NEWS: Minnesotans Win James Beard Awards

A glimpse of the menu at Bûcheron, one of two Minnesotan winners at the 2025 James Beard Awards yesterday.

A Minnesotan restaurant and chef took home national awards at the 2025 James Beard Awards, some of the American culinary world’s most prestigious honors. Minnesota chef Andrew Zimmern co-hosted the star-studded award ceremony at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Bûcheron, a restaurant in South Minneapolis that serves French-American food, took home the James Beard Award for best new restaurant in a highly competitive race with 9 semi-finalists in NYC, the District of Columbia, Dallas, and more. Its “fine gastronomy” was praised in a glowing March 2024 review by Jon Cheng of the Star Tribune, and made one of MPR’s list of best restaurants this year. The restaurant, whose name translates as “lumberjack”, is located at 4257 Nicollet Ave in Minneapolis’ King Field neighborhood.

Not to be outdone, on the other side of the river, chef Karyn Tomlinson of Myriel won Best Chef Midwest, beating out her Minneapolis competition. She is the founder of Myriel, her first restaurant, which is located at 470 Cleveland Avenue South in Saint Paul, Minnesota, near St. Catherine’s University. In a review for Minnesota Monthly, Jason DeRusha praised Myriel, stating, “The a la carte menu is fresh, seasonal, and executed to perfection, and the room is soft and delicate, just like the food.”

In total, 10 Minnesotan individuals and institutions were semi-finalists for James Beard Awards this year, with 5 advancing to the finalist stage.

Watch the Ceremony

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John Anderson

John Anderson is a lifelong theatre fan turned theatre reviewer. He is the 3rd Editor-in-Chief of the Twin Cities Arts Reader.