2025 James Beard Awards semifinalists include Pizza Expo keynote speaker Sarah Minnick and World Champion Pizza Maker Michael Vakneen
More than a dozen chefs and restaurants specializing in pizza are semifinalists for the 2025 James Beard Awards, according to list of nominees posted Tuesday.
Sarah Minnick, operator of Lovely’s Fifty Fifty in Portland Oregon, is a semifinalist for Outstanding Chef. The pizzeria recently celebrated its 15th year in business.
Minnick is giving the keynote address at the International Pizza Expo on March 25 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, where she will speak about her path to the pizza industry and the innovative ingredients and combinations on the menu at Lovely’s Fifty Fifty. Tickets are available at the Saver rate until Jan. 31.
Outstanding Restauranteur semifinalists
Three pizzerias are semifinalists for James Beard Awards in the Outstanding Restauranteur category, which celebrates the individuals behind individual restaurants and restaurant groups:
- Douglass Williams owns MIDA restaurant group, which operates Boston-based Apizza. The pizzeria, located in The Hub on Causeway, features New Haven and Roman-style pizzas. Williams also operates MIDA, an upscale Italian restaurant with four locations in Boston.
- Elliot Nelson of McNellie’s Group in Oklahoma operates Tulsa-based Elgin Park Brewery, a pizzeria, brewery and sports bar. The offerings at Elgin Park include Pickle Pizza with Alfredo Sauce and Detroit-style pizza.
- Gerard Craft is the owner of Niche Food Group, which includes Pastaria, a St. Louis-based Italian restaurant featuring Neopolitan-style wood-fired pizzas and fresh pasta.
- Sara Stayer and Martin Stayer are the team behind Nonno’s, a Houston-based tavern pizza operator with retro décor that includes Tiffany-style Pizza Hut ceiling lamps and video games.
Another semifinalist in the Outstanding Restauranteur category, Sof Hospitality Group, operated by Itai Ben Eli and Itamar Levy, operate Israeli-inspired restaurant concepts including Badolina Bakery, which features sweet and savory pastries such as pizza with roasted tomato sauce, ricotta, mozzarella and oregano.
Outstanding Hospitality semifinalists
Two pizzerias are semifinalists for James Beard Awards in the Outstanding Hospitality category:
- Mucci’s, an Italian restaurant featuring pizza and pasta in the West End of St. Paul, Minnesota, offers innovative specials such as a sausage and roasted corn pizza with molé sauce. Its traditional offerings – cheese, pepperoni and meatball pizzas – are sold at grocery stores around the Twin Cities.
- Simon’s in Des Moines, Iowa, is operated by Simon Goheen and features live jazz on Wednesdays and Fridays. The restaurant offers red sauce, white sauce and specialty pizzas.
Best Chef semifinalists
Pizza specialists from Alaska to West Virginia are semifinalists in the Best Chef categories, which are broken down by region:
Mid-Atlantic: Dan Richer, owner of Jersey City, New Jersey-based Razza, is a semifinalist in the mid-Atlantic region, prides himself on making “the best Neapolitan pizza that you better not call Neapolitan pizza.” A 2011 semifinalist in the James Beard Awards’ Rising Star Chef category, his expansive menu includes three styles of Margherita pizza and ingredients such as hazlenuts from Rutgers University. He and makes a “Pumpkin Pie” pizza with winter squash, shaved onions and breadcrumbs.
Northeast: Robert Andreozzi is the owner of Pizzeria Marvin in Providence, Rhode Island, a board member of Farm Fresh Rhode Island and co-founder of Pizza Wine. His offerings include Chowdah Pie with clams, Bon Chovy Pizza with anchovy and escarole as well as a carbonara pizza featuring pancetta and pecorino egg sauce.
Northwest and Pacific: Beau Schooler, executive chef at In Bocca Al Lupo in Juneau, Alaska, is a six-time James Beard Award nominee and 2023 finalist. His 12-inch wood-fired pizzas are made with stone-milled flour. Specialty menu items include the Leeky Goat: a roasted garlic pizza with bacon, leek purée and goat cheese.
Southwest: Michael Vakneen, a World Champion Pizza Maker, is a partner and head pizzaiolo at Double Zero Pie & Pub in Las Vegas. In addition to favorites such as pepperoni and mushroom, Vakneen creates pizzas such as Short Rib All’arancia and Eggplant Caponata. Patrons can choose from Vakneen’s chili crunch sauce, Calabrian pepper purée, red and green pesto and 00 sauce.
Best of the Rest
Other chefs nominated for regional Best Chef awards aren’t devoted exclusively to pizza but do offer pizza at their restaurants:
- Ari Weiswasser, the chef and owner of Glen Ellen Star in Sonoma County, is a semifinalist for Best Chef in California. While the restaurant is not strictly a pizzeria, Weiswasser does offer wood-fired pizzas such as a white sauce pie with maitake mushrooms, egg yolk jam and Calabrian chili.
- Antimo DiMeo, the executive chef at Bardea Food & Drink in Wilmington, Delaware, is a semifinalist for Best Chef in the mid-Atlantic region. In addition to family-style main dishes and pasta, DiMeo offers four pizzas, including the Spicy Honey pepperoni pizza and Margherita dop with piennolo tomato.
- Arwen Rice, the executive chef at Red or White – a wine and gourmet center with outlets in Birmingham, Fairhope and Mobile, Alabama – is a semifinalist for Best Chef in the South. In addition to gourmet charcuterie boards, Rice creates 12-inch wood-fired pizzas such as the eponymous “Red or White” with roasted red pepper sauce, Italian sausage and ricotta. The Giuseppe features Bolognese sauce with bacon, fontina, roasted garlic, Arugula and Calabrian pepper vinaigrette.
- Chase Collier, head chef at Ristorante Abruzzi in Charleston, West Virginia, is a semifinalist for Best Chef in the Southeast. He prepares 9- and 14-inch stone-oven pizzas in addition to traditional Italian favorites and main courses.