The 2024 James Beard Awards Restaurant and Chef Semifinalists list has been released, and one of Baldwin County’s own made the list.

The Hope Farm, located in Fairhope, is a semifinalist in the Outstanding Wine and Other Beverage Program category. This is the restaurant’s first nomination for the James Beard Awards.

Robert Evans, co-owner of The Hope Farm, said the team found out the good news Wednesday morning.

“A friend of our general manager and wine director, Will Jones, sent him the article before we saw it,” Evans said. “I was traveling, and I found out while I was at the airport this morning. I have been able to send a few texts to some family and close friends, but I wanted to get back here and celebrate with the team and make sure they know how much we appreciate them.”

The original idea for The Hope Farm was to have a container farm raising produce for local restaurants and a small wine bar. The idea grew into a beautiful complex that features edible gardens, container growing program, the main restaurant with a wine room and cocktail program and the Barn.

The restaurant opened in the middle of COVID-19 and has been open for three and a half years, but they have only had a year and a half of operations that were not impacted in some major way by the pandemic. That makes this accolade even sweeter.

“It is overwhelming to a certain degree. It is certainly appreciated,” Evans said. “Our team has done such a great job of putting this together and working through it. If you’ll remember, we opened in the middle of COVID-19. Being able to build a program that can get this kind of recognition has been our dream. We are going to keep working hard to try to improve on that. We have the nomination, and we will see what happens from there.”

The wine program had a good foundation from the start. Evans and his co-owner and son, Bentley Evans, had a consultant from California who helped lay the groundwork, but Evans credits Jones for growing it to what it is today.

“Will Jones, our wine director, has taken it to the next level. Raleigh Swan and Danny Rivas, our main bartenders, our whole staff back there, they are so talented,” Evans said. “Last year, we were named in the ‘Top 10 Best U.S. Restaurant Bar’ by Tales of the Cocktail. Out of the top 10 we were listed in, there were places from Houston to Chicago, and then here is little old Fairhope. It lets you know these guys are doing such a great job and they are getting the recognition that means so much.”

Evans drove straight to the restaurant from the airport and pulled into the parking lot as this interview was wrapping up. He admitted it all hadn’t sunk in yet, but he was looking forward to congratulating, thanking the whole staff and letting them know how much they are appreciated.

“We are going to keep improving. That is the key. We have got a really good group of people. Consistency is the name of the game, and you have to be consistent and have a product that people can start to expect and look forward to,” Evans said. “We are doing our best to be consistent and we are going to continue to build on that so we can continue to bring this level of service to our area and make Fairhope, Baldwin County and Alabama proud.”