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Restaurants in New Orleans may be closed right now, but that hasn’t stopped these extremely talented local chefs from standing out among the 2020 James Beard Award Nominees.

Well before the COVID-19 crisis caused restaurants to close their dining rooms, these outstanding chefs helped carry on the longstanding tradition of excellent food in the Crescent City.

Here are the local nominees for the 2020 James Beard Award:

2020 James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards

Best New Restaurant

Gianna

Outstanding Baker

Graison Gill – Bellegarde Bakery

Outstanding Chef

Donald Link – Herbsaint

Outstanding Hospitality

Brigtsen’s

Outstanding Restaurateur

JoAnn Clevenger – Upperline Restaurant

Outstanding Wine Program

Bacchanal

Best Chef: South

Kristen Essig and Michael Stoltzfus – Coquette

Michael Gulotta – Maypop

Mason Hereford – Turkey and the Wolf

Isaac Toups – Toups’ Meatery

The 2020 James Beard Award winners will be announced on May 27. There will not be a physical ceremony this year because of the coronavirus.

Read the full list of 2020 nominees here