The 2025 James Beard Awards list was released today and Bûcheron has another thing to celebrate on top of its one-year anniversary.
The French-American restaurant nestled into the corner of 43rd and Nicollet is a semifinalist for the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant. Run by Jeanie Janas Ritter and Adam Ritter, Bûcheron recently was featured in Esquire for its simple martini.
Adam was previously a chef at Demi, a restaurant run by Gavin Kaysen, that was a semifinalist for Best New Restaurant in 2020.
A few blocks west at 40th and Lyndale, Ann Ahmed and Khâluna are being recognized by the James Beard Awards again, this time with Ahmed as an Outstanding Chef semifinalist. Ahmed was a finalist for the Best Chef: Midwest award in 2024 and a semifinalist in the same category in 2023.
Restaurants and chefs can be nominated for a James Beard award through an open call for recommendations. Anyone can nominate a restaurant for free and the process is open to the public.
Finalists in all James Beard Award categories will be announced in April. The awards ceremony will take place June 16 in Chicago.
Story originally published Jan. 22, 2025 9:48 a.m.
Story updated at 11:30 a.m.