James Beard Foundation announced the semifinalist nominees for the 2025 James Beard Awards today in a press release. Finalists in these categories will be announced on April 2. The overall winners will be announced at the 2025 James Beard Foundation Awards ceremony, which will be held on June 16 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
We are thrilled to report that two Connecticut chefs have been nominated for “Best Chef: Northeast (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT).” The James Beard Foundation award is one of the highest honors in the culinary industry. Congratulations to Michelle Greenfield of Allium Eatery in Westport & Brian Lewis of The Cottage, also in Westport.
Stay tuned as these semifinalists go to the next round on April 2nd.
The James Beard Foundation announced its 2024 Restaurant and Chef Awards semifinalists in advance of the James Beard Awards.
Congrats to our Connecticut semifinalists Chef Reneé Touponce (The Port of Call and Oyster Club) for Outstanding Chef & Chef David Standridge (The Shipwright’s Daughter) for Best Chef, New England, and Cora Cora for Outstanding Restaurant.
The full list of 2024 Restaurant and Chef Awards semifinalists can be found below and on the James Beard Foundation website. Nominees will be announced on Wednesday, April 3 and winners will be celebrated at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony on Monday, June 10 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Less than a year ago, we introduced readers to Stamford branch of The Taco Project, a fast casual Mexican restaurant whose roots began in Tarrytown in 2014.
Since April of 2022, The Taco Project and its brand grew even more outside of its existing Westchester locations (Tarrytown, Yonkers, Pleasantville, Bronxville) and its High Ridge Road spot in Stamford, as they’ve set their sights on the Florida market and opened up shop in Coral Springs.
James Beard Foundation announced the semifinalist nominees for the 2023 James Beard Awards today in a press release. Nominees will be announced on Wednesday, March 29, and winners will be celebrated at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards Ceremony on Monday, June 5, 2023, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
We are thrilled to report that two Connecticut chefs and Peruvian restaurant, Cora Cora, have been nominated for James Beard Foundation awards, one of the highest honors in the culinary industry.
Renee Touponce of Oyster Club and the Port of Call in Mystic as well as Christian Hunter of Community Table in Washington were nominated as semifinalists for the Best Chef Northeast award. Cora Cora, located in West Hartford was nominated as a semifinalist in the Outstanding Restaurant category.
Tarrytown, Yonkers, Bronxville, Pleasantville, and now Stamford.
Since opening in 2014 in Tarrytown, The Taco Project’s popularity kept growing in Westchester, and now they’ve brought their brand of Mexican-inspired fast casualness across the state border to the busy High Ridge Shopping Center.
Co-owner Carmelo Milio—who’s one of The Taco Project’s head honchos with partners Sebastian Aliberti and Nicholas Mesce—mentioned that opening their fifth location in Stamford was a natural progression for their brand.
“Being that we’re all Westchester residents (Sebastian is in Pleasantville, I’m in Armonk, and Nick’s in Dobbs Ferry), we come to Stamford to hang out often,” he says. “We’ve always thought about opening here, but we didn’t necessarily want it to be Downtown, so we can cater to our fans in Pound Ridge and Bedford as well. We like to be in these type of neighborhoods where it’s a little more laid back, more families, but still keep a fun ambiance while getting your food to you quickly, like within 15 minutes or so.”
