Several Milwaukee chefs, restaurateurs and establishments are in the running for a prestigious James Beard Award this year.
The 2025 Restaurant and Chef Award semifinalists were announced Wednesday by the James Beard Foundation, recognizing exceptional talent in the culinary industry nationally and by region.
For the second consecutive year, Gregory León, chef and owner of Amilinda in downtown Milwaukee, is a semifinalist for Outstanding Chef (presented by Hilton). He’s one of only 20 chefs from across the country nominated in that category.
A handful of local chefs are up for the regional honor of Best Chef Midwest, including Ross Bachhuber and Samuel Ek of Odd Duck in Walker’s Point; Dan Jacobs and Dan Van Rite of EsterEv in Bay View; and Kyle Knall of Birch on the Lower East Side. Madison chefs Jamie Brown-Soukaseume and Chuckie Brown-Soukaseume of Asian-inspired restaurant Ahan also made the list.
In addition, Bryant’s Cocktail Lounge in the Historic Mitchell Street neighborhood is a semifinalist for the national recognition of Outstanding Bar, and Agency Cocktail Lounge on the East Side is nominated for Best New Bar, which is among three new categories added this year to focus more heavily on beverages, according to the James Beard Foundation. Agency, a concept by the operators of Discourse Coffee, opened in August inside the Dubbel Dutch Hotel, located at 817 N. Marshall St., featuring a hybrid selection of craft cocktails from full-proof to non-alcoholic.
It’s not the first James Beard nomination for several of these local semifinalists.
This is the sixth consecutive year Jacobs and Van Rite, who also own DanDan in the Third Ward, have made the list. They advanced as finalists for Best Chef Midwest last year but have yet to take home a medal. EsterEv, which offers a high-end tasting menu, was relocated last year to Bay View from its original spot within DanDan. Jacobs competed in — and made it to the final round of — last year’s season of Bravo’s “Top Chef,” filmed in Wisconsin. The national exposure drove an influx of business to both restaurants, Jacobs told BizTimes in an interview following Top Chef’s finale.
León, who opened Amilinda at 315 E. Wisconsin Ave. in 2015 after a career working in restaurants in San Fransisco and Madrid, Spain, was a semifinalist for Outstanding Chef in 2024 and a finalist for Best Chef Midwest in 2023 and 2022.
Odd Duck’s Bachhuber and Ek as well as Birch’s Knall were Best Chef Midwest semifinalists last year. In 2022, Knall was nominated for Outstanding Chef and Odd Duck for Outstanding Restaurant.
James Beard will announce finalists on Wednesday, April 2, and winners will be announced at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony on Monday, June 16 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
