The 2023 Restaurant and Chef Awards semifinalists for the James Beard Awards have been announced and three Garden State chefs are in the running.

The James Beard Foundation’s Restaurant and Chef Awards—established in 1990 and first awarded in 1991—are one of five separate recognition programs of the Awards. The 2023 Restaurant and Chef Semifinalists are recognized across 23 categories.

In the prestigious “Outstanding Chef” category:

Shigeru Fukuyoshi of Sagami in Collingswood is one of 20 semi-finalists.

For the “Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic” category:

Two South Jersey chefs made the semi-finals. Philip Manganaro, Park Place Café & Restaurant, Merchantville, and Melissa McGrath, Sweet Amalia Market & Kitchen, Newfield.

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According to Daily Voice:

Shigeru Fukuyoshi is a 74-year-old Japanese native who honed his skills in the 70s before bringing them to the renowned Collingswood eatery in 1974.

On the Park Place website, they describe their mission as:

We offer tasting menus designed around what nature has grown for us in the wild and present these ingredients in a manner that we hope reminds you of a different time. We strive to constantly evolve in the art and craft of foraging and use our seasoned cooking techniques to present menus that are as ever-changing and evolving as the natural world they are harvested from.

Sweet Amalia Market & Kitchen is known for their fresh oysters:

We hand-harvest our oysters to deliver the freshest product possible. Because our focus is local, we often deliver the same day we harvest. We're proud of our sustainable and ecologically beneficial production methods.

The nominees will be announced on Wednesday, March 29, and winners will be announced at the Lyric Opera of Chicago during the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards Ceremony on Monday, June 5.

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