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  • Kasama's Genie Kwon and Tim Flores pose for a portrait...

    Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune

    Kasama's Genie Kwon and Tim Flores pose for a portrait after winning Best Chef in the Great Lakes region during the James Beard Awards at the Lyric Opera House on June 5, 2023.

  • Genie Kwon hugs Xiao Faria Da Cunha after Kwon and...

    Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune

    Genie Kwon hugs Xiao Faria Da Cunha after Kwon and Tim Flores of Kasama won Best Chef in the Great Lakes region during the James Beard Awards at the Lyric Opera House on June 5, 2023 in Chicago.

  • Damarr Brown, chef de cuisine at Virtue Restaurant in Hyde...

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    Damarr Brown, chef de cuisine at Virtue Restaurant in Hyde Park, posses for a portrait after winning the award for Emerging Chef at the James Beard Awards, June 5, 2023.

  • People watch as a champagne waterfall is poured during the...

    Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune

    People watch as a champagne waterfall is poured during the James Beard Awards post-awards reception at Union Station on June 5, 2023.

  • Members of Obelix restaurant, Antonio Incandela, Nicholas Poilevey and Oliver...

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    Members of Obelix restaurant, Antonio Incandela, Nicholas Poilevey and Oliver Poilevey pose for a photo during the James Beard Awards post-awards reception at Union Station on June 5, 2023. Obelix was nominated in the Best New Restaurant category.

  • People attend the James Beard Awards post-awards reception at Union...

    Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune

    People attend the James Beard Awards post-awards reception at Union Station Monday, June 5, 2023 in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

  • Damarr Brown, left, of Virtue, walks the red carpet while...

    Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune

    Damarr Brown, left, of Virtue, walks the red carpet while attending the James Beard Awards at the Lyric Opera House on June 5, 2023.

  • Members of Sepia restaurant attend the James Beard Awards at...

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    Members of Sepia restaurant attend the James Beard Awards at the Lyric Opera House on June 5, 2023, in Chicago.

  • Rick Bayless and his wife Deann Bayless walk the red...

    Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune

    Rick Bayless and his wife Deann Bayless walk the red carpet at the James Beard Awards at the Lyric Opera House on June 5, 2023.

  • Members of Obelix walk the red carpet at the James...

    Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune

    Members of Obelix walk the red carpet at the James Beard Awards at the Lyric Opera House on June 5, 2023.

  • Tim Flores, left, and Genie Kwon of Kasama walk the...

    Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune

    Tim Flores, left, and Genie Kwon of Kasama walk the red carpet while attending the James Beard Awards at the Lyric Opera House.

  • Mayor Brandon Johnson walks the red carpet at the James...

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    Mayor Brandon Johnson walks the red carpet at the James Beard Awards at the Lyric Opera House on June 5, 2023, in Chicago.

  • Gail Simmons walks the red carpet at the James Beard...

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    Gail Simmons walks the red carpet at the James Beard Awards at the Lyric Opera House.

  • Diana Davila, left, of Mi Tocaya Antojeria, walks the red...

    Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune

    Diana Davila, left, of Mi Tocaya Antojeria, walks the red carpet at the James Beard Awards on June 5, 2023, in Chicago.

  • Andrew Zimmern and Clare Reichenbach, chief executive officer of the...

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    Andrew Zimmern and Clare Reichenbach, chief executive officer of the James Beard Foundation, walk the red carpet at the James Beard Awards on June 5, 2023, in Chicago.

  • Carla Hall walks the red carpet while attending the James...

    Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune

    Carla Hall walks the red carpet while attending the James Beard Awards in Chicago.

  • Ira Wallace walks the red carpet while attending the James...

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    Ira Wallace walks the red carpet while attending the James Beard Awards at the Lyric Opera House.

  • Gregory Leon walks the red carpet while attending the James...

    Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune

    Gregory Leon walks the red carpet while attending the James Beard Awards.

  • Presenter Tahiirah Habibi walks the red carpet at the James...

    Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune

    Presenter Tahiirah Habibi walks the red carpet at the James Beard Awards at the Lyric Opera House on June 5, 2023.

