A familiar cast of Colorado restaurateurs are up for James Beard Awards this summer, the foundation that organizes the annual culinary awards announced Tuesday.
Of the 17 semifinalists hailing from the state, five will be moving on to a gala ceremony in Chicago this summer:
- Josh Niernberg, chef and owner of Bin 707 Foodbar, Grand Junction, for outstanding chef
- Johnny Curiel, chef and owner of Alma Fonda Fina, Denver, for best chef in the mountain region
- Penelope Wong, chef and co-owner of Yuan Wonton, Denver, for best chef in the mountain region
- Ryan Fletter, wine director and owner of Barolo Grill, Denver, for outstanding professional in beverage service
- McLain Hedges and Mary Allison Wright, owners and operators of Yacht Club, Denver, for outstanding professionals in cocktail service
Niernberg and his Grand Junction station, Bin 707 Foodbar, have earned recognition from the James Beard Foundation since 2020, when Niernberg first made the shortlist of best chefs in the mountain region.
“The honor is absolutely amazing,” Niernberg said from Grand Junction in a video call arranged by the James Beard Foundation. “The category is a completely surreal category.”
Bin 707 Foodbar originally opened in 2009, two years after Niernberg and his wife moved to the Western Slope. The restaurant showcases regional game such as bison and elk and blue corn grown by Ute Mountain Ute indigenous farmers.
“We’re not really fine dining,” he said. “I think that our relevance is just being that unexpected, consistent, approachable restaurant that we have been year after year.”
This is Wong’s third nomination for best chef of the mountain region and Curiel’s second nomination overall. Last year, his breakout restaurant Alma Fonda Fina was nominated for best new restaurant.
The other three nominations for best chef in the mountain region hail from restaurants in Salt Lake City and Whitefish, Mont.
Bin 707 Foodbar and Curiel’s Denver restaurant, Mezcaleria Alma, made The New York Times’ list of the 50 best restaurants in the U.S. last year.
Fletter, long a part of Denver’s food scene at Barolo Grill, earned his first James Beard Foundation nomination for outstanding professional in beverage service.
The team behind Yacht Club, Hedges and Wright, were nominated last year for outstanding professionals in cocktail service. Since then, they opened a full-fledged restaurant, Rougarou, specializing in southern cuisine. (Wright’s brother, John David Wright, leads the kitchen there.)
The winners will be announced at a ceremony at the Lyric Opera of Chicago on June 15.
