Yes chef!: Find out who's dishing up excellence in New Mexico as a 2025 James Beard Award semifinalist

Several New Mexicans have been named 2025 James Beard Award semifinalists for dishing up excellence in food and drink.

The 2025 Restaurant and Chef Award semifinalists are recognized across 25 categories. New Mexicans made the lists for Best Chef: Southwest (Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma), Outstanding Bakery, Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program, and Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service.

Five New Mexico chefs made the Best Chef: Southwest nominee list.

The nomination took Kattia Rojas, chef and owner of Buen Provecho in Albuquerque, by surprise. Buen Provecho is known for its Costa Rican and Latin American cuisine and desserts.

“It was totally unexpected and I was in shock,” she said. “... I am so proud, not of myself, but of my team. What I consider a simple food, I am always trying to present it in a beautiful way. For me, it is great that people recognize that and it’s been great that I have been leaving a mark.”

Sean Sinclair, who is the head chef of Level 5 at Hotel Chaco in Albuquerque, said he is thankful to his staff and the James Beard Foundation for the honor. Sinclair joined Level 5 in June 2024. Previous to that, he led culinary teams for The Clyde Hotel and the Inn and Spa at Loretto in Santa Fe.

“I’m so grateful to be included in this year’s James Beard nominees,” he said. “Our team is so hard working at Level 5 and their commitment to excellence is unparalleled. A head chef is nothing without the support of a solid brigade.”

Chef Fernando Ruiz opened his restaurant Escondido in August 2024, in Santa Fe. Ruiz is a three-time Food Network champion, winning “Beat Bobby Flay,” “Guy’s Grocery Games” and “Chopped.”

“Never would I have imagined that I would ever be on that list,” Ruiz said. “It’s very humbling.”

Chef Joseph Wrede, owner of Joseph’s Culinary Pub in Santa Fe, was honored by the recognition. Wrede was recognized as Best New Chef by Food & Wine, has received several AAA Four Diamond and Distinguished Restaurants of North America awards, and has received both Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast distinctions, according to his bio on the restaurant’s website.

“For me, as (a) chef, it validates intention and effort on a cold winter’s day,” he said.

Cristian Pontiggia, executive chef at Sassella in Santa Fe, said it is a “really good feeling” to be named a semifinalist. Pontiggia has worked at two Michelin Star awarded restaurants in Europe and has received awards for cooking and wine knowledge from the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, according to the restaurant’s website. He credits his work with Cooking with Kids for being named a semifinalist. As part of the program, chefs visit public schools and teach students how to cook.

“It is about the food and what we do with the community,” Pontiggia said. “I think it is a combination of what a chef (does) for the community with his food. It is a combination of the cooking skills and the presence of the community around you.”

This year, the James Beard Awards celebrates its 35th anniversary. In celebration of the anniversary and in recognition of the evolving independent restaurant landscape, the 2025 Restaurant and Chef Awards have expanded with a focus on beverages. Three new categories were introduced this year: Best New Bar, Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service, and Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service.

Kate Gerwin, an award-winning bartender and co-owner of Happy Accidents in Albuquerque, was named a semifinalist in the Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service category.

“Honestly, it really hasn’t sunk in yet,” she said.

“I am grateful Albuquerque continues to get some much earned recognition as players in the game. We continue to make waves out here in the desert.”

Albuquerque’s Coda Bakery is a semifinalist in the Outstanding Bakery category, and Campo at Los Poblanos Historic Inn and Organic Farm in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque is a semifinalist in the Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program.

“Our whole team has worked tirelessly over the past decade to create a beverage program we are incredibly proud of,” said Dylan Storment, Campo’s director of wine. “We’re very thankful to the James Beard Foundation that they’ve chosen us to be in the running for this prestigious honor and humbled to be in this category with so many amazing individuals and businesses, both locally and around the country.”

The James Beard Awards are among the nation’s most prestigious honors, according to the James Beard Foundation website. Final nominees will be announced April 2, and winners will be announced at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony on June 16 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Yes chef!: Find out who's dishing up excellence in New Mexico as a 2025 James Beard Award semifinalists

Rozanna M. Martinez is the arts and entertainment editor of the Albuquerque Journal. You can reach her at rmartinez@abqjournal.com.