5 St. Louis-area chefs, Annie Gunn's wine program named 2015 JBFA semifinalists

By Ligaya Figueras // February 17, 2015

The James Beard Foundation has announced its 2015 restaurant and chef award semifinalists. St. Louis is again represented among this year’s nominees for the organization’s annual esteemed culinary awards.

In a national category, Anne Gunn's Smokehouse was nominated for Outstanding Wine Program. “It’s just an honor that someone’s recognizing us on a national level," said Glenn Bardgett, Annie Gunn's wine director. "We’re not a flyover city anymore. What an honor. The first time this happened for me in 2011. It was the only time in Missouri that anybody was nominated for wine. Lightning struck twice." Bardgett, who is also a Sauce wine columnist, was a semifinalist in the Outstanding Wine Service category in 2011.

In the category of Best Chef: Midwest, four area chefs made the list: Gerard Craft, chef-owner of the Niche family of restaurants; Kevin Nashan, chef-owner of Sidney Street Cafe and Peacemaker Lobster & Crab Co.; Kevin Willmann, chef-owner of Farmhaus; and Ben Poremba, chef-owner of Elaia, Olio and Old Standard Fried Chicken. "I'm so grateful to be on the bus," Nashan said. "It's so cool. Yeah for The Lou!"

Ed Heath of Cleveland-Heath was nominated for Best Chef: Great Lakes. This is Heath's first time on the semifinalist list. He found out about his nomination when The Scoop called for comment: "Holy shit!" he said. "(Co-owner Jenny Cleveland) and I were certain we'd close in six months after we opened. Everything has been an awesome surprise … Everyone that has (worked here) has helped shape it."

Nashan, Craft, Willmann and Poremba have all previously garnered James Beard Foundation award nominations. Last year, St. Louis saw five chefs (Gerard Craft, Josh Galliano, Kevin Nashan, Ben Poremba and Kevin Willmann) on the semifinalist list, with Craft and Nashan moving on as finalists. "I'm super humbled to be on a pretty amazing list," Craft said. "(It's) an honor to be included with all those guys ... St. Louis' dining scene, especially in the past few years, is amazingly strong. I'm excited to be a part of it."

Willmann said the list reflected St. Louis' diverse dining scene. "It's definitely exciting," he said. "There's so many new and talented people in this town."

Poremba also found out about his nomination from The Scoop. "You've got to be kidding me," Poremba said. "That's just awesome!"

Finalists for the 2015 awards will be announced March 24, with the winners announced at a gala ceremony in Chicago May 4.

See a full list of restaurant and chef semifinalists here.

Ligaya Figueras, Catherine Klene, Garrett Faulkner and Meera Nagarajan contributed to this report.