6 Milwaukee Chefs, 2 Bars Earn James Beard Nominations
Chefs from Amilinda, Birch, Odd Duck and EsterEv all made the 2025 list.
Agency cocktail. Photo courtesy of Agency
It’s an honor — though no longer a surprise — when Milwaukee restaurants earn a spot among the highly anticipated James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Award semifinalists.
Recognition for the city’s cocktail scene, however, is relatively new.
The James Beard Foundation on Wednesday morning announced the semifinalists for the 2025 James Beard Awards. Six Milwaukee chefs, including some perennial favorites, secured nominations — along with two cocktail bars.
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. The category recognizes individuals who set “high culinary standards” and a “positive example for other food professionals.”
León, who recently celebrated 30 years in the restaurant industry, has led Amilinda — initially a pop-up — for more than a decade. The cozy, downtown restaurant, located at 315 E. Wisconsin Ave., offers a seasonal menu inspired by Spanish and Portuguese flavors.
Ross Bachhuber and Samuel Ek of Odd Duck, Dan Jacobs and Dan Van Rite of EsterEv and Kyle Knall of Birch were all nominated for Best Chef: Midwest. The foundation defines the region as including Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
Bachhuber, Odd Duck’s co-owner, and Ek, its executive chef, are no strangers to the James Beard Awards. The duo has represented the restaurant at the competition twice in recent years. Located at 939 S. 2nd St., the Walker’s Point eatery is known for its ever-changing menu of globally-inspired small plates.
Also in the Best Chef: Midwest category are Jacobs and Van Rite. Now seven-time semifinalists, the partners took a significant step in 2024 by moving EsterEv into its own space at 2165 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. in Bay View. The fine-dining restaurant previously operated inside of the chefs’ other restaurant, DanDan.
Also of note, Jacobs made a name for himself on the national stage last summer as a competitor in season 21 of “Top Chef,” where he finished in second place.
Knall, owner and head chef at Birch, 459 E. Pleasant St., is the final Milwaukee nominee for Best Chef: Midwest. Under his leadership, the restaurant has earned national accolades and popularized live-fire cooking across the city. Knall and his wife, Meghan, are preparing to open a second concept, Cassis, in the Historic Third Ward next fall.
Knall was a semifinalist for Outstanding Chef in 2022.
Bryant’s Cocktail Lounge, a local favorite run by John Dye, was nominated in the Outstanding Bar category. The unique concept, located at 1579 S. 9th St., offers an extensive list of craft cocktails — more than 450, according to its website. But instead of using a traditional menu, bartenders rely on memory: guests describe their flavor preferences, and bartenders create a drink to match.
Agency, a recent addition to Milwaukee, was nominated for Best New Bar. The category, new in 2025, highlights establishments that “demonstrate excellence in beverages” and show promise for making a lasting impact. As one of the nation’s first fully hybrid cocktail bars, featuring nearly identical menus of traditional and non-alcoholic drinks, Agency excels on both fronts. The lounge is located at 817 N. Marshall St., inside Dubbel Dutch.
The business’s core team includes Ryan Castelaz, Kat Doughty, Sean Liu and Robert Colletta. Agency’s principal bartender, Alanna Szczech, recently parted ways with the concept.
The annual James Beard Awards celebrate excellence and innovation across the nation. Established in 1990 and first awarded in 1991, the Restaurant and Chef Awards are one of five separate awards programs from the foundation.
The field of semifinalists will narrow slightly this spring, when final nominees are announced on April 2. Winners will be revealed at a ceremony in Chicago on June 16.
Existing members must be signed in to see the interactive map. Sign in.
If you think stories like this are important, become a member of Urban Milwaukee and help support real, independent journalism. Plus you get some cool added benefits.
