Partners Andrew Watts (left) and Vinnie Cimino Credit: Douglas Trattner

This morning, The James Beard Foundation announced its annual roundup of Semifinalists for the 2024 James Beard Awards for Restaurants and Chefs. Vinnie Cimino, chef-partner of Cordelia on East 4th Street, was the only Cleveland representative to make the cut.

“Holy shit!” exclaimed the understandably elated chef when contacted soon after the announcement went live. “I’m speechless, so humbled and grateful to represent Cleveland. This is truly a team effort, and I can’t wait to celebrate with our Cordelia family!!! Even though my name is up there, everyone at Cordelia from the kitchen to the floor to behind the scenes made this possible. I’m also thrilled to see Ohio represented so heavily.”

Cimino’s nod as a semifinalist for Best Chef: Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH) is his first. Last year, Brandon Chrostowski was nominated in the Outstanding Restaurateur category and Allie La Valle-Umansky, Jeremy Umansky, and Kenny Scott of Larder were semifinalists in the Best Chef: Great Lakes category.

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Cleveland has not had a winner since Jonathon Sawyer took honors in 2015. Before that, Michael Symon snagged the award in 2009.

Finalists for Best Chef will be announced on April 3. Winners will be announced at the annual gala held on June 10 in Chicago.

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This article appears in Jan 17-30, 2024.

For 25 years, Douglas Trattner has worked as a full-time freelance writer, editor and author. His work as co-author on Michael Symon's cookbooks have earned him four New York Times Best-Selling Author honors, while his longstanding role as Scene dining editor has garnered awards of its own.