North Carolina chefs and bakers had a strong showing among the James Beard Foundation’s semifinalists, which were announced Wednesday at a news conference in Chicago.
The semifinalists included Phoebe Lawless of Scratch Bakery in Durham and Lionel Vatinet of La Farm Bakery in Cary for Outstanding Baker, a new category created this year to distinguish restaurant pastry chefs from bakers or pastry chefs who own their own businesses. It is a national award, not a regional award like Best Chef Southeast, and therefore it is pretty impressive that the Triangle has two among the list of 25.
Vatinet got the news while attending Ash Wednesday services at St. Michael The Archangel Roman Catholic Church in Cary.
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