Bon appetit, Idaho! Chefs from Boise, Caldwell, Stanley nominated for James Beard Awards
Even if it was seven months ago, it seems like just yesterday that Idaho culinary history was made.
For the first time, a Gem State chef won a James Beard Award. Kris Komori, co-owner of Kin in downtown Boise, took the honor for Best Chef: Mountain region.
But here we are again. Semifinalists for the 2024 James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards just got announced — and four Idahoans are on the list.
Established in 1990, the James Beard Foundation Awards are widely regarded as the Oscars of the culinary universe. Being a James Beard semifinalist is potentially a career-changing honor.
Here are this year’s nominees from the Gem State:
▪ Salvador Alamilla — Amano, 702 Main St., Caldwell.
Born in Mexico and raised in Santa Ana, California, Alamilla also was nominated in 2022 and 2023. Since opening Amano in a former bank lobby in 2019 with his wife, Becca, Alamilla has earned a devoted following with reverent, from-scratch Mexican cuisine. Last September, Amano was named to The New York Times’ third annual “The Restaurant List,” a guide to “the 50 places in the United States that we’re most excited about right now.”
▪ Dan Ansotegui — Ansots, 560 W. Main St., Boise.
Ansotegui also was a semifinalist the previous two years. Since opening in 2020, Ansots has served traditional Basque cuisine with a focus on chorizos. A key player on the Boise food scene for more than four decades, Ansotegui founded Bar Gernika in 1991, then the Basque Market eight years later. Many Boiseans know him as a Basque musician. In 2019, he was named a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow. “CBS Saturday Morning” featured Ansotegui and Ansots on “The Dish” in early 2023.
▪ Ben Barlow and Heather Logan — Stanley Supper Club, 250 Niece Ave, Stanley
These first-time Idaho nominees got their start over a decade ago in the kitchen of a Stanley guest ranch, according to the Supper Club website — with Barlow on the egg station and Logan baking. Then “time and opportunity took us away from Stanley; we traveled the world and spent years working in Seattle’s fine dining scene.” After returning to Idaho, they opened the Stanley Supper Club: “Our dream was to create something that had the best of both worlds; a homey place where you can relax and where simple food is prepared with skill and great care.”
The Mountain region of the James Beard Awards includes four other states — Montana, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming — with semifinalists coming from 20 total restaurants.
A pared-down list of five finalists will be revealed Wednesday, April 3. James Beard Award winners will be crowned Monday, June 10, during a ceremony at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
And if you’re wondering why Komori didn’t make the semifinalist list one year after becoming the first Idaho chef to win a James Beard Award?
He’s not eligible again until 2029. No chef can be on the ballot again in the same category for five years after winning.
