The James Beard Foundation and HOUSTON FIRST© announced today that together, the organizations will reveal the 2019 James Beard Awards nominees at a live press conference in Houston on Wednesday, March 27, 2019. Mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner, and Clare Reichenbach, CEO of the James Beard Foundation, will co-host the press conference and corresponding breakfast at Hugo’s, James Beard Award-winning chef Hugo Ortega’s Mexican restaurant in Montrose. Nominees for more than 50 awards categories, including Restaurant and Chef, Restaurant Design, and Media will 
be announced. The event will take place at 9:00 A.M. CT /10:00 A.M. ET and will be streamed live online (details on the James Beard Foundation website).
“We’re thrilled to showcase the city of Houston and bring our 2019 James Beard Awards nominees announcement to this diverse and vibrant culinary and dining scene,” said Clare Reichenbach, CEO of the James Beard Foundation. “The city of Houston’s dedication to cultivating and embracing its local restaurants and culinary talent make it the perfect community for such an occasion.”
In addition to the press conference and breakfast, a benefit dinner will take place on Tuesday, March 26, hosted by H Town Restaurant Group, at Caracol. Featured chefs include James Beard Award winners Irma Galvan, Robert Del Grande, Hugo Ortega, Chris Shepherd, and Justin Yu, and JBF Award semi-finalists Terrence Gallivan & Seth Siegel-Gardner, Bobby Heugel, and Anita Jaisinghani. Guests can expect a unique, collaborative, multi-course dining experience and pairings from each chef with wine and specialty cocktails. Tickets are available here.
“The City of Houston is honored to host the James Beard Foundation as it announces the 2019 James Beard Award nominees,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner. “The Foundation has come to the ideal place. With one in every four Houstonians being foreign born, Houston takes pride in the rich culinary scene that comes with being one of most diverse cities in the nation.”
About the 2019 James Beard Awards
The 2019 James Beard Awards celebrations begin in New York City on Friday, April 26, 2019, with the James Beard Media Awards, an exclusive event honoring the nation’s top cookbook authors, culinary broadcast producers and hosts, and food journalists that will take place at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers.
The events then move to Chicago, beginning with the Leadership Awards dinner on Sunday, May 5, 2019, at which honorees will be recognized for their work in creating a more healthful, sustainable, and just food world. The James Beard Awards Gala will take place on Monday, May 6, 2019, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. During the event, which is open to the public, awards for the Restaurant and Chef and Restaurant Design categories will be handed out, along with special achievement awards Humanitarian of the Year, Lifetime Achievement, Design Icon, and America’s Classics. A gala reception will immediately follow, featuring top chefs and beverage professionals from across the country.
The 2019 James Beard Awards are proudly hosted by Choose Chicago and the Illinois Restaurant Association and presented in association with Chicago O’Hare and Midway International Airports and Magellan Corporation as well as the following partners: Premier Sponsors: All-Clad Metalcrafters, American Airlines, HMSHost, Lavazza, S.Pellegrino® Sparkling Natural Mineral Water ; Supporting Sponsors: Hyatt, National Restaurant Association™, Robert Mondavi Winery, Skuna Bay Salmon, TABASCO® Sauce, Valrhona, White Claw® Hard Seltzer, Windstar Cruises; Gala Reception Sponsors: Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Ecolab, Front of the House®, Kendall College, Segura Viudas USA with additional support from: Chefwear.
Established in 1990, the James Beard Awards recognize culinary professionals for excellence and achievement in their fields and furthers the Foundation’s mission to celebrate, nurture, and honor chefs and other leaders making America’s food culture more delicious, diverse, and sustainable for everyone. Each award category has an individual committee made up of industry professionals who volunteer their time to oversee the policies, procedures, and selection of judges for their respective Awards program. All James Beard Award winners receive a certificate and a medallion engraved with the James Beard Foundation Awards insignia.
About the James Beard Foundation
The James Beard Foundation’s mission is to promote good food for good™. For more than 30 years, the James Beard Foundation has highlighted the centrality of food culture in our daily lives. Through the James Beard Awards, unique dining experiences at the James Beard House and around the country, scholarships, hands-on learning, and a variety of industry programs that educate and empower leaders in our community, the Foundation has built a platform for chefs and asserted the power of gastronomy to drive behavior, culture, and policy change around food. To that end, the Foundation has also created signature impact-oriented initiatives that include our Women’s Leadership Programs aimed at addressing the gender imbalance in the culinary industry; advocacy training through our Chefs Boot Camp for Policy and Change; and the James Beard Foundation Leadership Awards that shine a spotlight on successful change makers. The organization is committed to giving chefs and their colleagues a voice and the tools they need to make the world more sustainable, equitable, and delicious for everyone. For more information, please visit jamesbeard.org and follow @beardfoundation on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
ABOUT HOUSTON FIRST ©
Houston First is the official destination marketing organization for the city of Houston. The corporation also owns the Hilton Americas-Houston hotel, manages the George R. Brown Convention Center, as well as 10 city-owned properties, and the new Avenida Houston entertainment district.
