EDWINS Butcher Shop 13024 Buckeye Rd., Cleveland Since opening EDWINS Leadership & Restaurant Institute, Brandon Chrostowski has been single-minded in his mission to provide a culinary training center for ex-convicts. With almost no exception, those who do advance and land jobs stay out of prison because, as the moniker suggests, education wins. When EDWINS Butcher Shop opened in 2018, it became the Buckeye-Shaker neighborhood’s first fresh meat vendor in almost 50 years. Customers can pop into the 3,300-square-foot shop for rotisserie chickens, braised meats, smoked barbecue and hot soups. Coolers and freezers stock pickles, burgers, ground beef, stocks, bones, condiments and beverages. The shop also sells carryout beer and wine. Credit: Douglas Trattner

Cleveland will be represented in the 2023 James Beard Awards, with Brandon Chrostowski of EDWINS Leadership and Restaurant Institute snagging a coveted “finalist” slot in the category of Outstanding Restaurateur.  The winners will be announced at the ceremony in Chicago on June 5.

Sadly, the trio of chefs at Larder — Allie La Valle-Umansky, Jeremy Umansky, and Kenny Scott — who were semifinalists in the Best Chef: Great Lakes, did not make this final cut. Umansky was a finalist for the 2022 James Beard Foundation Media Awards, Larder was semifinalist for Best New Restaurant in 2019, and the three were semifinalists for the Best Chef Great Lakes category in 2020.

Chrostowski has earned national attention for his work at EDWINS Leadership and Restaurant Institute, because he is a “restaurateur who uses their establishment(s) as a vehicle for building community, demonstrates creativity in entrepreneurship, integrity in restaurant operations, and is making efforts to create a sustainable work culture.”

We’ll be watching the results in June.

See the full list of finalists here.

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This article appears in Mar 22 – Apr 5, 2023.

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.