Just 48 hours after the NY Knicks won the 2026 NBA Finals championship, spirits among New Yorkers at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards in Chicago were high. Even though we were not on home turf, all the New York finalists let it be known that this championship win was extra special. Some attendees were dressed from head to toe in Knicks swag, while others opened and closed interviews on the red carpet with a proud cheer of “Knicks in Five!” Riding that high, New York’s 14 James Beard nominees gathered at the historic Lyric Opera of Chicago for another championship playoff of sorts: “the Oscars of the American culinary world,” as many call the awards. And there, New Yorkers took home a few more wins.
Every year, the James Beard Awards seem to get bigger. The red carpet gets longer, the fashion gets bolder, and the number of spectators hovering about on the street to see their favorite culinary celebrities stroll by increases as well. On one end of the carpet in front of the opera house, correspondents Nilou Motamed and Gregory Gourdet, and host Gail Simmons, were tweaking outfits, hair, and shoes while getting into position. On the other end, past a tangle of cords, cameras, and wranglers, nominees queued up to smile, cheer, and share a few words with the throngs of journalists that were lined up and ready to ask questions. What felt like mere minutes in the hum and rush of excitement was actually a two-and-a-half-hour frenzy before the ceremony even began.
Nominees were guided to their seats in the theater, and the press made their way down below decks. The ceremony was streaming on televisions, and makeshift studios were quickly set up to snag interviews with winners as they strolled down the marble staircase after their victory speeches.
New York’s 2026 James Beard Awards—Restaurants & Chefs
New York’s vibrant culinary scene was represented at the Beards this year by 13 culinary nominees and one America’s Classics recipient—and brought home a total of four chef and restaurant wins.
Best Chef: New York – Hooni Kim (Long Island City)
Hooni Kim of Meju in Long Island City won Best Chef: New York. For Kim, this achievement carries extra meaning as it represents the first-ever Beard win for Queens. When asked what this win means just after the ceremony, he said, “I wish it will lead to having an opportunity to have a bigger voice.” Meju is an intimate space with just nine seats, operating one seating a day, three or four times a week, behind his storefront, the Little Banchan Shop. Kim added, “I really want to share the story of Korean fermentation and how cooking for nutrition could actually result in better flavor.” Kim is no stranger to trailblazing: He earned the first-ever Michelin star for Korean cuisine for Danji, a restaurant he opened in Midtown 15 years ago.
Fellow New York best chef nominees included: Fidel Caballero of Corima in Chinatown; Giovanni Cervantes of Carnitas Ramirez in the East Village; Ayesha Nurdjaja of Shukette in Chelsea; and Joshua Pinsky of Claud in the East Village.
Best New Restaurant – Lei (Chinatown)
Chinatown wine bar Lei won the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant. The stunned team, made up of Annie Shi, Patty Lee, and Matt Turner, ran to the stage with their hands over their mouths in disbelief when they won for Best New Restaurant. “We are in total shock,” said Annie Shi, who is best known for her partnerships with King and Jupiter, afterward. “We thought it would be the omakase restaurant or a tasting menu place—not our little wine bar in Chinatown. We are unbelievably honored, and really grateful to be part of the neighborhood, and so grateful we have a team back home that makes what we do every day possible.”
Their tiny, 28-seat locale on the legendary Doyers Street sits just paces away from Nom Wah Tea Parlor, one of the oldest restaurants in Chinatown. Their win not only represents the burgeoning new life in hospitality happening in the area, but also proves that a little wine bar with delicious food in Chinatown can win a major restaurant award.
Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service – Lee Campbell of Borgo (Nomad)
Lee Campbell of Borgo in NoMad won Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service.
Although she couldn’t attend the James Beard Awards in person, Campbell said she still felt the love coming from fans and supporters. “I must admit, it caught me by surprise. Not because I feel undeserving—I have been working hard for many years, and I do feel I have had an impact, but I’ve always followed my own beat—from natural wine to Brooklyn to Virginia—and I just didn’t know if the larger media universe or the Beard voters would want to apply their imprimatur to me in that way. It shows that there is no one way to do this, and I’m excited for others who come up behind me to be able to do things their own way as well.”
Americas Classics Awards – Eng’s Restaurant (Kingston)
Eng’s Restaurant in Kingston was honored as one of six restaurants across the country to receive an America’s Classics Award for its historic longevity in hospitality—they turn 100 next year—and for being a pillar of culture in the community.
Other New York JBA Restaurant & Chef Nominees
Other nominees from New York included much-beloved Williamsburg institution The Four Horsemen for Outstanding Restaurant. The team previously won a James Beard Award in 2022 for Outstanding Wine Program. Chambers in Tribeca was nominated for Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program. And although they didn’t take home a Beard Award this year, the team was honored in 2025 on the New York Times‘ 100 Best Restaurants list and was added to the Michelin Guide as a dining and wine destination.
