James Beard Awards: San Francisco’s Brandon Jew wins ‘Best Chef: California’
The resilience of America’s restaurant industry was celebrated Monday night in Chicago as the James Beard Foundation Awards returned after a long pandemic hiatus.
“You popped up, you went outdoors and you delivered,” Lori Lightfoot, mayor of the host city, said with an emphasis on the “delivered” as she congratulated the professionals in attendance.
One of the first awards of the night, Humanitarian of the Year, went to Grace Young, the cookbook author and culinary historian who chronicled the plight of the nation’s Chinatowns — particularly New York and her hometown, San Francisco — when the restaurants and markets were forced to shut down early in 2020.
The struggle continues, she said in her acceptance speech, noting that on a recent trip through S.F. Chinatown, she counted 46 shuttered storefronts.
“They need our support now more than ever,” she added, imploring diners across the nation to do more. “Just show up. Go to your local Chinatown. Spend money.”
In the regional chefs category, Brandon Jew of Mister Jiu’s restaurant — a standout in San Francisco’s Chinatown — was honored as the Best Chef in California.
The award, Jew said, shows that “Chinese food deserves to be held in as high esteem as any other cuisine.”
He thanked his staff for rising to the occasion during the challenging COVID era and paid tribute to his S.F. mentors, Judy Rodgers, Michael Tusk and his grandparents.
Jew was one of five finalists for the James Beard Foundation honor. The other honorees were James Syhabout of Commis in Oakland, Pim Techamuanvivit of Nari in San Francisco, Bryant Ng of Cassia restaurant in Santa Monica and Sarintip “Jazz” Singsanong of Jitlada in Los Angeles.
The award was given to Jew by fellow Bay Area chefs Tanya Holland and Dominique Crenn.
This is a developing story. Come back for updates.