Cincinnati's shining-star chef is a James Beard Award finalist (again!)

For the second year in a row, Cincinnati chef Jose Salazar has been named a finalist for a coveted James Beard Award. The announcement was made Wednesday morning on X, formerly Twitter, by the James Beard Foundation.

Four Cincinnati chefs had been named as semifinalists this year, all in the same category of Best Chef/Great Lakes, which includes the states of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois. Salazar is the only chef to make it to the finalist round and is one of only two Ohio chefs to make the cut. The other Ohio chef is Vinnie Cimino, of Cordelia restaurant in Cleveland, who was also nominated for Best Chef/Great Lakes.

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Other local chefs who were named semifinalists included Jeffery Harris, chef and owner of Nolia Kitchen in Over-the-Rhine; and Erik Bentz and Elaine Uykimpang Bentz of Cafe Mochiko in Walnut Hills.

Sadly, 2024 saw far fewer Beard finalist nominations for Cincinnati than last year. In 2023, Salazar's Downtown restaurant, Mita's, was nominated for the most Outstanding Restaurant in the United States, Harris's Nolia Kitchen was nominated for Best New Restaurant in the United States and Elaine Uykimpang Bentz was nominated for the most Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker in the U.S.

Salazar has been a semifinalist for the award six times and a finalist now twice. Winners will be announced at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards Ceremony on Monday, June 10, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Jose Salazar named finalist for coveted James Beard Award