The James Beard Foundation held its restaurant and chef awards in Chicago tonight, announcing the winners from a slate of finalists that included a significant number of Seattle names, especially in the national categories.

However, while Seattle received a host of nominations, the city was shut out from major awards.  Portland's Kann won for Best New Restaurant, and Portland's Vincent Nguyen of Berlu won for Best Chef, Northwest and Pacific. The local nominees were:

• Copine [Outstanding Restaurant]
• Rob Roy [Outstanding Bar]
• Yenvy and Qunyh Pham of Phở Bắc [Outstanding Restaurateur]
• The Black Cypress in Pullman [Outstanding Hospitality]
• Aaron Verzosa of Archipelago [Best Chef, Northwest and Pacific]

Across the nation, nominees this year included a greater number of restaurants outside major metropolitan areas; as The Seattle Times pointed out in a story over the weekend, some people were surprised to see a restaurant in Pullman, Washington in league with Michelin-starred contenders in the Outstanding Hospitality category.

For the first time in recent memory an Alaska chef, Beau Schooler, was a finalist in the Best Chef, Northwest and Pacific category. Our regional category includes Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington—a formidable grouping when you consider the restaurant talent in Portland, Seattle, and Honolulu.

The James Beard Awards receive scrutiny every year, but even more so in the wake of a 2020 audit intended to build more equity into the voting process, and to shine a light on chefs and restaurants that don’t engage in the sort of toxic kitchen behavior that has grabbed headlines (and inspired prestige TV shows) in recent years. A New York Times story leading up to the awards revealed some details about the foundation’s post-audit ethics panel.

Meanwhile, another local food name had a good weekend in Chicago. Food writer and Seattle Instagram phenom J. Kenji López-Alt won a James Beard Award for his latest cookbook, The Wok: Recipes and Techniques.

Here's the full list of restaurant and chef winners. (And here's a rundown of the media award categories).

Disclosure: The writer (aka, me) is a member of the James Beard restaurant and chef awards committee.