The James Beard Foundation has announced its semifinalists in the chef and restaurant categories for the prestigious awards known as the “Oscars of the food world.” Tio Lucho’s chef Arnaldo Castillo and Erika Council of Bomb Biscuit Co. are among the semifinalists from Atlanta.

Presented annually by the James Beard Foundation, the awards cover several categories like Best Chef: Southeast, Outstanding Restaurant, Best New Restaurant, and Emerging Chef. Only the Deer and the Dove chef Terry Koval brought home a medal for Atlanta from the 2023 awards ceremony. Koval won for Best Chef: Southeast.

The foundation also honors a handful of restaurants throughout the country with its America’s Classic award, given to independent and family-owned restaurants deemed community cornerstones. Busy Bee Cafe, a soul food restaurant institution in Atlanta’s Vine City neighborhood, won an America’s Classic award in 2022.

Check out the complete list of chefs and restaurants from Atlanta and Georgia named semifinalists for the 2024 James Beard Awards. Finalists are announced on Wednesday, Apr. 3, with the winners announced during an awards ceremony in Chicago on Monday, Jun. 10.

Best Chef: Southeast

Arnaldo Castillo, Tio Lucho’s in Poncey-Highland

Erika Council, Bomb Biscuit Co. in Old Fourth Ward

Rod Lassiter and Parnass Savang, Talat Market in Summerhill

Duane Nutter, Southern National in Summerhill

Pete Amadhanirundr, Puma Yu’s in Athens, GA

Outstanding Chef

Atsushi Hayakawa, Hayakawa at Star Metals in Home Park

Outstanding Hospitality

Cooks & Soldiers at Howell Mill and 14th Street in Home Park

Outstanding Restaurateur

Kimball Brienza and Stephen Palmer, O-Ku Sushi, Indigo Road Hospitality in Charleston, SC (the group also owns O-Ku Sushi, Indaco, and Oak Steakhouse in Atlanta)

This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with Rough Draft Atlanta.

Tags: Atlanta  Georgia  Athens  chef  restaurant  James Beard  James Beard Award  Food