. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Chicago Tribune
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
The James Beard Awards are tonight. Here's what to know.
The James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards are at 6 p.m. Monday at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the awards and the 10th anniversary of the ceremony taking place in Chicago. This year's ceremony will be hosted by chefs Nyesha Arrington and Andrew Zimmern. Here's what to know. The James Beard Awards are often referred to as 'the Oscars of the food world.' The James Beard Foundation will recognize chefs and restaurants tonight. It previously honored excellence in books, broadcast media and journalism covering food and drink at a ceremony on Saturday. James Beard was a Portland-born chef who was revered as the dean of American cooking. He was an actor, singer and caterer, and eventually went on to star in a TV cooking show called 'I Love to Eat.' He created the James Beard Cooking School in 1955, wrote a newspaper column and published multiple cookbooks. He died in 1985 and the James Beard Foundation was established in his honor. Semifinalists were announced in January, while the list of official nominees was announced in April. Chicago has five nominees hoping to clinch a win tonight: Kumiko in the Outstanding Bar category; Galit in the Outstanding Restaurant category; and Thai Dang of HaiSous, Chris Jung and Erling Wu-Bower of Maxwells Trading, and Noah Sandoval of Oriole in the Best Chef: Great Lakes category, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. Chicago's most recent previous winners include Lula Cafe, which won the Outstanding Hospitality category in 2024; Tim Flores and Genie Kwon of Kasama, who won the Best Chef: Great Lakes category in 2023; and Damarr Brown of Virtue, who won the Emerging Chef category in 2023. Earlier this year, the James Beard Foundation recognized Lem's Bar-B-Q, Chicago's oldest Black-owned barbecue restaurant, as a recipient of its America's Classics Awards. Tickets for the gala are sold out, but Eater will host a livestream that you can watch here. The Tribune Food team will provide coverage throughout the day, so watch for our story from the red carpet, followed by a recap of the ceremony once it wraps up at the end of the night.
7NEWS
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- 7NEWS
Nyesha Arrington stops by all the way from the USA to grill some cajun prawns on the bbq and talk about all the fun from the Vivid Fire Kitchen
Nyesha Arrington is a widely celebrated American chef, restaurateur, and television personality. She is most well known as one of the hosts/mentors on the show Next Level Chef alongside Gordon Ramsay. The show is a popular cooking reality show in America. Vivid Fire Kitchen returns once again to The Goods Line in Ultimo, featuring some of the world's top pitmasters and BBQ experts who will be taking the stage with live fire cooking demonstrations across 23 nights, aligning with this year's theme ' Dream '. Recipe below: Cajun-Thai Grilled Prawns with Green Curry Butter Ingredients For the Prawns: ● 2 lbs large shell-on prawns (U10–U15), deveined and butterflied ● 1 tbsp neutral oil ● 1 tbsp Cajun seasoning (see blend below) ● 2 lemons, halved for grilling For the Cajun-Curry Butter: ● 8 oz unsalted butter, room temperature ● 3 tbsp Thai red curry paste ● 2 tbsp coconut cream ● 1 tsp fish sauce ● 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce ● 1 tsp lemon juice ● 1 tsp brown sugar ● Zest of ½ lemon ● ½ tsp smoked paprika ● 1 tsp Cajun seasoning (see blend) ● 1 garlic clove, microplaned ● hot sauce (Crystal or Louisiana-style) Cajun Seasoning Blend (makes extra): ● 1 tbsp smoked paprika ● ½ tbsp garlic powder ● ½ tbsp onion powder ● ½ tbsp dried thyme ● ½ tbsp dried oregano ● ½ tbsp kosher salt ● ½ tsp black pepper ● ½ tsp cayenne Garnish: ● Rough-chopped parsley and/or cilantro ● Optional: crushed pork rinds or toasted breadcrumbs Method 1. Make Cajun-Thai Curry Butter: Mix all ingredients into softened butter until smooth. Adjust seasoning to taste as needed. Hold warm in a grill-safe pan for basting. 2. Season Prawns: Lightly coat prawns with oil. Season evenly with Cajun seasoning. 3. Grill: Grill over medium-high direct heat. Place prawns shell-side down and grill for 1½ to 2 minutes. Flip, baste with Cajun-Thai butter, and cook an additional 1–2 minutes. Finish with a final butter baste and brief flame kiss. 4. Serve: Plate individually or on a platter. Garnish with chopped herbs, lemon zest, and optional crunch. Serve with charred lemon halves.
