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