How to Win a James Beard Nomination: Tips & Strategies

The James Beard Foundation Awards—commonly called the James Beard Awards or simply the Beard Awards—celebrate exceptional talent in US restaurants and are among the highest honors in the US culinary industry. Winning a James Beard Award can raise the profile of an independent restaurant or chef, driving sales and transforming their operations. It is more of an art than a science, but some strategies can increase your chances of getting nominated (and even winning).

1. Get Familiar With the James Beard Foundation

If you hope to win a James Beard Award, start by learning about the organization that awards it, the James Beard Foundation (JBF). The JBF is a non-profit New York City-based group with a mission statement to “celebrate, nurture, and honor chefs and other leaders making America’s food culture more delicious, diverse, and sustainable for everyone.”

The Foundation is named after American chef, James Beard (1903-1985), who was dubbed, “the Father of American Cuisine.” He wrote 20 cookbooks—everything from the rustic Cook it Outdoors to the dainty Hors d’Oeuvres and Canapes. Over half of his cookbooks are still in print today, almost 40 years after his death. He was the first television chef, appearing in 1946 on the very first televised cooking show.

The JBF was founded in 1990, with the first awards in 1991. The awards celebrate achievement and recognition in the culinary arts, media, hospitality, and broader food system as well as commitment to culture, equity, community, and sustainability. The JBF awards are given to all types of restaurants across the US. They focus on innovation and chefs who stay true to their heritage. There are several award categories voted on by 600 volunteer culinary professionals at an annual gala in Chicago. 

2. Learn About the Award Categories

The James Beard Foundation Awards fall into three major categories: Restaurant and Chef, Media, and Achievement awards. 

The first category includes:

  • The Rising Star Award
  • The Best Up-and-Coming Chefs in the American food industry 
  • Outstanding Restaurant Award
  • The Best New Restaurant
  • Outstanding Chef (general and 12 more for each region)
  • Outstanding Pastry Chef 
  • Restaurant Design 
  • Outstanding Restaurateur
  • Outstanding Bakery
  • Emerging Chef
  • Outstanding Hospitality
  • Outstanding Bar
  • America’s Classics
  • Leadership Awards
  • Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
  • America’s Classics
  • New *Best New Bar 
  • New *Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service 
  • New *Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service

The Media Awards include several classic awards, with a handful of Broadcast Media Awards that are new for 2025:

  • CookBook Awards
  • Broadcast Media
  • New *Travel Visual Media
  • New *Competition Visual Media
  • New *Lifestyle Visual Media
  • New *Broadcast Media Hall of Fame Award
  • Journalism
  • New *Narrative Photography
  • Social Media Account

Finally, the Achievement Awards award individuals who have used their work in the culinary field to make humanitarian and lifetime impacts. Those awards include:

  • Humanitarian of the Year: The humanitarian award comes with a $20,000 prize to continue the winner’s work funded by the Michael Phillips Humanitarian Fund.
  • Lifetime Achievement Award: This is given to a person who has changed the way we eat, cook, and live through an important career in the restaurant industry, leaving a long-lasting, positive impact on others. 
  • Impact Awards: New for 2025, these awards will honor people who have made a difference in climate change, equity, sustainability, advocacy, industry culture, and practices. Clare Reichenbach, CEO of the James Beard Foundation says, “Today also sees the introduction of a new Impact Awards program, building on the prior Leadership Awards and reaffirming our commitment to catalyzing meaningful change in the food industry.

The last two category winners are chosen by committees and not open to recommendations.

3. Understand the Award Process

The awards process begins with nominations. If you want to learn how to get nominated for a James Beard Award, the Foundation posts an open call for nominations for chef and leadership awards. Anyone may be nominated by anyone else—nominee hopefuls (or their friends or colleagues) submit entries during a specific timeframe. 


Chef awards are free to enter, but nominations for the media awards require an entry fee ($85 in 2024). Applicants or those recommending someone else must write a short statement of 150 to 300 words or an audio or video recording of themselves for one to two minutes. They must share why this person deserves to win and provide examples. This is called the Impact Statement and should explain how their work fits into the James Beard Award values of equity, transparency, integrity, community, and respect. Candidates aren’t judged on the video or writing quality.

