JBF Announces Semifinalists; Chicago Represents Well

The James Beard Foundation just announced their list of semifinalists in the 2012 Restaurant and Chef awards and there are quite a few from Chicago that made the list. The list of finalists will be announced on March 19 in Las Vegas, so this list will be whittled down on that date. Regardless, it's nice to see a lot of our chefs and restaurants appear, even if this is not the final list. To see who made it, take a look at the list below. For the full list representing every city, head over to Eater National.

Best New Restaurant
Bistronomic
Next

Outstanding Bar Program (new category this year)
The Aviary
The Violet Hour

Outstanding Chef
Paul Kahan, Blackbird
Tony Mantuano, Spiaggia
Carrie Nahabedian, Naha

Outstanding Pastry Chef
Patrick Fahy, Café des Architectes
Mindy Segal, Hot Chocolate

Outstanding Restaurant
Tru

Rising Star Chef of the Year
Dave Beran, Next
Matthew Kirkley, L20
David Posey, Blackbird

Outstanding Restaurateur
Donnie Madia, One Off Hospitality (Avec, Blackbird, Big Star, Publican)

Outstanding Service
Spiaggia
Topolobampo

Outstanding Wine Program
Sepia

Best Chef: Great Lakes
Michael Carlson, Schwa
Stephanie Izard, Girl & The Goat
Martial Noguier, Bistronomic
Chris Nugent, Goosefoot
Bruce Sherman, North Pond
Giuseppe Tentori, GT Fish & Oyster
Paul Virant, Vie
Andrew Zimmerman, Sepia

· JBF Announces 2012 Restaurant and Chef Semifinalists [-EN-]