Cordelia owners Andrew Watts (left) and Vinnie Cimino Credit: Douglas Trattner
The James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards are taking place this evening at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The event – often billed as the Oscars of the food world – is being live-streamed courtesy of Eater.

Cleveland’s lone representative in the ceremony, Vinnie Cimino of Cordelia, came up short in the Best Chef: Great Lakes category. It was the chef’s first year as a finalist. The winner in the category was Hajime Sato of Sozai in Clawson, Mich.

Cimino and partner Andrew Watts opened Cordelia just shy of two years ago in the former home of Lola on East 4th Street. In that short time, the restaurant has garnered attention from around the nation thanks to its confident cooking, spirited atmosphere, and convivial “Midwest nice” hospitality.

While disappointing, the loss isn’t without local precedent. It took Michael Symon three bites at the apple before winning his James Beard Award for Best Chef in 2009, and Jonathon Sawyer was nominated four years in a row, finally snagging the medallion in 2015.

Judging by Cimino’s meteoric rise in the food world, we will doubtless watch as the chef garners future nominations and, ultimately, a James Beard Award.

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This article appears in Best of Cleveland 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.