Bastion’s Josh Habiger Named James Beard Finalist for Best Chef: Southeast

The James Beard Foundation brought its traveling road show to Nashville Wednesday morning to announce the finalists for the 2023 Restaurant and Chef Awards. Four local chefs and three talented restaurateurs had previously been named as semifinalists and were looking to advance from the “long list” to the “short list” ahead of the gala awards ceremony in Chicago on Monday, June 5.

In the end, Josh Habiger of Bastion was named a finalist for Best Chef: Southeast, his first trip to the finals after three years on the long list (2018-2020). The other Nashville representatives from the long list who did not make it to the finals were Clinton Gray, Derrick Moore and Emanuel Reed with Slim & Husky’s Pizza Beeria for Outstanding Restaurateur; Julio Hernandez of Maiz de la Vida as Emerging Chef; Noelle Marchetti of Yolan for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker; and Trevor Moran of Locust for Best Chef: Southeast.

The announcement took place at the Musicians Hall of Fame at Municipal Auditorium, with a short coffee hour where assembled culinary luminaries mingled with invited guests while sipping on lattes emblazoned with the James Beard Foundation logo. Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp CEO Butch Spyridon welcomed the assemblage to the event, noting how important the local food scene has been in transforming Nashville into a world-class destination. 

Spyridon then introduced James Beard Foundation CEO Clare Reichenbach, who began her remarks by offering the foundation’s sympathy to Nashville after this week's Covenant School shooting. Spyridon gave her a guitar signed by all the chefs who had been featured at the Soundbites of Nashville tasting event the previous evening — hopefully Reichenbach knows that the overhead bins of flights in and out of Nashville are often filled with guitar cases, and she'd better check in early!

Reichenbach and other representatives of the JBF shared the finalists in all the categories in addition to announcing the America’s Classics, Humanitarian of the Year, Leadership and Lifetime Achievement awards. While it was disappointing for the rest of the nominees to get shut out from achieving finalist status, this is definitely one of those situations in which “it’s an honor just to be nominated.” Kudos to all of them!

The crowd erupted in applause when Habiger was announced as a finalist. He'll compete against four other excellent regional chefs: 

• Sam Fore, Tuk Tuk Sri Lankan Bites, Lexington, Ky.
• Sam Hart, Counter-, Charlotte, N.C.
• Terry Koval, The Deer and the Dove, Decatur, Ga.
• Paul Smith, 1010 Bridge, Charleston, W.Va.

For better or worse, sometimes winning a James Beard Award comes down to “whose turn it is” after multiple nominations. Habiger’s fellow nominees are all first-timers, so that may act in his favor. But the awards competition has changed a lot over the past few years, with several first-time nominees from nontraditional venues like pop-ups, barbecue shacks and food trucks winning the big prizes, so it’s anybody’s game.

However, I’ll stack Habiger’s work at Bastion up against anyone in the country. Never one to stand in the spotlight, Josh keeps his head down, concentrating on creating fantastic, innovative food (plus a killer set list on the turntable), and leads a small kitchen staff who contribute their own genius to a meal at Bastion. The only bad news is that if you thought it was tough to get a reservation at Bastion before, prepare to get those mice to clicking to grab a spot. (At the time of this writing, there were two spots available for tonight at 5:30 and tomorrow night at 8:30. You’re welcome!)