Foodflash: Sherbet Wiz Neale Asato Is Hawai‘i’s Sole Finalist in This Year’s James Beard Awards

Winners will be announced in June.

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Mari Taketa,

Neale Asato, who created Honolulu’s Asato Family sherbet business and expanded it this year with an omakase dessert bar in Waikīkī, moves on to the finals of the 2026 James Beard Awards, the awards foundation announced Tuesday morning. He is the only one of 9 Hawai‘i semifinalists to move on toward the country’s highest restaurant and bar industry awards.

Asato was nominated as Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker. The other finalists in that category are Susan Bae of Moon Rabbit, Washington, D.C.; Tavel Bristol-Joseph of Nicosi, San Antonio, Texas; Maggie Huff of Lucia in Dallas, Texas; and Justine MacNeil of Fiore in Philadelphia.

Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker is a national award. Bar Leather Apron won Hawaii’s first national award, for Outstanding Bar, in 2023. Robynne Maii of Fête restaurant won as Best Chef: Northwest & Pacific in 2022.

Also announced today was a Lifetime Achievement Award for Nancy Silverton, who founded La Brea Bakery in Los Angeles. Silverton opened Osteria Mozza on Lanai last year.

Hawai‘i’s eight other semifinalists for this year’s awards include Giovedì’s Bao Tran for Emerging Chef and The Local General Store as Outstanding Bakery. Both are in Honolulu.

Local semifinalists for Best Chef: Northwest & Pacific, a region that includes Alaska, Oregon, Washington and Hawai‘i:

Michele Di Bari – Sale Pepe, Lahaina, Maui
Ed Kenney – Mud Hen Water, Kaimukī
Andrew Le – The Pig & the Lady, Kaimukī
Sheldon Simeon – Tiffany’s Restaurant and Bar, Wailuku, Maui
Yuya Yamanaka – Paris Hawai‘i, Kaka‘ako

Anonymous judges centered in the Islands nominate each year’s semifinalists after numerous visits. This year’s James Beard Award winners will be announced in Chicago on June 15.

Mari Taketa is editor of Frolic Hawai‘i and dining editor of HONOLULU Magazine.