2025 James Beard Awards Restaurant and Chef Awards voting process.
Source: James Beard Foundation

From these applications and recommendations, the JBF Awards Committee selects semifinalists, then nominees, finalists, and—on the night of the annual gala—winners.

  • Semifinalists: The Awards Committee is made up of a group of 600 industry volunteers, food writers, and regional judges. Subcommittees narrow down the list of thousands of entries to a list of semifinalists based on the entrant’s list of credentials, whether they show excellent leadership skills, and whether they comply with the Foundation’s code of ethics.
  • Nominees: The subcommittee members and judges visit semifinalists to taste their food. They vote on the tasting and choose the top five in each chef genre and the top 10 in each restaurant category to be finalists.
  • Winners: For the last step, the subcommittee members and judges visit the finalist chefs and restaurants again for a second tasting, discussions, and another round of voting. These finalists attend the awards ceremony and black-tie gala in Chicago, where the chefs and restaurateurs with the top scores find out if they’ve won. The award winners accept the award and give acceptance speeches on stage.

4. Be Innovative

James Beard Awards are awarded to innovative chefs who practice their food heritage, and special attention is given to chefs who cook world cuisines. 

Chef Matt Vawter from Breckenridge, Colorado won the Best Chef: Mountain Region award in 2024. He discusses the challenges of living on the peaks and gearing up for snow storms. They get so much snow that supply trucks can’t make it up the mountain. He says:

Twice a year, you can guarantee that’s gonna happen,” says Vawter. “When you’re ordering, you’re paying attention to the weather forecast as well as how much food you have in house. (…) Let’s order big on this so that we’re not depending on a truck on Saturday. Because chances are it won’t happen.”

During these times, Vawter gets creative in the cooler to put food on the tables for all the hungry, snowed-in skiers.

5. Operate Ethically & Sustainably

The Foundation focuses on issues such as food justice (a focus on healthy food availability for everyone and a safe environment for all of the agricultural workers who help to produce it), ethical practices, and sustainability within the industry. 

Judges look for good leaders who are committed to a healthy workplace culture and help to build a positive community.

Chef Harley Peet won the 2024 award for the Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic Region. He talks about his experience in Europe when he witnessed the harmful effects of overfishing. He brought these feelings with him back to Maryland where he strives to create ethical fishing practices. “I became an advocate for sustainable seafood sourcing and protecting waterway ecosystems, especially the Chesapeake Bay,” says Peet. “It’s been important to me to foster responsible sourcing by building relationships with longtime purveyors.

6. Show Mastery

Winners must show excellence, mastery, and achievement in their careers. Chef Lord Maynard Llera, who won the 2024 award for Best Chef: California says, “As a culinary leader, I take immense pride in putting Filipino cuisine on the map, not just locally, but globally as well. I am proud to have elevated our cuisine. It has been a proud journey of hard work, passion, and relentless determination.” Maynard goes on to show his mastery in leadership by hoping to inspire young chefs to follow in his footsteps and reminding them to persevere.

7. Develop a Signature Style

The JBF strives to recognize innovative leaders who blend their personal heritage with the regional cuisines and ingredients of their new homes in the United States.

  • The James Beard Award winner in 2024 Chef Serigne Mbaye won the Best New Restaurant Award for his New Orleans restaurant named Dakar Nola. He blends West African cuisine with New Orleans elements on a Senegalese menu. 
  • The Outstanding Restaurant winner went to Langbaan in Portland, Oregon, for creating Pacific Northwest Thai fusion. 
  • The Outstanding Chef Award went to Michael Rafidi, who brings Arabic and Palestinian Cuisine to Washington, D.C. 
  • Masako Morishita, winner of the Emerging Chef Award, is Japanese and now lives in Washington, D.C. She said, “This is my wildest American dream came true.” Morishita is known for her Japanese comfort food.

The 2024 James Beard Awards came with a feeling that everyone is involved in the culinary scene, from all cultures and genders. Ann Kim, a former winner of the Best Chef: Midwest said on stage, “I feel like I have a spiritual posse of all the women past, present and future, who have defined and redefined cooking on their own terms.

8. Be Involved in the Culinary Community

Go to James Beard events to meet other industry professionals and get an idea of what they look for in a winner. Getting to know as many industry insiders as possible can’t hurt your chances, and will help to build a stronger network either way.

