A whopping 13 New Orleans restaurants and chefs are semifinalists

Acamaya chef Ana Castro and Kaitlin Guerin of Lagniappe Bakehouse are among the New Orleans semifinalists for the 2025 James Beard Awards, recognizing excellence in the food and hospitality industry.

New Orleans restaurants and chefs are well-represented among the categories, including Best New Restaurant, Outstanding Bar, and Best Chef, South. Porgy’s Seafood Market, a Mid-City restaurant and seafood market focusing on bycatch, is a semifinalist for Best New Restaurant. GW Fins, the French Quarter seafood staple led by Michael Nelson, is up for Outstanding Restaurant. And Bellegarde Bakery, the employee-owned bakery famous for its bread is a semifinalist for Outstanding Bakery.

Mason Hereford of Turkey and the Wolf, Hungry Eyes, Molly’s Rise and Shine, and Hot Stuff, is a semifinalist in the Outstanding Restaurateur category. For Outstanding Hospitality, Nina Compton’s Compère Lapin is being recognized. Chandelier Bar, the bar at the Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans, is a semifinalist for Outstanding Bar, and Pluck Wine Bar in the Warehouse District is a semifinalist in the Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages category.

In a new category, Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service, Abigail Gullo of LOA Bar in the International Hotel got the nod, as did Alan Walter of the Brakes Bar in Baton Rouge. The category honors beverage professionals who “create and serve cocktails or other offerings such as low- and non-alcoholic beverages.”

In the Emerging Chef category, one that’s just a few years old, Lagniappe Bakehouse owner and chef Kaitlin Guerin was named a semifinalist. Guerin’s Central City bakery has received national acclaim since opened in September.

Finally, in the Best Chef, South category, which covers Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Puerto Rico, five chefs from four New Orleans restaurants are semifinalists: Ana Castro, chef and co-owner of Acamaya; Melissa Araujo, chef and owner of Alma Cafe; Nicole Cabrera Mills, chef de cuisine at Pêche, and Arvinder Vilkhu and Ashwin Vilkhu, the father-and-son duo behind the family-run Saffron. In neighboring Mississippi, Tresse Sumrall and Austin Sumrall of White Pillars in Biloxi got the nod for Best Chef, South.

In total, a whopping 13 New Orleans restaurants and chefs or chef duos were selected as semifinalists. Last year, Dakar NOLA, Serigne Mbaye’s Senegalese tasting menu restaurant, won the award for Best New Restaurant, and Jewel of the South, Chris Hannah’s French Quarter cocktail den, won the award for Outstanding Bar. For the full list of semifinalists, see here.

Finalists will be announced on April 2, and winners will be named at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards Ceremony scheduled for June 16 in Chicago.

New Orleans’s James Beard Award Semifinalists for 2025

Outstanding Restaurateur

• Mason Hereford, Turkey & the Wolf, Molly’s Rise & Shine, Hungry Eyes, and others

Outstanding Restaurant

• GW Fins

Emerging Chef

• Kaitlin Guerin, Lagniappe Bakery

Best New Restaurant

• Porgy’s Seafood Market

Outstanding Bakery

• Bellegarde Bakery

Outstanding Hospitality

• Compère Lapin

Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program

• Pluck Wine Bar

Outstanding Bar

• Chandelier Bar

Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service

• Abigail Gullo, LOA Bar

Best Chef, South

• Ana Castro, Acamaya
• Melissa Araujo, Alma Cafe
• Nicole Cabrera Mills, Pêche
• Arvinder Vilkhu and Ashwin Vilkhu, Saffron

Disclosure: Some Vox Media staff members are part of the voting body for the James Beard Foundation Awards.