Clemente Bar in the Flatiron District was nominated for Best New Bar. It was recognized in 2025 in the 11th spot for North America’s 50 Best Bars.
Ivy Mix of Whoopsie Daisy in Crown Heights was nominated for Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service. Mix has made waves in the New York hospitality scene for the last decade, receiving numerous accolades, including Mixologist of the Year (2016) from Wine Enthusiast. This is the sixth James Beard nomination for her, including being twice named a finalist for Outstanding Bar Program for Leyenda (2019, 2025) before it closed last spring. With a very full plate—a new Mexican cantina in Dumbo called Titan opening this week and a pregnancy—Mix called this nomination in particular “special, as it is a nod to being able to create great things amidst restrictions.”
Lastly, but certainly not least, Rasheeda Purdie of Ramen by Ra in the East Village was nominated for the Emerging Chef of the Year award. Although she didn’t bring home the Beard Award, Purdie was previously recognized as “Culinarian of the Year” by Black Women in Food (2022) and received a Pepsi Dig In “People’s Choice” Award (2024).
New York’s James Beard Media Award Winners
On Saturday, June 13, two days ahead of the food awards ceremony on Monday, the nation’s leading journalists, podcasters, authors, and influencers gathered for the James Beard media awards.
Emerging Voice in Broadcast Media (Broadcast) – Nasim Lahbichi
Our March 2023 cover star, Nasim Lahbichi, won in the category of Emerging Voice in Broadcast Media, for the work he does on his Instagram. In a post where he is smiling radiantly and proudly holding up his JBA medal, Lahbichi wrote, “I would have never expected that sharing my silly oatmeal recipes and smoothie bowls in May 2020 would land me here— guiding me to exploring more of myself, my lineage, my community, and all of the other third-culture kids living in melting pot cities that find themselves in a constant state of ebbing and flowing through identities and the foods that nourished them through those times…All I hope for is to inspire others to expand their culinary lexicon, to make sure food from different cultures and backgrounds are represented with kindness and compassion, and to celebrate difference and all the diversity in the world, no matter what systems paint it as fear!!” Read our 2023 profile of Lahbichi.
Documentary Visual Media (Broadcast) – Raoul’s: A New York Story
This decade-in-the-making portrait of Raoul’s, the SoHo French bistro the Raoul brothers opened in 1975, doubles as an intimate father-son story. Co-directed by Greg Olliver and Karim Raoul—who set aside his own filmmaking dreams to run the restaurant after his father Serge suffered a stroke—it traces both a neighborhood’s reinvention and a family’s reckoning with legacy and obligation. Premiering at Tribeca as Raoul’s neared its 50th birthday, it took the documentary prize.
Beverage with Recipes (Book) – Soju Party: How to Drink (and Eat!) Like a Korean
Food writer, chef, and co-owner of Brooklyn’s Orion Bar Irene Yoo took home the prize for her celebrated Korean cookbook, Soju Party. Her debut book romps through soju, beer, and makgeolli, decoding the etiquette, games, and unspoken rules of a Korean night out, then backs them with cocktails like the viral Milkis Shot and crave-worthy anju (drinking foods) from kimchi carbonara to chimaek chicken. Equal parts reference, recipe collection, and cultural history, it earned the category honor.
Beverage without Recipes (Book) – Wine Pairing for the People: The Communion of Wine, Food, and Culture from Africa and Beyond
Harlem sommelier Cha McCoy—a former civil engineer turned founder of The Communion wine series and shop—rethinks who gets a seat at the table. Written with Layla Schlack, her debut challenges the Eurocentric maxim that what grows together goes together, instead pairing wines with the bold, spiced, tangy cuisines of Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, the U.S., and Asia. Part practical guide, part travelogue, it makes inclusive pairing its mission—and won its category.
Columns and Newsletters (Journalism) – Ryan Sutton
After a decade as Eater NY’s chief critic ended in layoffs, Ryan Sutton rebuilt as a one-person Substack, The Lo Times, a cheat sheet to NYC dining for an age of economic uncertainty. He also got a gig as a contributing restaurant critic at the New York Times. His award-winning trio of articles reached well past reviews: the human toll of slashed American food aid, the pre-Iftar detention of a Tufts student, and the case against criminalizing immigrant restaurant workers. The writing channels Sutton’s substantial investigative appetite digging into complex issues like labor rights, policy, and race and discrimination.
My Way: 2026 James Beard Awards Highlight Personal Flair
Doing things their own way is certainly a signature theme noted throughout the list of nominees and winners this year. From a tucked-away tasting counter in Queens to a wine bar in Chinatown, the James Beard Foundation—celebrating its 40th anniversary this year—is proving that it has expanded its scope to honor culinary individuality and the sometimes hidden gems actually shaping food culture today.
