BOISE, Idaho — The James Beard Foundation announced this year's semifinalists for the James Beard Award, with four coming from Idaho.
Three Idaho chefs made it to the semifinal round for the Best Chef category for the Mountain Region (CO, ID, MT, UT, WY). Salvador Alamilla at Amano restaurant in Caldwell, Dan Ansotegui at Ansots restaurant in Boise, and Kris Komori at KIN in Boise.
Khatera Shams, a baker at Sunshine Spice Bakery & Cafe in Boise, is one of the semifinalists in the Outstanding Baker category.
Sunshine Spice Bakery & Cafe was started by four sisters in 2019 and is Boise's only Afghan cafe. Khatera serves as a chef, baker, and chief barista at the cafe.
Amano specializes in Mexican cuisine and also opened in 2019. Salvador Alamilla started out by managing the kitchen at Whole Foods before joining the staff at Amano.
Ansots opened in 2020 and serves traditional Basque cuisine with a focus on chorizos. Dan Ansotegui has been a key asset to the Boise food scene since founding Bar Gernika in 1991, and then the Basque Market in 1999.
Kin first opened in 2021 with a rotating prix-fixe menu. This is the fourth time Kris Komori has been a semifinalist for the James Beard award.
Winners for the Restaurant and Chef Awards will be revealed on Wednesday, March 16, in Scottsdale, Ariz., along with the Leadership, Lifetime Achievement, and the Humanitarian of the Year Awards.
Winners will be celebrated at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, on Monday, June 13, 2022.
Nominees for the James Beard Foundation Media Awards will be released on Wednesday, April 27, in New York City.
The James Beard Foundation's Restaurant and Chef Awards were established in 1991 and are one of five separate recognition programs of the awards.
This year's awards are presented by Capital One.
James Beard semifinalists announced
Watch more Local News:
See the latest news from around the Treasure Valley and the Gem State in our YouTube playlist:
