Upper West Side Restaurant Named As James Beard Semifinalist

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — An Upper West Side eatery might soon add James Beard Award winner to their already impressive set of accolades.

Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi is in the running for the prestigious award, the James Beard Foundation announced Wednesday.

31 New York City restaurants in total were named as semifinalists, spanning the current New York City's culinary scene, from esteemed institutions to up-and-coming chefs.

"We are thrilled for the return of the James Beard Awards—recognizing the outstandingly talented leaders making their mark on American food,” said Clare Reichenbach, CEO of the James Beard Foundation, in a statement. “As we’ve heard time and again from honorees, receiving this recognition has the potential to be truly transformative—and so, the Awards remain a vital platform for supporting and elevating the independent restaurant industry as a whole."

From here, the foundation will winnow the list to nominees, which will be announced April 3. Winners will be celebrated at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards Ceremony on June 10.

Opening in 2023, Tatiana is a semifinalist in the Best New Restaurant category.

Tatiana, which fuses Caribbean, African and Black American cooking inside David Geffen Hall, has already won the approval of many food industry bigwigs, including glowing reviews from the New Yorker and the New York Times, who later named it the best restaurant of the year.

"We needed a reason to get dressed up, to drink rum cocktails with spicy food, to stay out past 9 o’clock, to look around a dining room and see a new, heterogeneous vision of New York and to feel hope for its future," reads the year-end review by the New York Times' senior food critic, Pete Wells.

The James Beard Foundation awards, sometimes known as the “Oscars of food,” are among the nation’s most prestigious culinary honors — and New York City consistently lands chefs and restaurants in the ranks.

Just last year, Atomix chef Junghyun Park took the James Beard award for best chef. Seven New York City restaurants and chefs were finalists for James Beard nods in 2023, including Amanda Cohen of Dirty Candy and Nasim Alikhani of Brooklyn's Sofreh.

The James Beard Foundation recognizes eateries and chefs who create exceptional food, food media content, and better food systems, the organization said. They also demonstrate a commitment to racial and gender equity, community, sustainability, and a culture where all can thrive.

The awards were established in 1990 and first awarded in 1991 — and this year marks the third since the organization made sweeping changes following a 2021 audit to address longstanding bias.