Detroit Has Two Finalists for the 2024 James Beard Awards #DetroitFood
Congrats to Mamba Hamissi and Nadia Nijimbere of Baobab Fare and Hajime Sato of Sozai
After naming 13 restaurants and chefs in the metro Detroit and Washtenaw County area as semifinalists back in January, the James Beard Foundation is back with its full list of James 2024 Beard Awards finalists, and two Detroit-area names have made the cut.
Mamba Hamissi and Nadia Nijimbere of Baobab Fare are finalists for Outstanding Restaurateur. And in the Best Chef: Great Lakes category — which recognizes chefs operating in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio — Hajime Sato of Sozai in Clawson is a finalist. This is Sato’s second year being nominated, after being named a finalist in 2023 in the Outstanding Chef category.
Hamissi and Nijimbere have also previously been recognized by the Beards, including in semifinalists in the Best Chef: Great Lakes category in 2022. Their East African restaurant has become a mainstay of the city, as they’ve also expanded to include a food truck, Waka, and a line of packaged food items called Soko available for retail.
This year’s two Detroit-area finalists are a drop from last year: In 2023, Michigan earned 14 semifinalist nominations followed by five finalist nominations, although in the end it netted no Beard awards.
The 2024 JBFA Restaurant and Chef ceremony, in which awards for Outstanding Restaurateurs and Best Chef as well as Best New Restaurant, Emerging Chef, and the rest of the categories will be announced in person, takes place on June 10 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The full list of 2024 James Beard Awards Restaurant and Chef finalists are here.
Disclosure: Some Vox Media staff members are part of the voting body for the James Beard Awards. Eater is partnering with the James Beard Foundation to livestream the awards in 2024. All editorial content is produced independently of the James Beard Foundation.
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