Foodflash: Pint + Jigger’s Dave Newman Moves on to Finals of 2025 James Beard Awards
Newman is up for a new national James Beard award for outstanding cocktail professional.
Photo: Olivier Koning
The James Beard Foundation released its shortlist of candidates vying for the country’s top food and beverage awards today, naming Dave Newman of Pint + Jigger as the sole Hawai‘i candidate still in the running. Newman was one of nine Island restaurants and food and beverage professionals selected as semifinalists in January.
The co-founder and owner of Pint, an OG Honolulu gastropub and cocktail bar, Newman is a longtime leader of the local craft cocktail industry. He’s up for a new national award for Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service—one of three new prizes, all in the beverage category (the others are for Best New Bar and Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service).
Photo: Maria Burke
Since Robynne Maii won for Best Chef: Northwest & Pacific in 2022, ending a 19-year dry spell for local chefs and restaurants, two other Hawai‘i institutions have won James Beard Awards. Downtown Honolulu’s Bar Leather Apron won the Islands’ first national award in 2023 for Outstanding Bar. That same year, Hawai‘i Island’s Manago Hotel won a James Beard America’s Classic prize, making it the fourth in the Islands after Helena’s Hawaiian Food, Sam Choy’s Kaloko and Hamura Saimin.
SEE ALSO: Foodflash: 9 Hawai‘i Chefs and Eateries Are in the Running for 2025 James Beard Awards
The five finalists vying for Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service are:
- McLain Hedges and Mary Allison Wright, Yacht Club, Denver, CO
- Ignacio “Nacho” Jimenez, Superbueno, New York, NY
- Dave Newman, Pint + Jigger, Honolulu, HI
- Tobin Shea, Redbird, Los Angeles, CA
- Mike Stankovich, Longfellow, Cincinnati, OH
More than 500 restaurants and industry professionals made the cut as semifinalists for the New York-based awards in January. Today’s shortlist of finalists culls that list to 130. Nearly half of those are vying for regional Best Chef awards and the rest for national awards including Outstanding Restaurateur, Outstanding Chef, Best New Restaurant and Outstanding Bakery.
Winners of the 2025 James Beard Awards will be announced at a ceremony in Chicago on June 16. Here’s the full list of 2025 finalists.
Pint + Jigger, 410 Atkinson Dr., pintandjigger.com, @pintandjigger
