The James Beard Foundation announced today that it would be postponing its prestigious awards show until the summer following guidance from the CDC regarding the coronavirus outbreak. The postponement could affect some of the Georgia restaurants and industry professionals recently named semi-finalists for the awards. The foundation still plans to announce finalists for the restaurant and chef awards later this month.
Georgia was well-represented among the James Beard Award semi-finalists announced last month. Nine people and two restaurants were on the list, including Lazy Betty for Best New Restaurant, Chris Wilkins of Root Baking Co. for Best Baker and Claudia Martinez of Tiny Lou's for Best Pastry Chef.
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The postponement includes all facets of the late spring awards show, including the James Beard Media Awards, Leadership Awards and Restaurant and Chef Awards. The media awards ceremony was originally scheduled in New York City on April 24, while the latter two shows were scheduled in Chicago on May 3 and 4, respectively.
Finalists for the restaurant and chef awards will still be announced in Philadelphia on March 25 in an event that was already planned to be live-streamed. New dates for the final awards ceremonies have not yet been announced.
After acknowledging the coronavirus in a prepared statement, the James Beard Foundation editors also noted that they are “mindful of how this virus is negatively impacting the hospitality industry at large, both from a well-being and economic standpoint.”
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