Today, the James Beard Foundation long-listed the chefs in contention for the most prestigious culinary award in the nation.

And you know what...Seattle has a chef or restaurant contending in nearly every national category. It's great to see some new names, like Garrett Melkonian (Mamnoon), Dustin Ronspies (Art of the Table), and Eric Donnelly (RockCreek) making first or second apperances in the Best Chef Northwest milieu. And notable that frequent Beardsmaid Ethan Stowell now qualifies for the Outstanding Restaurateur category.

On March 24 this list gets narrowed down to actual finalists. Winners are announced May 4 at the fancy award ceremony, which recently moved to Chicago.

See the full list of James Beard contenders here (Portland's having a pretty good year), but big congrats to all our local semifinalists...

Outstanding Chef: Holly Smith, Cafe Juanita, Kirkland (come see her this spring on Capitol Hill!)

Outstanding Baker: Evan Andres, Columbia City Bakery

Outstanding Bar Program: Canon

Outstanding Restaurant: Canlis

Outstanding Restaurateur: Ethan Stowell Restaurants

Rising Star of the Year: Jay Blackington, Hogstone's Wood Oven, Orcas Island

Outstanding Wine Program: Wild Ginger (Seattle)

Best Chef: Northwest

Here are all the semifinalists, with Seattle-area chefs in bold.

Andrew Brown, Jack Sprat, Girdwood, AK
Greg Denton and Gabrielle Quiñónez Denton, Ox, Portland, OR
Eric Donnelly, RockCreek, Seattle
Renee Erickson, The Whale Wins, Seattle
Kevin Gibson, Davenport, Portland, OR
Gregory Gourdet, Departure, Portland, OR
Jeremy Hansen, Santé, Spokane, WA
Sunny Jin, Jory Restaurant at the Allison Inn & Spa, Newberg, OR
Joe Kim, 5 Fusion and Sushi Bar, Bend, OR
Nathan Lockwood, Altura, Seattle
Garrett Melkonian, Mamnoon, Seattle
Trent Pierce, Roe, Portland, OR
Sarah Pliner, Aviary, Portland, OR
Ryan Roadhouse, Nodoguro, Portland, OR
Dustin Ronspies, Art of the Table, Seattle
Jason Stratton, Spinasse, Seattle
Blaine Wetzel, The Willows Inn on Lummi Island, Lummi Island, WA
Nathan Whitley, The Modern Hotel & Bar, Boise, ID
Justin Woodward, Castagna, Portland, OR
Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi, Joule, Seattle