Frasca Food & Wine Named a Finalist for a James Beard Foundation Award

Today, the James Beard Foundation announced its 2019 list of finalists, dubbed the “short list.”

Colorado restaurants and chefs went into the competition with six semifinalists spanning six categories.

Frasca Food & Wine in Boulder is now a finalist for Outstanding Service, competing against Brigtsen’s in New Orleans, Canlis in Seattle, Saison and Swan Oyster Depot in San Francisco, and Zingerman’s Roadhouse in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In the past, the Northern Italian restaurant in Boulder has taken home two James Beard Awards for Outstanding Wine Program in 2013 and Best Chef Southwest in 2008.

Other nominees who didn’t move on to the finalist round include Q House, the modern Chinese restaurant in the Colfax neighborhood, a semifinalist for Best New Restaurant.

Jeb Breakell of The Wolf’s Tailor was a semifinalist for Outstanding Pastry Chef. The Sunnyside neighborhood restaurant dishes out a mix of fare that might be found in Italian kitchens and Asian night markets.

Element 47 at the Little Nell in Aspen was a semifinalist for the fourth time for Outstanding Wine Program. Little Nell is a perennial nominee, earning eight nominations in the restaurant’s history.

Todd and Scott Leopold of Leopold Bros. distillery in Denver was a semifinalist for Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer Professional for the second year.

And in the coveted Best Chef: Southwest category, none of Denver’s semifinalists moved on. They included Caroline Glover, of Annette in Aurora and Kelly Whitaker of The Wolf’s Tailor.

The James Beard Awards Gala, which also acknowledges the previously announced America’s Classics awards winners, is scheduled for Monday, May 6, in Chicago. Media awards winners will be revealed on Friday, April 26.

• Here Are the 2019 James Beard Awards Restaurant, Chef, and Media Finalists [E]

• Q House, The Wolf’s Tailor Lead the James Beard Foundation Nominations in Colorado [EDEN]