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FACEBOOK Inside the Langbaan restaurant. |
Asian American chefs and restaurants won prestigious James Beard awards June 10, considered the Oscars of the culinary world.
Portland, Oregon's Langbaan, serving Thai food, was named the country’s most outstanding restaurant at the James Beard Foundation Awards ceremony June 10 in Chicago.
According to the James Beard foundation, the award goes to an establishment that “demonstrates consistent excellence in food, atmosphere, hospitality and operations, while contributing positively to its broader community.”
Portland, Oregon's Langbaan, serving Thai food, was named the country’s most outstanding restaurant at the James Beard Foundation Awards ceremony June 10 in Chicago.
According to the James Beard foundation, the award goes to an establishment that “demonstrates consistent excellence in food, atmosphere, hospitality and operations, while contributing positively to its broader community.”
FYI: Here Is the Full List of James Beard Awards 2024 Winners including a number of other Asian American chefs.“This 24-seat restaurant, which channels sort of a Bangkok night market vibe, has been instrumental to introducing Portland to authentic addictive flavors of Thai cooking,” awards show commentators said. “Whether it’s the bright salads, mouth-numbing larb, complex curries … Langbaan is the most fun you can have in Portland on a night out.”
“Thai food had much, much more than what Americans had seen.” said Langbaan owner Akkapong Ninsom. The restaurant changes its menu every two months to focus on a different region in Thailand and one of the first to offer a Thai tasting menu.
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Courtesy of Kuya Lord Chef Lord Maynard Llera at work. |
Additionally, Filipino American Lord Maynard Llera, owner of Kuya Lord in Los Angeles won the James Beard Award for Best Chef of California in ceremonies held in Chicago..
"It's just surreal," he said after his win Monday night. "I came here 20 years ago from the Philippines with a dream of opening a restaurant."
This is his first James Beard Award win, and the only award Los Angeles took home this year.
The award brings attention to Philippine cuisine, which has long been overlooked while other Asian cuisnes won acceptance and praise in the US. The award puts Kuya Lord on the nation's culinary map alongside Chicago’s tasting menu restaurant Kasama, San Francisco's Abaca and Seattle’s Musang.
Befor the Beard honors, Kuya Lord, a 20-seat over-the-counter restaurant, was drawing raves from local food critics.
Los Angeles Times restaurant critic Bill Addison called the Llera “a gripping new expressionist of Filipino cooking.”
“The finesse and power of Llera’s cooking has transitioned seamlessly from pop-up to restaurant,” Addison noted.
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