Philly takes home two wins at the 2026 James Beard Awards

Philadelphia can now add two more food awards to its shelf.

Restaurants and chefs from the City of Brotherly Love took home wins in two different categories Monday night at the 2026 James Beard Awards in Chicago, considered to be the most prestigious restaurant industry honor in the United States.

The showing builds on the momentum of last year, when Mawn’s Phila Lorn took home the title of emerging chef, an award he dedicated at the time to “the assumption” that the Cambodian noodle house in Bella Vista wasn’t “popular enough,” “focused enough, or ”good enough" to win.

Now the assumption isn’t that Philly is an underdog. It’s that we’re a full-on culinary powerhouse.

Chef Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon’s Thai restaurant Kalaya won outstanding restaurant, an award that recognizes “consistent excellence” in food, hospitality, and operations, according to the James Beard Foundation’s website.

Suntaranon originally opened the restaurant — known for its ornate dumplings — in 2019 in what is currently Mawn’s location, where it was nominated in 2020 for Best New Restaurant. In 2022, Kalaya moved to a bigger space just off Frankford Avenue in Kensington where it has flourished, earning a Michelin Guide recommendation, a spot on The Inquirer’s The 76, and, in 2023, Suntaranon her first Beard award for best chef, Mid-Atlantic.

“This award means a lot to me because it’s validation for Thai food and validation for the city of Philadelphia that we’re a world class food city,” Suntaranon said backstage in a shimmering floor-length orange gown.

Chef Jesse Ito of Royal Sushi & Izakaya on Monday night took home his first James Beard Award for best chef, Mid-Atlantic. “It’s been a long ride,” Ito said from the stage at the Lyric Opera theater.

Indeed it has.

The chef behind the notoriously-hard-to-get-into Queen Village omakase counter and its more casual bar and restaurant has been nominated nine times total for the award, which honors the top culinary talent across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington. This go around, Ito beat out two-time finalist Amanda Shulman — whose Her Place Supper Club earned one of Philly’s first Michelin stars last year — and Omar Tate and Cybille St. Aude-Tate of Honeysuckle, who transformed their cafe-market to a Michelin-recommended prix-fixe restaurant in 2025.

During his acceptance speech, Ito invoked the oft-quoted serenity prayer and thanked his parents, who ran the Cinnaminson and Haddonfield N.J., sushi restaurant Fuji for 40 years prior to selling. It’s where Ito worked his first restaurant job as a dishwasher, and a place he has long credited for helping him find his footing in the restaurant industry.

“We went through so much,” Ito said, choking up. “Restaurants are glamorous, and it seems great, but we went through so much hardship. I’ll never forget the struggle just to get here.”

Royal Sushi’s success has also, at times, been its greatest challenge: The $355, 16-seat omakase prepared by Ito is one of the toughest seats to score in Philly, which potentially led to the restaurant losing out on a Michelin star last year. At the same time, the restaurant earned a spot on North America’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2025 and high praise from The Inquirer, landing on The 76 two years in a row.

The pendulum swing of accolades keeps Ito on his toes. He told The Inquirer over the phone Monday night that he wasn’t certain what made this year different from all the others.

“I don’t know how it all works,” Ito said. “I came to Chicago 99% certain that I was going to lose.”

Now that he’s won, Ito plans to celebrate by singing Harry Styles’ “Sign of the Times” and “Creep” by Radiohead at karaoke — somber choices for a victorious night.

“They’re just my songs,” said Ito. “I have to sing them.”

Philly restaurants and chefs didn’t take home medals in every category.

Emmett, the Levantine-inspired Kensington restaurant from chef Evan Snyder, was nominated for best new restaurant. The award in that category ultimately went to Lei, a New York City wine bar that serves Chinese food. Named after Snyder’s first-born, Emmett had a quick rise after its January 2025 opening: In the past year, it made its first appearance on The 76 and was named one of the best new restaurants in the U.S. by Esquire magazine.

First-time nominee Justine MacNeil did not take home the award for outstanding pastry chef or baker, which went to Susan Bay of Washington D.C.’s buzzy Vietnamese restaurant Moon Rabbit. At Fiore — the East Kensington cafe MacNeil co-owns with her husband Ed Crochet — the former fine dining pastry chef churns out thousands of classic Italian pastries a week, from oversize maritozzi to pistachio cornetti that have earned praise from 2017 James Beard award winner Greg Vernick and Inquirer critic Craig LaBan, among others.

Friday Saturday Sunday also lost out on its second Beard award Monday night, this time for outstanding bar. Its downstairs, first-come-first-serve Lovers Bar was nominated for the honor, which instead went to Portland, Ore. whisky bar Scotch Lounge, a recent addition to list of North America’s 50 Best Bars from World’s 50 Best. Friday Saturday Sunday won its first Beard award in 2023 for outstanding restaurant, and earned one of Philly’s first Michelin stars in 2025.

The Inquirer also took home hardware of its own on Sunday night during the James Beard Media Award, also in Chicago. Inquirer staff photographer Monica Herndon won the 2026 award for narrative photography for "The hunt for life-giving ‘country food’ in the Canadian Arctic." The photo essay chronicled the food traditions of the Inukjuak, a remote Inuit community in northern Québec. It accompanied reporting from Inquirer food critic Craig LaBan about how the community continues to hunt and preserve foods such as caribou and beluga despite the challenges of climate change.

Philadelphia had 13 semifinalists across eight categories when the Beard awards were first announced in January. They included chef Greg Vernick for outstanding restauranteur; Amá’s Frankie Ramirez for emerging chef; Almanac in Old City for best new bar; and deli magnate Russ Cowan and Michelin Green Star winner Ian Graye of the vegan restaurant Pietramala, both for best chef, Mid-Atlantic.

All three were later eliminated from the finalists’ list.

Tonight’s showing adds one more win from February when Center City stalwart Oyster House was named an American classic, which honors local restaurants across the U.S. with “timeless appeal that serve quality food and are beloved by their communities.” Representatives from the Philly mainstay were in Chicago to receive their medals in person.

“I am very fortunate that I live in Philly. People are loving and caring [here]. People are strong, and we all come together to support one another,” Suntaranon said. “Go Birds!”