Kru owner Billy Ngo comes up just short of James Beard Award. Which California chef won?
Billy Ngo came closer to a James Beard Award in 2024 than any Sacramento chef in history, but wasn’t selected as the Golden State’s top chef at Monday night’s ceremony in Chicago.
The chef/partner at Kru Contemporary Japanese Cuisine, Ngo was among five finalists for the James Beard Awards’ “Best Chef: California” honor but watched it instead go to Lord Maynard Llera of Kuya Lord in Los Angeles.
Still, Ngo’s run broke new ground for the Sacramento region in the “Oscars of Food,” as the awards are frequently called. He became the area’s first finalist for that category on April 3; only a pair of local chefs, Chris Barnum-Dann of Localis and Craig Takehara of Binchoyaki, had even made it to the semifinalist stage in years past.
Other 2024 finalists for “Best Chef: California” award included Geoff Davis of Burdell (Oakland), Rogelio Garcia of Auro (Calistoga), and Tara Monsod of Animae (San Diego).
Born in a Hong Kong refugee camp and raised in south Sacramento, Ngo worked at local sushi and fine dining restaurants and graduated from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco before launching Kru at just 23 years old in 2005. He moved the restaurant in 2016 from midtown to a larger space at 3135 Folsom Blvd., where it sits today.
Kru is best known for its nigiri, exquisite cuts sourced from around the world, and kitchen dishes such as soy-braised beef tongue yakitori or duck-mushroom dumplings. Ask the chef, though, and he’ll tell you the Ngo Burger (six ounces of chuck and A5 wagyu beef, Lolla Rossa lettuce, tomatoes, onions, American cheese, pickles and a secret sauce on a Hokkaido-style milk bun) is a must-order.
Ngo co-owns Kodaiko Ramen & Bar and Fish Face Poke Bar in addition to Kru, and plans to open a modern Asian concept called Chu Mai at 1829 17th St. in the ARY Building later this summer. A tribute to Ngo’s late mother Mai Chu, the restaurant will riff on Chinese and Vietnamese flavors, with items such as a bò kho Bolognese sauce or mushroom congee pot pie.
