From bakeries and dives to fine dining and drive-ins, North Carolina restaurants consistently top foodies' "best-of" lists. So it was no surprise to many in the Tar Heel culinary scene when the state's chefs and bakers were on the 's semifinalist list.
The Foundation announced the the semifinalists Wednesday at a news conference in Chicago. Nine North Carolinians made the list in two categories - Best Chef: Southeast and Outstanding Baker.
The Outstanding Baker category is a new contest this year. It was created to distinguish restaurant pastry chefs from those who own their own businesses. The Outstanding Baker award is a national award, unlike Best Chef Southeast. North Carolina had two nominees among the list of 25 semifinalists.
The North Carolina semifinalists for Outstanding Chef were Phoebe Lawless of in Durham and Lionel Vatinet of in Cary.
The seven other chefs named semifinalists in the Best Chef Southeast category are: Katie Button of in Asheville, NC; John Fleer of in Asheville, NC; Vivian Howard of in Kinston, NC; Scott Howell of , NC; Meherwan Irani of in Asheville, NC; Matthew Kelly of in Durham, NC and Aaron Vandemark of in Hillsborough, NC.
Several of this year's semifinalists were interviewed on 瓜神app and shared some of their favorite recipes:
- , James Beard-Style (Aaron Vandemark, Panciuto)
There are typically 20 to 25 semifinalists named in each category, but the list will be whittled down to five finalists on March 24th. The 2015 James Beard Awards gala will be held at the Lyric Opera of Chicago on Monday, May 4th.
