4 Hawai‘i Chefs and Restaurants Announced as Semifinalists for the James Beard Awards

Lineage, Michelle Karr-Ueoka, Ed Kenney, Chris Kajioka and Anthony Rush make the first cut.

Chefs CHRIS KAJIOKA (LEFT) AND ANTHONY RUSH of Senia.

PHOTO: STEVE CZERNIAK

Today, the James Beard Foundation announced its Restaurant and Chef Awards semifinalists for 2019. After the James Beard judges vote, five finalists will be chosen for each category, announced on Wednesday, March 27, with the winners declared at the James Beard Awards Gala on May 6 in Chicago.

Congratulations to the Hawai‘i chefs below, and here’s hoping for a win—ever since the Hawai‘i region merged with California in 2013 for the purposes of the award, a Hawai‘i chef or restaurant has not won a James Beard. (Michelle Karr-Ueoka, Ed Kenney and Chris Kajioka were previously semi finalists.)

Michelle Karr-Ueoka’s AFFOGATO at MW Restaurant FEATURES CHOCOLATE CAKE, COFFEE ICE CREAM, AND DEHYDRATED CHOCOLATE.

PHOTO: STEVE CZERNIAK

The Hawai‘i semifinalists

Best New Restaurant

Lineage, Wailea, Maui

Outstanding Pastry Chef

Michelle Karr-Ueoka, MW Restaurant, Honolulu

SEE ALSO: Meet the Creative Genius Behind Some of the Best Desserts in Honolulu

Ed Kenney at Mahina & Sun’s in Waikīkī.

Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino 

Outstanding Restaurateur

Ed Kenney, Honolulu (Town, Mud Hen Water, Mahina & Sun’s, and others)

SEE ALSO: Chef Ed Kenney Brings Hawai‘i Food (and Culture) to a Hipster Hotel in Waikīkī

Best Chef: West

Chris Kajioka and Anthony Rush, Senia, Honolulu

SEE ALSO: Is Restaurant Senia Worth the Hype?

Find the full list of semifinalists, here.

Read more stories by Martha Cheng