For the second year in a row, Alabama chef Timothy Hontzas of Johnny’s Restaurant in Homewood has been named a finalist for the James Beard Award for best chef in the South.
Also, Birmingham’s Bottega restaurant is a first-time finalist for outstanding hospitality.
The James Beard Foundation announced the nominees for its 2023 restaurant and chef awards this morning.
Another Birmingham restaurant, Pizza Grace had been among the James Beard semifinalists for best new restaurant, which were announced earlier this year, but it was not among today’s list of finalists.
The 2023 winners will be announced at a red-carpet, black-tie ceremony on June 5 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Hontzas, who has redefined the traditional meat-and-three with his marriage of Greek and Southern cuisine, is among five nominees in his category.
“My motto has always been we do what we do, and if they acknowledge us, they acknowledge us,” he told AL.com this afternoon. “But we are who we are. We’re not changing.”
Hontzas had a brief celebration with his staff when he found out about his nomination around 11 o’clock this morning, but after that, it was back to work taking care of the lunch crowd at Johnny’s.
“I just called them back in the kitchen and we huddled up and I showed them the announcement,” he said. “They all started clapping. They’re proud to be a part of it because I’m not there without them.”
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Hontzas was also a finalist for best chef in the South in 2022, when fellow Birmingham chef Adam Evans of Automatic Seafood and Oysters won the award.
This year, Hontzas is competing against chefs Ana Castro of Lengua Madre in New Orleans; Alex Perry and Kumi Omori of Vestige in Ocean Springs, Miss.; Henry Moso of Kabooki Sushi in Orlando; and Natalia Vallejo of Cocina al Fondo in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Hontzas is the only repeat nominee from last year.
“Obviously, it’s a huge honor, but that list is not to be taken lightly,” he said. “I know people who have been nominated six, seven years, and, poof, they’re just gone. It’s not to be taken for granted. You never know.”
First Highlands, now Bottega for the Stitts
Bottega, which is among five finalists in the outstanding hospitality category, is owned and operated by Birmingham restaurateurs Frank and Pardis Stitt, who are no strangers to the James Beard Awards.
Their flagship restaurant, Highlands Bar and Grill, was nominated for most outstanding restaurant in America for 10 straight years before finally winning that award in 2018.
This is a first-time nomination for their Italian restaurant Bottega, though.
“Goodness gracious,” Frank Stitt told AL.com this afternoon. “Opening up Bottega in 1988 and here we are in 2023, and to be a finalist for best restaurant hospitality in America, it’s huge. We’re all very, very excited.
“I think it is a little bit like a sibling rivalry in that Highlands has gotten just a phenomenal amount of recognition and press,” he added. “Bottega has gotten some, but we’ve always felt there’s the same quality of food and the same exciting service and the same graciousness. It’s just in a different space.”
RELATED: For Frank Stitt and the Highlands Bar and Grill team, it was worth the wait
In addition to Bottega, the other finalists in the hospitality category are The Black Cypress in Pullman, Wash.; Lula Drake in Columbia, S.C.; The Quarry in Monson, Maine; and Sepia in Chicago.
“We strive every day to create the best experience, and it’s about caring and nurturing our relationships with our guests, with our staff, with our farmers,” Frank Stitt said of Bottega’s nomination. “So many of our staff have been with us for years and years, and they try so hard to share our love of Italian food and wine.
“Pardis has led the front of the house team to welcome our guests with grace and sincerity and knowledge, and I think that’s really what sets us apart,” he added. “There’s a commitment to trying to create a great restaurant experience, and it’s from the valets to the stewards who are washing dishes.”
The Stitts reopened Bottega this past December after the restaurant was closed for nearly nine months to undergo renovations to the dining room.
(Highlands has been closed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, but the Stitts remain optimistic that the restaurant will reopen sometime later this year.)
Birmingham’s history at the James Beard Awards
Named for the celebrated chef, cookbook author and television personality whom the New York Times called “the dean of American cookery,” the James Beard Awards were first presented in 1991 and have become known as “the Oscars of the food world.”
Here is the full list of the James Beard Foundation’s previous restaurant and chef award winners from the Birmingham metro area:
Adam Evans, Automatic Seafood and Oysters, best chef in the South, 2022.
Highlands Bar and Grill, most outstanding restaurant, 2018.
Dolester Miles, Highlands Bar and Grill, Birmingham, most outstanding pastry chef, 2018.
Chris Hastings, Hot and Hot Fish Club, Birmingham, best chef in the South, 2012.
The Bright Star, Bessemer, America’s Classic winner, 2010.
Frank Stitt, Highlands Bar and Grill, best chef in the Southeast, 2001.
Past winners are not eligible to win a James Beard Award again in the same category.
For the full list of this year’s restaurant and chef finalists go here.
This post was updated at 4:15 p.m. CDT on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, to add comments from Timothy Hontzas of Johnny’s Restaurant and Frank Stitt of Bottega.
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