Boulder's Frasca Wins Outstanding Restaurant at James Beard Awards

The James Beard Foundation, the American standard for the food and drink industry, held its annual award ceremony tonight at the Lyric Opera in Chicago. A running theme of the awards was the history of Indigenous people, enslaved people and immigrants who laid the foundation of contemporary cuisine throughout the U.S. Many of the award winners were people of color, immigrants and children of immigrants.

But not the big winner: Frasca Food and Wine, the Michelin award-winning Boulder creation of master sommelier Bobby Stuckey and chef Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson, celebrated its twentieth anniversary last year, and now is bringing home the medallion for Outstanding Restaurant. Frasca had won Outstanding Wine Program in 2013 and the Outstanding Service award in 2019, but this was its first time nominated in the Outstanding Restaurant category.

And that was Colorado's only win. Raise a glass!

In January, fourteen Colorado chefs were named James Beard Award semifinalists; only one made the cut to the finals for Best Chef: Mountain region. Penelope Wong, who launched her restaurant Yuan Wonton as a food truck before moving into a Park Hill brick-and-mortar, was a finalist for the second year in a row...but didn't win.
Alma Fonda Fina was a first-time finalist in the Best New Restaurant category. It earned a Michelin star in 2024, less than a year after opening; it was the first restaurant opened by husband-and-wife team Johnny and Kasie Curiel, though they opened three more in quick succession: Cozobi Fonda Fina in Boulder, Mezcaleria Alma next door to Alma Fonda Fina, and Alteño, which opened in March in Cherry Creek. It, too, did not take top prize.

Yacht Club has racked up several honors since its 2021 debut. Owners McLain Hedges and Mary Allison Wright were finalists in the Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service category. Carolyn Nugent and Alen Ramos of Poulette Bakeshop in Parker were up for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker.

While five of the Colorado finalists are in the metro area, Josh Niernberg of Bin 707 Foodbar in Grand Junction was up for Outstanding Chef.

In 2023, Colorado's culinary talent was shut out of the final Beard awards completely. But last year, Id Est Hospitality Group founders Kelly and Erika Whitaker took home Outstanding Restaurateur; and Matt Vawter, owner of Rootstalk and Radicato in Breckenridge, won the Best Chef: Mountain Region honor.

Here's the complete list of 2025 James Beard Award finalists from Colorado:

Outstanding Restaurant
Frasca Food and Wine, Boulder

Best New Restaurant
Alma Fonda Fina

Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker
Carolyn Nugent and Alen Ramos, Poulette Bakeshop, Parker

Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service
McLain Hedges and Mary Allison Wright, Yacht Club

Best Chef: Mountain (CO, ID, MT, UT, WY)
Penelope Wong, Yuan Wonton

Outstanding Chef
Josh Niernberg, Bin 707 Foodbar, Grand Junction

The complete list of 2025 James Beard Award is online at jamesbeard.org.