
The James Beard Awards are almost like the Oscars for the stars of the food and drink scene in the United States.
Every year the James Beard Foundation starts with a lengthy list of semifinalists that they announce in January, followed by a list of nominees in April, and finally from those finalists, a winner in each category will be selected by mid-June.
This year marks the 35th anniversary of the James Beard Awards and Washington, D.C. has been well represented with 15 potential winners representing the District as semifinalists this year.
Who are the 2025 James Beard Award semifinalists from Washington, D.C.?
Washington, D.C.’s food scene has 15 semifinalists across 10 unique categories!
Notably, D.C. only has one entry in the ‘Outstanding Chef’ category, Centrolina’s chef, Amy Brandwein, has the opportunity to earn D.C. the accolade for best chef in America for the third year in a row!
Here are all of the 2025 James Beard Award semifinalists from D.C. broken down by category:
Outstanding Restaurateur
- Scott Drewno and Danny Lee – The Fried Rice Collective (Anju, Chiko, and I Egg You)
Outstanding Chef
- Amy Brandwein – Centrolina
Outstanding Restaurant
- The Dabney

Emerging Chef
- Paolo Dungca – Hiraya
Best New Restaurant
- Mita
Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker
- Susan Bae – Moon Rabbit

Outstanding Hospitality
- Tail Up Goat
Best New Bar
- Bar Cana
Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service
- Andra “AJ” Johnson – Serenata

Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA)
- Matt Adler – Cucina Morini
- Henji Cheung – Queen’s English
- Matt Conroy and Isabel Coss – Pascual
- Carlos Delgado – Causa and Amazonia
- Ruben Garcia – Casa Teresa
- Cagla Onal Urel – Green Almond Pantry
- Fernando Gonzalez – 2Fifty Barbeque