By Amanda Koehn and Becky Raspe
Jstyle photo
The team behind Larder Delicatessen & Bakery was again named a semifinalist for the James Beard Award in the category Best Chef: Great Lakes category. However, the deli and bakery in Cleveland’s Hingetown neighborhood did not advance to the finalist round, the James Beard Foundation announced March 29.
The award considers chefs in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. Larder has also been nominated as a semifinalist for James Beard Awards in past years, although has never won.
Created by owners chef Jeremy Umansky, his wife Allie La Valle-Umanksy, and their business partner Kenny Scott, Larder opened at 1455 W. 29th St. in 2018.
Umansky told the Cleveland Jewish News in January that getting nominated again was “super exciting.”
“Something like this has so much impact as a whole,” Umansky says. “What the James Beard Foundation does is it recognizes a standard of quality, saying here are the best 20 restaurants in a four-state area. That carries a lot of weight in itself. Especially in a city like Cleveland that is considered an underdog – saying there are fantastic, world-class chefs and restaurants right here.”
He says the nomination also shows young chefs that Cleveland can hold its own among larger culinary markets.
“Young cooks can see that they don’t have to leave Cleveland to work for a James Beard-nominated chef,” Umansky says. “They can continue to invest in Cleveland.”
Additionally, Brandon Chrostowski, founder, president and CEO of EDWINS Leadership & Restaurant Institute, has continued to the next round for a James Beard Award in the outstanding restaurateur category.
Award winners will be announced at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony June 5 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. To view the full list of semifinalists, finalists and all categories for this year’s awards, visit jamesbeard.org/awards.