6 Milwaukee Chefs Earn James Beard Nominations
Chefs from Amilinda, Birch, Odd Duck and EsterEv all made the 2024 list.
Amilinda. Photo taken June 15th, 2021 by Jeramey Jannene.
The James Beard Foundation on Wednesday morning announced the semifinalists for the 2024 James Beard Awards. Six Milwaukee chefs, including some perennial favorites, secured nominations.
Of the program’s 22 categories, Milwaukee made the strongest showing in the chef division. Gregory León, owner and executive chef at Amilinda, is one of 20 nominees for Outstanding Chef. Ross Bachhuber and Samuel Ek of Odd Duck, Dan Jacobs and Dan Van Rite of EsterEv and Kyle Knall of Birch all received nominations for Best Chef: Midwest.
The latest nomination is León’s third from the foundation, but his first in a national category. He was nominated for Best Chef: Midwest in 2022 and 2023. The longtime chef has helmed Amilinda, 315 E. Wisconsin Ave., since launching the concept as a pop-up in 2013. Before that, León gathered inspiration and experience while working as a chef in restaurants across the world, including in Madrid and San Francisco.
Bachhuber and Ek, Odd Duck’s co-owner and executive chef, respectively, represent the restaurant for its second James Beard nomination. The cozy Walker’s Point eatery, 939 S. 2nd St., claimed a semifinalist slot in 2022 for Outstanding Restaurant. Opened in 2012, the restaurant is known for its ever-changing menu of globally-inspired small plates.
Also in the Best Chef: Midwest category are Jacobs and Van Rite. The chefs are now six-time semi-finalists. EsterEv, a fine dining concept, operates inside of Jacobs’ and Van Rite’s other restaurant, DanDan, 360 E. Erie St. But not for much longer. EsterEv will soon relocate to its own space in Bay View, the chefs announced last week.
Kyle Knall, owner and head chef at Birch, 459 E. Pleasant St., is the final Milwaukee nominee for Best Chef: Midwest. Knall took ownership of Birch (formerly Birch + Butcher) in 2021. Under his leadership, the eatery was named on the 2023 New York Times Restaurant List. Of 50 U.S. restaurants mentioned, Birch was the only one from Wisconsin.
Knall was a semifinalist for Outstanding Chef in 2022.
The prestigious, annual James Beard Awards recognize the best and brightest among the nation’s culinary scene. Established in 1990 and first awarded in 1991, the Restaurant and Chef Awards are one of five separate awards programs from the foundation.
In addition to talent and achievement, the awards take into consideration nominees’ “demonstrated commitment to racial and gender equity, community, sustainability, and a culture where all can thrive,” the foundation noted in a press release.
The awards returned in 2022 after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. The field of semifinalists will narrow slightly this spring, when final nominees are announced on April 3. Winners will be revealed at a ceremony in Chicago on June 10.
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Ever since they gave an award to that burger joint that serves up one of the greasiest, nastiest, gut-bomb I’ve ever choked down – and I’ve eaten off street carts in 3rd-world countries – I can’t take a James Beard seriously.