Majordomo, Bavel Lead James Beard Foundation’s 2019 LA Finalists

The James Beard Foundation Awards finalists have been announced today in the restaurant and media categories, and once again Los Angeles is set up for a big showing in Chicago on Monday, May 6. But, as ever before, a lot of nominations does not mean a lot of actual hardware coming back to the city just yet. Here’s who is up for what:

Best New Restaurant

Bavel, Los Angeles
Majordomo, Los Angeles

Outstanding Pastry Chef

Margarita Manzke, Republique, Los Angeles

Outstanding Wine Program

Night + Market, Los Angeles

Rising Star Chef of the Year

Jonathan Yao, Kato, Los Angeles

Best Chef: West

Michael Cimarusti, Providence, Los Angeles
Jeremy Fox, Rustic Canyon, Santa Monica, CA
Jessica Koslow, Sqirl, Los Angeles
Travis Lett, Gjelina, Venice, CA

The most obvious potential winning category comes in the Best Chef: West bracket, where Los Angeles covers 80% of the nominees. Perhaps this could be the year that Michael Cimarusti, long considered one of the West Coast’s best chefs (both by the JBFAs and elsewhere), takes home his award? Will the young Jon Yao from Kato earn some national recognition? Is Margarita Manzke, maker of maybe LA’s most prolific pastry case, going to get a win? The final envelope-opening happens on May 6 in Chicago, with the media award-winners revealed on Friday, April 26 in New York City.

• The 2018 Eater LA Awards [ELA]