By Griffin Brammer, Arts & Entertainment Editor

Three Cincinnati restaurants were named semifinalists for the national 2024 James Beard Awards this past week. 

Each restaurant’s chefs were nominated for the “Best Chef in the Great Lakes region” category, which includes all of Ohio, as well as Michigan, Illinois and Indiana. The nominees include Jeffery Harris of Nolia Kitchen (Over-the-Rhine), Erik Bentz and Elaine Uykimpang Bentz of Café Mochiko (Walnut Hills) and Jose Salazar of Mita’s (Downtown).

The James Beard Awards are widely considered to be some of the most prestigious awards for the culinary arts. According to the James Beard Foundation (JBF), “The mission of the James Beard Awards is to recognize exceptional talent and achievement in the culinary arts, hospitality, media and broader food system.”

Harris, who is also the owner of the New Orleans-inspired Nolia Kitchen, expressed his gratitude to his staff for the nomination.

“I always tell my staff, my crew, that anytime they nominate Nolia for anything, it’s us,” Harris said during a podcast for the Cincinnati Enquirer. “It’s not just me. Because I can’t do anything without them. And I want to say thank you to them.”

As for the other nominees, Mita’s is one of two Cincinnati-based restaurants for chef Salazar, and focuses heavily on both traditional and new Latin-American and Spanish recipes.

Café Mochiko was created by the chef husband-and-wife duo after merging their pastry and ramen pop-up shops. During the day, the restaurant caters coffee and baked goods, which then transitions into an Asian-American comfort dinner menu at night.

Maddie Cmolik, a junior Life Sciences for Business major, is a frequent patron of Café Mochiko. She expressed her love for the restaurant and her hopes for their success in the awards.

“I don’t know anything about restaurant awards, but from my experiences I’ve had there, it doesn’t surprise me that they’ve been nominated,” she said. “It makes me excited that it’s a small business outside Cincinnati (getting nominated).”

This year isn’t the first time all three restaurants have received a nomination from the JBF. Just last year, Mita’s placed in the finals for the “Outstanding Restaurant” award nationwide. Meanwhile, Nolia Kitchen placed in the top 10 for “Best New Restaurant,” and chef Uykimpang Bentz from Café Mochiko claimed a finalist position in JBF’s “Best Pastry Chef or Baker” category.

Outside of Cincinnati, three other Ohio restaurants will be represented in the same category as Harris, Salazar and the Bentzes. Eat Market of Columbus, Cordelia of Cleveland and Joya’s of Worthington have all had their chefs nominated as well.

Finalists for the upcoming awards will be announced early April, with the winners being announced during a ceremony in June in Chicago.