Two Red Hook, Gowanus Spots Are James Beard Award Semifinalists

GOWANUS/RED HOOK, BROOKLYN — Two chefs from the Gowanus and RedHook area have landed on a list of semifinalists for the James Beard Award, one of the culinary world's most prestigious honors.

Billy Durney, chef at Red Hook's Hometown Bar-B-Que, and Sohui Kim, from Gowanus' Insa, are both semifinalists in the "Best Chef" for New York City category.

Hometown Bar-B-Que, on Van Brunt Street, opened in 2013 and is known for its slow smoked meats, craft beer and live music on the weekends. Insa also offers barbecue — Korean BBQ, that is — in a karaoke bar on Douglass Street.

The two chefs are among eight other restaurants and chefs from the borough that landed a spot on the semi-finalists list, including others in Williamsburg, Cobble Hill and Bay Ridge.

The final winners will be announced during a press conference in Houston on Wednesday, March 27. It will be hosted by James Beard Award–winning chef Hugo Ortega at his namesake Mexican restaurant, Hugo's.

The James Beard Foundation solicits entries for the awards in mid-October of each year. They are reviewed by the Restaurant and Chef Committee to determine eligibility and regional representation. More than 600 judges from across the country determine the final nominees, then select the winners. The judges include leading regional restaurant critics, food and wine editors, culinary educators and past James Beard Award winners.

Click here for the complete list of semifinalists.