The Hope Farm was not the only James Beard Awards semifinalist in Alabama.

Across the bay in Mobile, Chef Arwen Rice of Red or White in Mobile is a semifinalist for Best Chef: South. Red or White has locations in Fairhope and Orange Beach as well.

Additional semifinalists from Alabama are:

• Kelsey Barnard Clark of KBC in Dothan for Best Chef: South
• Rob McDaniel of Helen in Birmingham for Best Chef: South.
• Chanah Willis of Last Call Baking in Birmingham for Emerging Chef

The James Beard Award stands as a coveted accolade within the culinary industry. The Baldwin and Mobile region has yet to claim a winner, although there have been semifinalists named along the Alabama Gulf Coast.

Mobile County

• Wesley True of TRUE in Mobile for Best Chef: South, 2011 and 2012
• Southern National in Mobile for Best New Restaurant, 2018
• Duane Shierney Nutter of Southern National in Mobile for Best Chef: South, 2020

Baldwin County

• William "Bill" Briand of Fisher's at Orange Beach Marina in Orange Beach for Best Chef: South 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020

Nominees for the 2024 James Beard Awards will be announced Wednesday, April 3, and winners will be announced at the James Beard Restaurant and Chefs Awards ceremony Monday, June 10, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

For a full list of the nominees, visit www.jamesbeard.org.