James Beard Awards: See How Phoenix Restaurants Fared

PHOENIX, AZ – Foodies rejoice: you have some new restaurants to seek out. The semifinalists for this year’s James Beard Foundation Awards — dubbed the "Oscars of food" — have been released and three chefs and the owner of several restaurants made the list.

The awards across 21 categories for national and regional chef and restaurant awards were released on Thursday. Categories include best new restaurant, best chef, outstanding baker and outstanding service, among others.

Out of more than 20,000 entrants, four from Phoenix made the list.

They are:

• Charleen Badman of Scottsdale's FnB made the list for "Best Chef-Southwest" for the fifth year in a row;
• Kevin Binkley, who is the chef/owner of Binkley's. is once again nominated as "Best Chef-Southwest." While he failed to make the cut last year, he's been nominated every other year since 2008;
• Silvana Salcido Esperanza, the chef/owner of Barrio Cafe Gran Reserve, received her sixth semi-finalist listing as "Best Chef-Southwest;" and
• Sam Cook, the owner of Fox Restaurant Concepts, is once again a semifinalist for "Outstanding Restaurateur," a category that he's been in every year since 2008. Among his restaurants are Zinburger, North Italia, and The Henry.

The foundation holds an online open call for entries every year. A committee reviews thousands of entries to come up with a nominating ballot of semifinalists in each category.

An independent volunteer panel of more than 600 judges — comprised of top regional restaurant critics, food and wine editors, culinary educators, and past winners — then votes on specific award categories to determine the final five nominees in each category.

They then vote on these five nominees to select the winners.

The foundation will announce the final nominees on the morning of March 14 at Parc in Philadelphia. The event will be live-streamed.

The winners will be announced at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers in New York City on April 27. They’ll receive a certificate and a medallion engraved with the James Beard Foundation Awards insignia. There are no cash prizes.

Click here to see the full list of awards.

The foundation also runs the James Beard Classics awards, which honors restaurants "that have timeless appeal and are cherished for quality food that reflects the character of their community."

Last month, Tucson's El Guero Canelo was named one of five winners from around the country.

Photo credit: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for #Culinary Kickoff