Seattle Chefs, Eateries Are Finalists For 2022 James Beard Awards

SEATTLE — Three Seattle chefs and restaurants this week were named finalists for this year's James Beard Awards, one of the most prestigious culinary honors in the United States. Those who made the cut were narrowed down from 16 Washington eateries, chefs and restauranteurs that were named semifinalists in February.

Washington's contingent faces a crowded national field competing across nearly a dozen categories, including nominees for outstanding chefs, restaurants and bakers. The national awards also include a separate regional honor for best chef, which for the Northwest includes Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Hawaii.

Two of this year's finalists operate in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood, with the third located in Ballard.

Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi, of Seattle's Joule restaurant, are among just a handful of finalists in the national outstanding chef category. Located on Stone Way, Joule's menu has a curated selection of starters, salads and vegetable options, along with meat and fish entrees, dessert and Washington-made wine.

In Ballard since 2010, The Walrus and the Carpenter is one of five U.S. eateries to make the finals in the outstanding restaurant category. Self-described as a marriage between a restaurant and a fishing pub, the aptly-located eatery's menu features more than a half-dozen oyster selections, steak tartare and a bounty of other seafood and veggie creations.

Rounding out Washington's stable of finalists this year is Mutsuko Soma, the chef at Fremont's intimate Kamonegi restaurant, who is a finalist in the regional best chef category. Soma is a certified sake sommelier and her food menu specializes in handmade soba noodles and seasonal tempura offerings. As The Seattle Times reports, Soma made it this year's finals after three previous appearances as a James Beard semifinalist. In its first year, Kamonegi was named Restaurant of the Year by Seattle Metropolitan Magazine and awarded Best New Restaurant by The Seattle Times in 2018.

The James Beard Foundation will announce the restaurant and chef winners during a June ceremony in Chicago.

Here are Washington's finalists for the 2022 James Beard Awards

Outstanding Chef

• Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi - Joule (Seattle)

Outstanding Restaurant

• The Walrus and the Carpenter (Seattle)

Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific

• Mutsuko Soma - Kamonegi (Seattle)

>> Read the full list of semifinalists on the James Beard Awards website.