Canlis Wins Multiple 2019 James Beard Awards

SEATTLE, WA — After nibbling around the edges in recent years with several James Beard Award wins for Canlis, the iconic Seattle restaurant's young head chef Brady Williams finally has an award of his own.

Williams won best chef in the Pacific Northwest at the 2019 James Beard Award ceremony in Chicago on Monday night. The awards are considered the Oscars of the culinary industry. Canlis also took home a design icon award this year.

Williams, 32, was nominated for best chef in the Pacific Northwest along with Joule chefs Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi. Seattle chef Eduordo Jordan won the award in 2018 for his work at JuneBaby, which was also named the best new restaurant in the U.S.

The awards were presented in the restaurant, chef and restaurant design categories on Monday. Special achievement awards were presented for Lifetime Achievement, Design Icon, America’s Classics and Humanitarian of the Year.

Here are all the winners from the Monday night awards ceremony:

2019 James Beard Foundation Outstanding Restaurant Design Awards

Studio Writers, for Atomix in New York City (75 seats and under); Parts and Labor Design, for Pacific Standard Time in Chicago (76 seats and over); and Schwartz and Architecture for El Pípila in San Francisco (other eating and drinking places).

Design Icon: Canlis, Seattle

2019 James Beard Foundation Restaurant And Chef Awards

• Best New Restaurant: Frenchette, New York City;
• Outstanding Baker: Greg Wade, Publican Quality Bread, Chicago;
• Outstanding Bar Program: Bar Agricole, San Francisco;
• Outstanding Chef: Ashley Christensen, Poole’s Diner, Raleigh, North Carolina
• Outstanding Pastry Chef: Kelly Fields, Willa Jean, New Orleans;
• Outstanding Restaurant: Zahav, Philadelphia;
• Outstanding Restaurateur: Kevin Boehm and Rob Katz, Boka Restaurant Group (Boka, Girl & the Goat, Momotaro, and others), Chicago;
• Outstanding Service: Frasca Food and Wine, Boulder, Colorado;
• Outstanding Wine Program: Benu, San Francisco;
• Outstanding Wine, Spirits or Beer Producer: Rob Tod, Allagash Brewing Company, Portland, Maine;
• Rising Star Chef of the Year: Kwame Onwuachi, Kith and Kin, Washington, D.C.

Best Chefs in America

• Great Lakes region (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio): Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark, Parachute, Chicago;
• Mid-Atlantic (District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia): Tom Cunanan, Bad Saint, Washington, D.C.;
• Midwest (Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin): Ann Kim, Young Joni, Minneapolis
• New York City (Five Boroughs): Jody Williams and Rita Sodi, Via Carota;
• Northeast (Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New York state, Rhode Island and Vermont): Tony Messina, Uni, Boston;
• Northwest (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming): Brady Williams, Canlis, Seattle;
• South (Alabama, Arkansas, Puerto Rico, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi): Vishwesh Bhatt, Snackbar, Oxford, Mississippi;
• Southeast (Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia): Mashama Bailey, The Grey, Savannah, Georgia;
• Southwest (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah): Charleen Badman
• FnB, Scottsdale, Arizona;
• West (California, Hawaii and Nevada): Michael Cimarusti, Providence, Los Angeles.

2019 James Beard Foundation America’s Classics Honorees

• Pho 79, Garden Grove, California, owned by Tho Trần and Liễu Trần;
• Jim’s Steak & Spaghetti House, Huntington, West Virginia, owned by Jimmie Tweel Carder, Larry Tweel, and Ron Tweel:
• A&A Bake & Double Roti Shop, Brooklyn, New York, owned by Noel and Geeta Brown;
• Sehnert's Bakery & Bieroc Café, McCook, Nebraska, owned by Matt and Shelly Sehnert; and
• Annie’s Paramount Steakhouse, Washington, D.C., owned by Paul Katinas.

The James Beard Foundation has presented the awards for more than 30 years. This year’s theme was “Good Food For Good,” which the foundation says is synonymous with its mission.

Gala reception chefs from across the country included past James Beard Award winners and many who are involved in the foundation’s signature impact-oriented initiatives, from Smart Catch to Women’s Leadership Programs to the Chefs Boot Camp for Policy and Change.

Nearly 2,000 people attended the gala, held at Lyric Opera in Chicago. The ceremony was emceed by Emmy-nominated actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson. VIP guests were treated to a multi-course dinner and experience in the mezzanine boxes during the awards show prepared by chefs from the esteemed Union Square Hospitality Group.