Vermont's James Beard Award semifinalists include Foam Brewers, Honey Road

Aug 04, 2023

Update: None of the five semifinalists from Vermont were selected March 29 to advance to the finals.

Five food-and-drink producers in Vermont are semifinalists for this year’s James Beard Awards, the most prestigious prize in the American restaurant industry.

The James Beard Awards have treated Vermont kindly the past couple of years. The state produced a trio of semifinalists in 2022 — Café Mamajuana in Burlington was nominated in the Best New Restaurant category, while Nisachon “Rung” Morgan of Saap in Randolph and Christian Kruse of Black Flannel Brewing & Distilling in Essex were selected for the Best Chef: Northeast category. Morgan became a finalist, and won the award last June.

Finalists for the 2023 awards will be announced March 29. The winners will be honored June 5 at a ceremony in Chicago.

This year’s nominees are:

The Middlebury business was named as one of 20 semifinalists in a new category, Outstanding Bakery. Haymaker is known for its cinnamon buns, but also bakes cakes and lunch with options including falafel salad, an oyster po’boy and fried fingerling potatoes.

Haymaker Bun Co., 7 Bakery Lane, Middlebury. (802) 989-7026, www.haymakerbuns.com

This Burlington restaurant with Eastern Mediterranean flair is a past semifinalist. This time the nominee is Honey Road’s pastry chef, Amanda Wildermuth, in the Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker category. Wildermuth also makes pastries for the brand-new Honey Road-affiliated breakfast-and-lunch spot, The Grey Jay.

Honey Road, 156 Church St., Burlington. (802) 497-2145, www.honeyroadrestaurant.com

Foam Brewers is a semifinalist in the Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program. The brewery based near Waterfront Park in Burlington is known for its hop-forward beers including a couple of India pale ales named for indie-rock bands — Pavement and Built to Spill.

Foam Brewers, 112 Lake St., Burlington. (802) 399-2511, www.foambrewers.com

It didn’t take long for this restaurant that opened last May to attract notice from the James Beard Awards. The Old North End eatery’s chef, Mojo Hancy-Davis, is a semifinalist in the Best Chef: Northeast category that includes the six New England states.

May Day, 258 N. Winooski Ave., Burlington. (802) 540-9240, www.maydayvt.com

More:May Day brings food from the farm to the Old North End of Burlington

It’s rare for a Vermont nominee to lack a brick-and-mortar establishment, but that’s a sign of how much of an impression South-Burlington based Alganesh Michael has made with her pop-up events featuring Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine. She joins Hancy-Davis in the Best Chef: Northeast category.

A Taste of Abyssinia, South Burlington. (802) 578-6850, www.atasteofabyssinia.com

Contact Brent Hallenbeck at [email protected]. Follow Brent on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BrentHallenbeck.