Charlotte’s food scene is only getting hotter — and the James Beard nods have confirmed it
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Inside Charlotte’s James Beard restaurant semifinalist nominations
Meet Charlotte’s talented semifinalists who have been nominated as semifinalists for James Beard Awards in 2025.
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There’s no denying that much of Charlotte life revolves around the city’s restaurants.
Nostalgia runs high for the cozy places families have gathered for decades to sit down with a comforting meal and chitchat with servers they’ve known since they were teenagers. Yet each year, plenty of restaurants come and go. In this town, what’s new and what’s hot in the moment tend to catch the most attention.
PR teams ramp up excitement as new restaurants come along, sharing details about what’s coming and what to expect. Influencers and reporters pack into pre-opening gatherings, shining portable lights over perfectly plated sandwiches and steaks to capture enticing images for TikTok accounts and Instagram feeds.
And even before the doors pop open, reservations begin filing up. Many top restaurants in Charlotte get so much attention that you can forget about getting a table unless you’ve planned weeks in advance. Even then, 5 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. slots are often the best you’ll find.
All that buzz doesn’t automatically translate into national recognition. A Michelin Guide for Charlotte doesn’t exist. (Their loss, right?) But the James Beard Awards have woken up to the immense talent that our chefs and beverage professionals have to offer.
The mission of the James Beard Awards is to “celebrate, support, and elevate the people behind America’s food culture and champion a standard of good food anchored in talent, equity, and sustainability.”
It’s not just the food and drinks that catch the judges eyes. You’ve got to bring the chops, but making a difference in the community stands out just as much.
This year, three restaurant industry professionals in Charlotte have been nominated as semifinalists for a James Beard Award.
- Community Matters Cafe, where executive chef Chayil Johnson leads the kitchen, is centered entirely upon training Charlotte Rescue Mission rehab graduates the life skills needed to re-enter the community, along with the workforce. Johnson is a semifinalist for Best Chef: Southeast.
- Restaurant Constance, built from the ground up by owner and chef Sam Diminich, was created with a focus on holistic wellness that starts on farms. The menu flows from local farmers and purveyors, and its drink selection — focused on non-alcoholic beverages — grew out of Diminich’s own struggles and path to healing. Diminich’s Your Farms Your Table restaurant group also partners with treatment centers to provide high-quality meals. Diminich is a semifinalist for Best Chef: Southeast.
- Supperland, where beverage director Colleen Hughes delights diners with playfully delicious craft cocktails, has brought life back to a former church in Plaza Midwood. The painstaking renovation has led the Tonidandel-Brown restaurant group to become a leader in the city’s preservation movement, taking on moving a historic building and renovating another soon-to-be-open restaurant set in a former church, Leluia Hall. Hughes also volunteers extensively with the U.S. Bartenders Guild. Hughes is a semifinalist for Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service.
In a series of profiles, we’ll introduce you to these professionals at the top of their game, so you can get to know who they are and what their food and drinks are all about.
The one thing that Johnson, Diminich and Hughes all have in common: A supernatural ability to layer flavors and create a juxtaposition of textures to elevate what could otherwise be an ordinary meal into a full-on experience.
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This story was originally published January 30, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