  • Presenter Chris Bianco walks the red carpet at the James...

    Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune

    Presenter Chris Bianco walks the red carpet at the James Beard Awards.

  • Marcos Carbajal, co-owner of Carnitas Uruapan in Pilsen neighborhood of...

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    Marcos Carbajal, co-owner of Carnitas Uruapan in Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, on Oct. 15, 2020.

  • Chef and owner Valeria Socorro Velazquez Lindsten works behind the...

    Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune

    Chef and owner Valeria Socorro Velazquez Lindsten works behind the counter at Loba Pastry + Coffee on July 27, 2023, in Chicago.

  • Carnitas Especial comes with carnitas, beans, tacos dorados and chicharron.

    Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune

    Carnitas Especial comes with carnitas, beans, tacos dorados and chicharron.

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Carnitas Uruapan, The Coach House by Wazwan and The Duck Inn are among the 17 Chicago restaurants and chefs that are semifinalists for this year’s James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards, organizers announced Wednesday morning.

The award ceremony highlighting restaurants and chefs nationwide returns to Chicago on June 10 at the Lyric Opera. What some consider the “Oscars of the restaurant world” brings major power players from across the industry to the city each year.

With a representation of locales ranging from Shawnee, Kansas, and Alna, Maine to New York City and Los Angeles, Chicago seems spread pretty evenly between categories once again this year. Neighborhood mainstays like Lula Cafe and Le Bouchon mesh with new media darlings like Atelier, which is a semifinalist for Best New Restaurant.

Seven Chicago chefs were nominated out of 20 for the regional category Best Chef: Great Lakes, a smidgen up from last year’s five, including Diana Dávila Boldin of Mi Tocaya Antojería, Joe Fontelera for Boonie’s Filipino Restaurant, Joe Frillman for Daisies, James Martin of Bocadillo Market, Sujan Sarkar of Indienne, Jenner Tomaska for Esme and Donald Young for Duck Sel. Dávila Boldin was a finalist for the award last year, which ultimately went to Genie Kwon and Tim Flores of Kasama.

The Emerging Chef Award includes Zubair Mohajir of The Coach House by Wazwan as one of the 20 semifinalists. Chicago chef Damarr Brown of Virtue took the award home last year, and last year Mohajir was a semifinalist for Best Chef Great Lakes.

Unlike in 2023, Chicago did receive nods this year in the Outstanding Restaurateurs and Outstanding Chef categories.

Brothers Oliver and Nicolas Poilevey of Obelix, Le Bouchon and Taqueria Chingón face Marcos Carbajal of Carnitas Uruapan in the category for Outstanding Restaurateur. Obelix was nominated last year for Best New Restaurant but lost to Kann in Portland, Oregon.

John Shields and Karen Urie Shields of Smyth were semifinalists for Outstanding Chef. Last year Smyth was one of 20 restaurants in the Outstanding Restaurant category, and it earned the title of Chicago’s second three-starred Michelin restaurant. Chef Kevin Hickey’s The Duck Inn in Bridgeport is a semifinalist in the Outstanding Restaurant category.

Valeria Socorro Velazquez Lindsten’s Loba Pastry+Coffee is among 20 semifinalists nationwide for Outstanding Bakery, while Anna Posey of Elske is among the semifinalists for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker.

Chef and owner Valeria Socorro Velazquez Lindsten works behind the counter at Loba Pastry + Coffee on July 27, 2023, in Chicago.
Chef and owner Valeria Socorro Velazquez Lindsten works behind the counter at Loba Pastry + Coffee on July 27, 2023, in Chicago.

Chicago was shut out of the Outstanding Bar category, but Scratch Brewing Company in Ava, Illinois, received a semifinalist nomination, its second in two years. Chicago’s first natural winery Middle Brow is up for the Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program award.

From here, Beards committee members and judges will visit the semifinalists and vote on the criteria for each category. The top five voted in each category will be announced as the final nominees and the winners will be announced June 10.

lazu@chicagotribune.com