And Seattle's James Beard Award Semifinalists for 2018 Are...

The wine-loving Northwest native whose legacy started it all. Photo via the James Beard Foundation.
This morning the James Beard Foundation released the list of chefs and other food and drink pros in contention for the most prestigious culinary award in all the land. And apparently Seattle is a hotbed of young talent; we fielded three semifinalists in the Rising Star Chef category, reserved for prodigious types younger than 30. That has to be a record of some kind?
In other national awards, Edouardo Jordan's JuneBaby is a contender for Best New Restaurant, Canlis for straight-up Outstanding Restaurant, and Canon for Outstanding Bar Program. Plus, there are also some fantastic newcomers in the Best Chef Northwest category, including Mutsuko Soma and Mark Schroder.
On March 14, the foundation winnows this list down to actual nominees; the awards happen May 7 in Chicago.
Okay! Here are the Seattle semifinalists. See the full list here.
Best New Restaurant
JuneBaby
Outstanding Baker
Evan Andres, Columbia City Bakery
Outstanding Bar Program
Canon
Outstanding Chef
Renee Erickson, Bateau
Holly Smith, Cafe Juanita
Blaine Wetzel, The Willows on Lummi Island
Outstanding Restaurant
Canlis
Outstanding Restaurateur
Ethan and Angela Stowell
Outstanding Wine Program
Wild Ginger
Outstanding Wine, Beer, or Spirits Professional
Dave Green, Skagit Valley Malting, Burlington
Rising Star Chef of the Year
Jay Blackinton, Hogstone's Wood Oven/Aelder Orcas Island
Shota Nakamija, Adana
Maximillian Petty, Eden Hill
Best Chef: Northwest (AK, ID, MT, OR, WA, WY)
Peter Cho, Han Oak, Portland
Laura Cole, 229 Parks Restaurant & Tavern, Denali National Park & Preserve, Alaska
Eric Donnelly, RockCreek, Seattle
Jeff Drew, Snake River Grill, Jackson, Wyoming
Jeremy Engebretson, Lilac, Billings, Montana
Gregory Gourdet, Departure, Portland
Edouardo Jordan, Salare, Seattle
Taichi Kitamura, Sushi Kappo Tamura, Seattle
Kris Komori, State & Lemp, Boise
Ha (Christina) Luu and Peter Luu, Ha VL, Portland
Katy Millard, Coquine, Portland
Sarah Minnick, Lovely’s Fifty Fifty, Portland
Bonnie Morales, Kachka, Portland
Narumol (Nong) Poonsukwattana, Nong’s Khao Man Gai, Portland
Ryan Roadhouse, Nodoguro, Portland
Mark Schroder, Opus Co., Seattle
Mutsuko Soma, Kamonegi, Seattle
Anna Vogel, Italia Trattoria, Spokane
Justin Woodward, Castagna, Portland
Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi, Joule, Seattle