Local James Beard Award semifinalists

Outstanding Restaurateur nominee Tom Douglas

An honor to be nominated, no matter how the final list turns out. The James Beard Foundation has released its list of "semifinalists" for its prestigious culinary awards. Once again, Tom Douglas finds his name on the list of nominees for the nation's Outstanding Restaurateur; he lost out last year to Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich. 

Tamara Murphy of Brasa is Seattle's lone nominee for Outstanding Chef in the national category; she's been on the Outstanding Regional List for several years. This year's nominees in the Regional category include Kevin Davis (Steelhead Diner), Matt Dillon (The Corson Building), Renee Erickson (Boat Street Cafe), Mark Fuller (Spring Hill), Maria Hines (Tilth), Joseba Jimenez di Jimenez (Harvest Vine and Txori), Taichi Kitamura (Kappo), Scott Staples (Zoe, Quinn's), Ethan Stowell (Union, Tavolata), Jason Wilson (Crush).

There's no Seattle address on the list of nominees for best restaurant, but two in the "Outstanding New Restaurant" category: Jason Niedermeyer's Cascina Spinasse and Jerry Traunfeld's Poppy. Rachel Yang of Joule is among the nominees for Rising Star Chef of the Year and James Miller of Cafe Besalu is nominated as Outstanding Pastry Chef.

Canlis, once again, is on the list of nominees for outstanding wine service and for outstanding service in general. And winemaker Alex Golitzin of Quilceda Creek is nominated in the category of Outstanding Wine & Spirits Profesional.