January 21, 2026
Provided Image/Michael Persico
Thirteen Philadelphia restaurants and chefs were named James Beard Award semifinalists, including Kalaya for Outstanding Restaurant. Kalaya's owner and chef, Chutatip 'Nok' Suntaranon, is pictured above. Other nominees include Greg Vernick for Outstanding Restaurateur, and six area chefs in the Best Chef category.
A few months after three restaurants received Philly's first Michelin stars, the city's dining scene is back in the national spotlight, with 14 local nominations on this year's list of James Beard Award semifinalists.
Highly acclaimed Kalaya was named in Wednesday's announcement, and six chefs from the area made up nearly one-third of the Best Chefs: Mid-Atlantic category.
MORE: Greg Vernick branches out of Center City with Italian restaurant in Kensington
Greg Vernick, who is opening a new restaurant in Kensington next week, was again shortlisted for a James Beard Award. This time, he's up for Outstanding Restaurateur, which is handed to leaders in the industry who use their establishments as a “vehicle for building community.” He was named as a semifinalist in the Outstanding Chef category last year and won the award for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic in 2017. His acclaimed Vernick Food & Drink in Rittenhouse was also recommended on the Michelin Guide last year.
Kalaya received its second straight semifinalist nomination in the Outstanding Restaurant category. The Southern Thai restaurant specializes in food inspired by the childhood of owner and head chef Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon, who won the Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic award in 2023 and made TIME100’s list of the world’s most influential people last year.
Lovers Bar, located below the dining area of Michelin Star-winning Friday Saturday Sunday, was named a semifinalist for Outstanding Bar for the second year in a row. Paul MacDonald, the curator of the spinning surprise “Carousel” cocktail menu, was on Wine Enthusiast’s Future 40 Tastemakers list last summer.
The James Beard Foundation also recognized a couple up-and-comers, listing Amá’s head chef Frankie Ramirez in the Emerging Chef category and Olde Kensington’s Emmett in Best New Restaurant. Both categories are chosen based on their likelihood to “make significant impact in years to come.”
Ramirez, a self-taught chef who immigrated to Philadelphia from Mexico City at age 16, opened Amá early last year in the Fishtown-Kensington area with his wife Veronica. Before ever leading a kitchen of his own, Ramirez worked his way up from a dishwasher to a line cook and executive chef at several notable Stephen Starr establishments. Emmett, which also opened early last year, was named to Esquire’s best new restaurants list in December.
The list of James Beard Award finalists will be released March 31 and a ceremony to announce the winners will take place in Chicago on June 15.
Here's a complete list of the James Beard Award semifinalists from the Philly area:
• Outstanding Restaurant: Kalaya
• Outstanding Bar: Lovers Bar at Friday Saturday Sunday
• Best New Restaurant: Emmett
• Best New Bar: Almanac
• Outstanding Restaurateur: Greg Vernick, Vernick Food & Drink, Vernick Fish, Vernick Coffee Bar and Emilia (opens Monday)
• Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service: Dan Siro-Cipolloni and David Suro-Piñera, Tequilas and La Jefa
• Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic: Ian Gray, Pietramala; Jesse Ito, Royal Sushi & Izakaya; Randy Rucker, Little Water; Amanda Schulman, Her Place Supper Club; Omar Tate and Cybille St. Aude-Tate, Honeysuckle; Russ Cowan, Radin's Delicatessen (Cherry Hill)
• Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker: Justine MacNeil, Fiore
• Emerging Chef: Frankie Ramirez, Amá
