Local restaurant, chefs among James Beard finalists

Local restaurant, chefs among James Beard finalists

The James Beard Foundation announced final nominees for the culinary awards on Wednesday, and three Twin Cities names were on the lists.

The James Beard Foundation announced final nominees for the culinary awards on Wednesday, and three Twin Cities names were on the lists.

Oro by Nixta in Minneapolis is one of the 10 nominees for Best New Restaurant. The other finalists are from all over the United States, including Washington, Texas, California, Massachusetts, New Orleans, Oregon, Orlando, Nashville and Montana.

Oro by Nixta is a Mexican restaurant that makes corn tortillas from scratch using heirloom corn. They posted about how excited they were to be named a James Beard finalist, saying, “We’re now truly pinching ourselves.”

Two Minneapolis chefs made the finalist list for Best Chef: Midwest (IA, KS, MN, MO, ND, SD, WI). Ann Ahmed of Khâluna restaurant in Minneapolis and Christina Nguyen of Hai Hai restaurant in Minneapolis are two of the five finalists for the award, meaning there is a 40% chance of a Minneapolis chef taking home the award.

Ahmed posted about her nomination, thanking her team and congratulating her fellow local nominees.

The ceremony for the 2024 James Beard Awards is Monday, June 10 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

In 2022, Minneapolis restaurant Owamni by The Sioux Chef was named the Best Restaurant winner by the James Beard Foundation at the awards ceremony.