4 chefs, 2 eateries from MN among 2022 James Beard award semifinalists

Updated: 3 p.m.

Two of the Twin Cities hottest restaurants and their chefs are among the semifinalists this year for the prestigious James Beard Awards for culinary excellence. The list was released Wednesday.

Sean Sherman of Owamni and Yia Vang of Union Hmong Kitchen are both up for best chef in the Midwest, and their eateries are up for the national award of best new restaurant.

Beard brought back the awards this year after a two-year hiatus. They are among the most prestigious in the food world, recognizing the best in food — from restaurants to cookbooks to writing and programming — across North America.

The Bartmann Co. restaurant group, nominated in the outstanding restaurateur category, was under a wage-theft investigation last year and reached an agreement with state Attorney General Keith Ellison in August to provide $230,000 in back pay, overtime and damages to its employees.

The organization plans to post award nominees on March 16 with a gala for the winners on June 13. Here are the Minnesota semifinalists:

Best new restaurant

• Owamni, Minneapolis

• Union Hmong Kitchen, Minneapolis 

Best chef, Midwest

• Sean Sherman, Owamni, Minneapolis 

• Erik Skaar, Vann, Spring Park

• Jorge Guzmán, Petite León, Minneapolis 

• Yia Vang, Union Hmong Kitchen, Minneapolis 

Outstanding restaurateur

• Kim Bartmann, Bartmann Group, Minneapolis 

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