Philadelphia Wins Big At The 2023 James Beard Foundation Awards

PHILADELPHIA, June 12, 2023 – Philadelphia’s chefs, restaurants and hospitality professionals dominated at the 2023 James Beard Awards, landing four major awards at the showcase that has long been considered “the Oscars” of the culinary world.

In a major win, 5-time nominee Ellen Yin of High Street Hospitality Group (including Philly classics a.kitchen + bar, High Street, and Fork, which has been operating for 25 years) won the national award for Outstanding Restaurateur. In addition to her restaurants, Yin also spearheads The Wonton Project, a community-centered food initiative that raises funds to support the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, and is a co-founder the local nonprofit Sisterly Love Collective, which works to elevate the work of women in the food and beverage industry.

Meanwhile, Vandredi Samdi Dimanch — the much-raved-about fixed-menu spot in Fitler Square run by husband-and-wife team Chad and Hanna Williams — nabbed the national award for Outstanding Restaurant. The Williams took over Friday Saturday Sunday in 2016, and completely revamped the 50-year-old neighborhood mainstay into a bright and airy space with a seasonally-driven menu alongside one of the city’s best cocktail programs.

Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon, chef-owner of Kalaya, took home the gold in the regional Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic category, which was saturated with Philly nominees including Jesse Ito of Royal Sushi & Izakaya and Dionicio Jiménez of Cantina La Martina.

It’s been quite a year of growth for Suntaranon and Kalaya. The lauded Thai kitchen moved into a new space in Fishtown in 2022, quadrupling its previous footprint in the Italian Market. Named after Suntaranon’s mother, Kalaya celebrates the food of southern Thailand.

On the media front, Toby Maloney, mixologist and bartender in residence at Chinatown’s Hop Sing Laundromat, and recent Philadelphia transplant, won a James Beard Foundation Media Award in the Book, Beverage with Recipes category for “The Bartender’s Manifesto: How to Think, Drink, and Create Cocktails Like a Pro”. This marks the second James Beard Award under Maloney’s belt after scoring a 2015 win for outstanding bar program at Chicago’s Violet Hour cocktail bar, which he co-owns.

While Philadelphia’s restaurants have been earning James Beard Awards since the 1980s, the city’s thriving food scene has received dozens of acknowledgements from the James Beard Foundation in recent years. Visit Philadelphia outlines the long list of local semifinalists, nominees and winners since 2016 isit la, which includes iconic spots like Zahav, Suraya, Vedge and many more.

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