Kwame Onwuachi of Kith and Kin, a hotel restaurant in Washington, D.C., was named Rising Star Chef on Monday at the James Beard Foundation’s annual awards ceremony in Chicago.
Mr. Onwuachi’s recent memoir, “Notes From a Young Black Chef,” details his childhood in the Bronx and Nigeria, as well as the closing of his highly publicized, short-lived fine-dining restaurant, the Shaw Bijou. Since then, inspired by the complex history of the Potomac River waterfront, Mr. Onwuachi has thoughtfully worked toward a dazzling professional comeback, in both his creative work and his efforts to build a more inclusive kitchen environment.
Many of this year’s Beard winners have spoken about their commitment to social justice in the restaurant business, including Ashley Christensen of Poole’s Diner in Raleigh, N.C., who was named Outstanding Chef. Ms. Christensen is the chef and owner of several restaurants in the South, and has spoken of the challenges she faced building her businesses, and the importance of formal mentorship to a healthier work environment.
Frenchette, a New York restaurant run by Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson, was named Best New Restaurant, one of the foundation’s most sought-after awards. The New York Times’s chief restaurant critic, Pete Wells, gave the popular brasserie three stars in July, noting that “even well-placed magazine editors with highly resourceful assistants can end up eating at 6 or 10 p.m.”
Last year, the pastry chef Camille Cogswell was named Rising Star Chef for her work at Zahav, in Philadelphia; this year, the modern Israeli restaurant won the award for Outstanding Restaurant. Kevin Boehm and Rob Katz, of the Boka Restaurant Group in Chicago, won Best Restaurateur for their restaurants Girl & the Goat, Momotaro and others.
In the regional chef awards, Jody Williams and Rita Sodi, the well-respected chefs behind Via Carota and two other restaurants in the West Village of Manhattan, were chosen as Best Chefs: New York. Mashama Bailey, who opened the Grey in 2014 in Savannah, Ga., was named Best Chef: Southeast. Vishwesh Bhatt, an immigrant from India who cooks Southern-, French- and Indian-inflected food at Snackbar in Oxford, Miss., was named Best Chef: South.
Many of this year’s winners seem to reflect the judges’ new efforts to factor in restaurant culture and leadership values alongside sheer excellence. Last year, in the wake of sexual-harassment allegations against previous winners like Mario Batali, John Besh and Ken Friedman, the foundation announced its intent to recognize “the values of respect, transparency, diversity, sustainability and equality.”
In 2018, the foundation gave 11 of 15 culinary awards to women or people of color, a notable change for a roster that has previously skewed male and white. And in October, the foundation announced efforts to make its own operations more inclusive, with volunteer committees that better reflect the United States population, though it will most likely take some years for those changes to fully play out.
Though there have been calls to strip Mr. Batali and other accused chefs of their medals, the foundation has not done so. For some, this calls into question the foundation’s new efforts, as well as the ability of any volunteer committee to assess a nominee’s moral values when the inequities of the restaurant business are so pervasive behind closed doors.
The foundation also honored food journalists and cookbook authors with awards on April 26 in New York City, where The Times was named Publication of the Year. The full list of chef and media winners is on the James Beard Foundation’s website.
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