Attending, or getting invited to “perform,” at a James Beard Event will also increase your visibility to the judges and industry insiders. Speaking to past winners and others in the community can help to answer questions and help you narrow down what they’re looking for in a nominee.

9. Get Good Press

Media coverage plays a critical role in raising your or your restaurant’s visibility. Cooking and serving amazing food is the first priority—but making sure people know about it is almost as important. The higher your profile, the more likely you are to gain Beard nominations. There are multiple directions you can go here, based on your budget and personal administrative bandwidth. If you have the funds, and your heart is set on a Beard, consider hiring a publicist. 

A publicist will identify free media opportunities for you or your restaurant from local news coverage to magazine profiles. Publicists can be pricey, though; you should budget for at least a $10,000 retainer upfront, plus ongoing monthly fees of $3,000 to $10,000, depending on your expectations and the publicist’s profile. 

If you don’t have that kind of money, get good press coverage by being a constant presence at local culinary events, especially nonprofit fundraisers. Supporting your surrounding community is also often newsworthy, so sponsor a Little League team, host a bake sale fundraiser for a local school, teach cooking classes, or host training sessions for recent high school graduates or formerly incarcerated people who need to develop job skills.

10. Keep Trying

If you don’t make it to a nomination or a win in your first year of trying, try again next year. Several winners tried but failed to win three or four years in a row before winning. Chef couple and restaurant owners Kelly and Erika Whitaker were semifinalists three years in a row, then came back three years later in 2024 to win an Outstanding Restaurateur award. The Beard Awards are definitely a case where a nomination is as good as winning. Getting nominated each year continues the free publicity ride for you and your restaurant.

If you do win, you can also keep trying. The JBF allows winners to apply for awards the following year in a different category, but you may not apply to win in the same category again for five years.

What Do You Win?

Receiving a James Beard Award is a very high honor in the restaurant industry; it’s a symbol of excellence for a chef or restaurant’s reputation and a lifetime goal of many chefs. Winning is not easy, but it is possible. 

Each award comes with a medallion with an imprinted bust of James Beard, national recognition, and a lifetime of bragging rights. Wins bring local and national recognition and raise the number of customers visiting your restaurant.

Reddit Users on the James Beard Awards 

Many Reddit users are under the impression that James Beard nominees “pay to play,” meaning that they pay for their nominations. While others believe that the nomination is a true award given to deserving honorees. The JBF uses an independent accounting firm to ensure that the awards aren’t being influenced by other factors.

The idea of paying into the awards is challenged by Sam Hart, executive chef and owner of Counter in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hart is a James Beard semifinalist who admits he did pay to play, but not in the way people like to think. His way of showing great leadership and social equality is by paying all of his staff livable wages. Forty percent of his gross sales go to staff salaries and everyone gets four weeks of vacation per year, benefits, and bonuses. Focusing on a quality restaurant culture, and his exceptional culinary talent earned him a spot in the semifinals. 

FAQs

These are the most common questions we hear about the James Beard Awards. Expand the sections below for more details.

Yes, it is hard, you will compete against thousands of other hopefuls. But, it isn’t impossible, so keep trying. Recommend yourself or your restaurant every year for free; if you become a nominee you will receive recognition for yourself and your brand.

Applicants must show they have a great resume and leadership abilities, and abide by the JBF code of ethics. They’ll then cook for a group of committee members then be placed on a shortlist. They’ll cook one more time for the judges and find out if they were chosen at the Awards Ceremony in Chicago.

A nomination means that hopefuls have been shortlisted for the award.

Yes, it is one of the most prestigious awards in the culinary community and is sometimes called the Oscars of the food world.

Yes, Jacques Pépin, a French chef living in the US, has won 24 times!

Unlike Michelin Stars which award the restaurant, the James Beard Awards recognize either the chef themself or the restaurant, depending on the category.

Last Bite

Winning a James Beard Award is an honor and a goal that many chefs dream about. Even if you don’t achieve it, striving for an award can help to make you a better chef and great leader. Being nominated every year is arguably even better than winning because it keeps up the media hype and attention on you and your restaurant. You can only apply to win an award in the same category every five years if you win. But, you can potentially be nominated every year. Make this your first year to shoot for the gala—you never know until you try.

Jessica Hamilton Avatar

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