The Best Restaurant in the US is Langbaan in Oregon

, a Thai restaurant in Portland, Oregon, has won the title of the best restaurant in the US at the 2024 James Beard Foundation awards in Chicago on Monday night.

“We started Langbaan 10 years ago just to show that Thai food has much, much more than what America has seen,” said Earl Ninsom, executive chef and owner.

The other big winners included the in Boulder, Colorado, which clinched the outstanding restaurateur recognition and focuses on minimizing its environmental impact. , a modern Senegalese outfit in New Orleans, is the country’s best new restaurant. Chicago’s Lula Cafe took the prize for outstanding hospitality.

Monday’s awards celebrated a wide range of cuisines and cities, from Filipino restaurant in Los Angeles to European concept in Easton, Maryland. For the best pastries, you’ll have to head to Portland, Maine, where ZU won the outstanding bakery award. The best pastry chef or baker was Atsuko Fujimoto of Norimoto Bakery, also based in the coastal city.

“I came to Portland from Tokyo 23 years ago, and I was already 30 years old. I had no kitchen experience,” Ms. Fujimoto said while receiving the award. “I want to thank all the food people in Portland, Maine. Thank you for making me a baker.”

The winners were announced at an event at the Lyric Opera in Chicago.

The latest awards come after years of turmoil. In 2020, they were canceled, and it was later reported on the list. The judging process was subsequently updated to be more diverse and a code of ethics was established. Last year, a finalist for Best Chef in the South, Timothy Hontzas, was disqualified because he allegedly broke that code; a Beard restaurant committee judge resigned over the Foundation’s alleged lack of transparency.

This year’s awards showcased the varied backgrounds of the chefs that lead America’s restaurants. Rene Andrade, whose Sonoran restaurant won best restaurant in the Southwest, gave part of his speech in Spanish, as did Ana Liz Pulido, winner of the . Gregory Gourdet, the chef at Haitian concept who won the best in the Northwest award, urged attendees to continue building diverse and women-led teams. He also called attention to food insecurity.

“Access to food is a basic human right,” Mr. Gourdet said after receiving the award. “It should never be used as a tool of war against innocent people.”

In an interview, he added that he was referring to the wars in Gaza and Sudan, as well as the in Haiti.

Masako Morishita of Perry’s in Washington, DC was named Emerging Chef.

“Everybody knows sushi. Everybody knows ramen.” Ms. Morishita said after receiving the award. “Nobody knows about Japanese comfort food. But this is the cuisine the Japanese moms have been cooking with love for centuries for their family. That’s what I do.”

The Foundation has been giving out regional and national awards since 1991. The chef and restaurant awards have taken place in Chicago since 2015 and are contracted to stay there until 2027. Last year’s , Friday Saturday Sunday, in Philadelphia. — Bloomberg

Following is a full list of the winners.

Outstanding Restaurateur — Erika Whitaker and Kelly Whitaker, Id Est (The Wolf’s Tailor, BRUTØ, Basta, and others), Boulder, Colorado

Outstanding Chef — Michael Rafidi, Albi, Washington, DC

Outstanding Restaurant — Langbaan, Portland, Oregon

Emerging Chef — Masako Morishita, Perry’s, Washington, DC

Best New Restaurant — Dakar NOLA, New Orleans, Louisiana

Outstanding Bakery — ZU Bakery, Portland, Maine

Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker — Atsuko Fujimoto, Norimoto Bakery, Portland, Maine

Outstanding Hospitality — Lula Cafe, Chicago, Illinois

Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program — Lula Drake Wine Parlour, Columbia, South Carolina

Outstanding Bar — Jewel of the South, New Orleans, Louisiana

BEST CHEFS

Best Chef: California — Lord Maynard Llera, Kuya Lord, Los Angeles

Best Chef: Great Lakes — Hajime Sato, Sozai, Clawson, Michigan

Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic — Harley Peet, Bas Rouge, Easton, Maryland

Best Chef: Midwest — Christina Nguyen, Hai Hai, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Best Chef: Mountain — Matt Vawter, Rootstalk, Breckenridge, Colorado

Best Chef: New York State — Charlie Mitchell, Clover Hill, Brooklyn

Best Chef: Northeast — David Standridge, The Shipwright’s Daughter, Mystic, Connecticut

Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific — Gregory Gourdet, kann, Portland, Oregon

Best Chef: Southeast — Paul Smith, 1010 Bridge, Charleston, West Virginia

Best Chef: South — Valerie Chang, Maty’s, Miami, Florida

Best Chef: Southwest — Rene Andrade, Bacanora, Phoenix, Arizona

Best Chef: Texas — Ana Liz Pulido, Ana Liz Taqueria, Mission, Texas