Goin, Silverton lead nominees for 2014 James Beard Awards

1/11

Nancy Silverton of Pizzeria Mozza is nominated for outstanding chef. (Tim French / For The Times)

2/11

Ricotta, squash blossoms and tomato pizza from Pizzeria Mozza and chef Nancy Silverton. (Christine Cotter / Los Angeles Times)

3/11

Chef Michael Cimarusti of Providence and Connie and Ted’s is nominated for best chef West. (Bret Hartman / For The Times)

4/11

The interior of Cimarusit’s Providence. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

5/11

Chef Suzanne Goin, left, and wine director Caroline Styne, co-owners of Tavern Restaurant in Brentwood and Lucques. Goin is nominated for outstanding chef and Styne is nominated for outstanding restaurateur. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

6/11

Alaskan black cod with chocolate persimmons, fennel, radish and pomegranate salsa, from Lucques. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

7/11

Jon Shook, left, and Vinny Dotolo of Animal, above, and Son of a Gun in Los Angeles are nominated for best chef West. (Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Times)

8/11

Lobster roll with celery and lemon aioli from Son of a Gun. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

9/11

Fried chicken sandwich with spicy B&B pickle slaw and rooster aioli from Son of a Gun. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

10/11

“Sweet” by Valerie Gordon of Valerie Confections was nominated for a James Beard Foundation book award. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

11/11

Sherry Yard, pastry chef at Spago, will be inducted into the James Beard Who’s Who of Food and Beverage. (David Karp / For The Times)

By Jenn Harris

March 18, 2014 12:39 PM PT

It’s going to be Suzanne Goin going head-to-head with Nancy Silverton in the outstanding chef category in the James Beard Foundation’s annual awards competition. The finalists were announced Tuesday.

Considered the Academy Awards of the culinary world, there are 59 categories of awards, including best restaurant, best chef, best restaurant design, best cookbook and more.

In addition, Goin’s restaurant partner Caroline Styne was nominated for the outstanding restaurateur award and Osteria Mozza’s Dahlia Narvaez was nominated for outstanding pastry chef. Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo of Animal and Son of a Gun and Michael Cimarusti of Providence were nominated for best chef in the West.

PHOTOS: L.A. nominated restaurants and chefs

Besides Goin, honored for Lucques, and Silverton, for Pizzeria Mozza, the outstanding chef finalists are Michael Anthony of Grammercy Tavern in New York; Sean Brock of McCrady’s in Charleston, S.C.; David Kinch of Manresa in Los Gatos, Calif.; and Marc Vetri of Vetri in Philadelphia.

Pastry chef and author Sherry Yard (Spago) will also be inducted into the James Beard Who’s Who of Food and Beverage.

Local authors making it to the finals of the cookbook awards are Valerie Gordon for “Sweet” and Martha Rose Shulman with cowriter Jacquy Pfeiffer for “The Art of French Pastry.”

PHOTOS: Son of a Gun restaurant

The winners will be announced May 5 at a ceremony in New York. Tickets to the ceremony and gala reception are can be purchased at online or by calling (914) 231-6180. Tickets are $475, or $425 for James Beard Foundation members.

The winners of the book awards will be announced May 2 at the James Beard Foundation Book, Broadcast and Journalism Awards dinner at Gotham Hall.

For a full list of nominees, go to jamesbeard.org/awards.

Want more food news? Follow me on Twitter: @Jenn_Harris_

ALSO:

Suzanne Goin among IACP cookbook award winners

Michael Mina wants your photo of a comfort food dish and wine pairing

At L.A. Times Festival of Books: Jonathan Gold, Roy Choi, Suzanne Goin and more