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Spokane chef named semifinalist for 2016 James Beard Award

Restauranteur Adam Hegsted sits at the bar in his newest restaurant, the Gilded Unicorn, in November, before it opened in December. Hegsted is in the running for a 2016 James Beard award. JESSE TINSLEY jesset@spokesman (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
By Adriana Janovich adrianaj@spokesman.com(509) 459-5446

Adam Hegsted of Spokane’s Wandering Table is the only chef from this region in the running for a 2016 James Beard Award.

Hegsted is one of 20 semifinalists for Best Chef Northwest.

Seattle and Portland have the most chefs in the category – Seattle with seven and Portland with six.

Other chefs come from Boise; Newberg and Bend in Oregon; Red Lodge, Montana; Jackson, Wyoming; and Denali National Park, Alaska. Those locations each have one semifinalist.

Hegested owns Wandering Table and Yards Bruncheon in Spokane’s Kendall Yards as well as Gilded Unicorn, his latest restaurant, which opened in early December in downtown Spokane. His portfolio of properties also includes Eat Good in Liberty Lake, The Cellar at 317 Sherman in Coeur d’Alene, and a catering company called Le Catering Co.

Semifinalists were selected from more than 20,000 online entries for the 21 categories and announced Feb. 17. Finalists will be announced March 15. Winners will be named May 2.

Established in 1990, the prestigious James Beard Awards honor culinary professionals for excellence and achievement. The James Bard Foundation, which gives the awards, was founded in 1986 in honor of the cookbook author and teacher by the same name.

On the Web: jamesbeard.org