Colorado restaurants, chefs, bakers and beverage professionals garnered 14 semifinalist nominations for the prestigious annual James Beard Awards.
The honors recognize the nation’s best food and drink each year. Colorado’s culinary scene receives a handful of shoutouts each year. Recent winners include Caroline Glover, who runs Annette at Stanley Marketplace in Aurora and won Best Mountain Chef in 2022; Matt Vawter, who won Best Chef Mountain for Rootstalk in Breckenridge in 2024; Kelly and Erika Whitaker for Outstanding Restaurateur in 2024 for their work on six Denver-area establishments; El Taco De Mexico, which won an America's Classics award in 2020; and Alex Seidel, who won a Best Chef award in 2018 for his work at Mercantile Dining & Provision.
And if that list feels too short for Colorado’s foodies, many more in the state have received semifinalist and finalist nods in recent years – enough to keep your culinary to-do list busy. The 2024 list also includes some newcomers like Alma Fonda Fina in Denver, as well as some mainstays, like Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder.
Here’s the complete list of semifinalist nominees:
Outstanding Chef
Josh Niernberg, Bin 707 Foodbar, Grand Junction
Outstanding Restaurant
Frasca Food and Wine, Boulder
Emerging Chef
Anna Nguyen and Ni Nguyen, Sắp Sửa, Denver
Best New Restaurant
Alma Fonda Fina, Denver
Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker
Carolyn Nugent and Alen Ramos, Poulette Bakeshop, Parker
Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages
Hop Alley, Denver
Best New Bar
Traveling Mercies, Aurora
Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service
McLain Hedges and Mary Allison Wright, Yacht Club, Denver
Best Chef: Mountain
- Erasmo Casiano and Diego Coconati, Lucina Eatery & Bar, Denver
- Bo Porytko, Molotov Kitschen + Cocktails, Denver
- Paul C. Reilly, Coperta, Denver
- Hosea Rosenberg, Blackbelly, Boulder
- Kenneth Wan, MAKfam, Denver
- Penelope Wong, Yuan Wonton, Denver
