The James Beard Foundation, a nonprofit organization that celebrates and supports the talented people behind Americaβs food industry, announced the finalists for this yearβs Restaurant and Chef awards β and two metro Detroit restaurants made the cut.
Mamba Hamissi and his wife Nadia Nijimbere of in New Center will appear in the βOutstanding Restaurateurβ category alongside four other chefs from Washington, Colorado, New Hampshire, and Washington D.C.
The couple, who came to Detroit as refugees, opened the East African restaurant back in 2021, pulling inspiration for their authentic dishes from Burundi, Africa, which is where Hamissi originally hails from.
Last year, Hamissi appeared, and subsequently won, Food Networkβs Chopped and donated his $10,000 prize to , an organization that works to support asylum seekers in Michigan, and Burundi Kids.
Hajime Sato of , a seafood and sushi restaurant in Clawson that prides itself on sustainability, was also named a finalist. Sato is up for an award in the βBest Chef: Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH)β category against Vinnie Cimino (of Cordelia in Cleveland), Jose Salazar (of Mitaβs in Cincinnati), Sujan Sukar (of Indienne in Chicago), and Jenner Tomaska (of EsmΓ© in Chicago).
In January, James Beard released its list of semi-finalists, which included several area restaurants in several categories including Selden Standard for βOutstanding Restaurant,β Alpino for βBest New Restaurant,β and Shatila Bakery for βOutstanding Bakery.β
In addition to Sato, four other metro Detroit chefs were also named semi-finalists in the Best Chef: Great Lakes category. They included Doug Hewitt of Freya, Ji Hye Kim of Miss Kim, Dan Klenotic of Bellflower, and John Yelinek of Ladder 4 Wine Bar. You can read up on all of the semi-finalists here.
Winners of this yearβs James Beard awards will be celebrated during a live ceremony at the Lyric Opera of Chicago on June 10, 2024. Tickets to that event go on sale April 9. You can also livestream the event on Eater.
James Beard is expected to announce nominees for its media awards on April 30, 2024.
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