Las Vegas Has 5 James Beard Award Semifinalists for 2023

The James Beard Awards — one of the most prestigious awards in the food world — announced the semifinalists for 2023. This year, five Las Vegas chefs and one bar earned a nomination on the longlist of chefs and restaurants.

Garagiste, a downtown wine bar, is the only bar in Las Vegas to make the list. Five Las Vegas chefs got a nod for Best Chef: Southwest. Chefs Oscar Amador and Francesco Di Caudo from Eater Award winner Anima by EDO both got a nod for their neighborhood Spanish-Italian restaurant. Kaoru Azeuchi made the longlist for his intricate dishes and thoughtfully coursed menus at Kaiseki Yuzu. Yip Cheung of Red Plate at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is the only chef in an on-Strip restaurant to make the list. And the final nominee is Jimmy Li of xiao long bao destination ShangHai Taste.

The James Beard Awards are conducted every year in categories including outstanding restaurant, best new restaurant, and outstanding restaurateur. The longlist of semi-finalists will be narrowed down to a tighter group of finalists, which will be revealed on Wednesday, March 29.

Last year Gina Marinelli, chef of La Strega and Harlo, and Hongrui Xin, of Big Dan Shanxi Taste were named semi-finalists, with only Jamie Tran, the chef and owner of Black Sheep, advancing as a semi-finalist. No Las Vegas nominees took home an award last year.

Below is the full list of nominees in Las Vegas.

Outstanding Bar

Garagiste

Best Chef: Southwest (AZ, NM, NV, OK)

Oscar Amador and Francesco Di Caudo, Anima by EDO

Kaoru Azeuchi, Kaiseki Yuzu

Yip Cheung, Red Plate

Jimmy Li, ShangHai Taste