Murray Hill, Gramercy Restaurants Named James Beard Semifinalists

MURRAY HILL — Three area restaurants are semifinalists for a James Beard award this year, including a Korean restaurant in Murray Hill, a chef at an Afrocentric restaurant in NoMad, and a pastry chef in Gramercy.

The James Beard Foundation announced semifinalists across several categories on Wednesday, Feb. 27.

The Korean restaurant Atomix is up for a James Beard award for best new restaurant. Atomix on 104 E. 30th St. is led by chef Junghyun Park and his wife Ellia. The restaurant features a multi-course tasting menu of Korean cuisine in an intimate setting with a single communal seating arrangement of 14 guests.

Last October, New York Times food critic Pete Wells wrote Atomix had a 10-course meal with each dish having around 20 ingredients on average — "very few of them ordinary and none of them out of place," he wrote.

NoMad chef Joseph "JJ" Johnson of the Henry at Life Hotel by JJ is among the 20 chefs vying for the James Beard's best chef award in New York City — sometimes called the Oscars of the culinary world.

Johnson's Afrocentric menu at the restaurant at 19 W. 31st St. is also influenced by flavors of India and Southeast Asia, the New York Times reported. Johnson described his menu as "Pan-African."

Kips Bay pastry chef Zoe Kanan of Simon & the Whale, located at 23 Lexington Ave., is another semifinalist in the area for the outstanding pastry chef James Beard award.

Zoe Kanan of Simon & the Whale in Gramercy is a semifinalist for outstanding pastry chef James Beard award.

The pastry chef moved to New York City to go to pastry school at the French Culinary Institute just a decade ago, and her baking expertise has been featured at Studio, Simon & the Whale, and George Washington Bar, as well as a start at Milk Bar, Bon Appetit wrote.

More than 600 judges voted on the semifinalists nationwide, according to the James Beard Foundation. Winners will be announced in May.