St. Louis was well-represented at the James Beard Foundation’s 2026 Restaurant and Chef Awards—known as “the Oscars of the food world”—hosted at the historic Lyric Opera of Chicago.
In late March, the finalists were announced, including a number of St. Louis chefs and restaurants: Loryn Nalic (Balkan Treat Box, Telva at the Ridge) and Nick Bognar (Sado, Pavilion) for “Best Chef: Midwest,” Louie for “Outstanding Hospitality,” Robin for “Best New Restaurant,” and Vicia for “Outstanding Restaurant.”
At the awards Monday night, Nalic was named the winner of the “Best Chef: Midwest” category. While accepting the award, she was joined on stage by her husband, Edo, and several members of her restaurant team.
“First and foremost, I want to thank our team, past and present. Without you guys, none of this is possible,” she said. “I’d like to thank my family. St. Louis. Volim te Bosnia [I love you, Bosnia]. Thank you to the James Beard Foundation for allowing us to have a place to talk about Balkan and Bosnian food. Today, I was thinking back to when I met Edo, and this family was separated by war. And this restaurant brought them back together again. That is probably one of my proudest achievements.”
She paused, overwhelmed with emotion. “She did not rehearse this—I promise,” Edo quipped.
Nalic added, “Thank you so much.”
In the “Best New Restaurant” category, Robin fell short to Lei in New York.
Providence in Los Angeles won for “Outstanding Hospitality,” the category in which Louie was a finalist.
And in the “Outstanding Restaurant” category, in which Vicia was a finalist, the winner was Kalaya in Philadelphia.
Read more about the honorees below.
The Background
In addition to the finalists, St. Louis boasted two other semifinalists this year. In the “Best Chef: Midwest” category, Phillip Day (Root Food + Wine) and Alex Henry (El Molino del Sureste) were both honored in the awards’ first round.
The James Beard Awards have largely eluded St. Louis for quite some time: There hasn’t been a local chef winner since 2017, when Sidney Street Café chef/owner Kevin Nashan took home the honors for “Best Chef: Midwest.” Gerard Craft won the award for Niche in 2015.
The Finalists
Loryn Nalic, Balkan Treat Box
Nalic and her husband, Edo, opened Balkan Treat Box as a food truck in 2017. The pair founded the truck as a way to shine a light on Balkan cuisine, which has a robust presence in and around the Bevo Mill area, thanks to the area’s large Bosnian diaspora, but was not widely known outside of that community. They found instant success, and soon expanded their brand to include a brick and mortar in Webster Groves in 2019, as well as a coffee and daytime concept, Telva at the Ridge, which opened in Webster Groves in 2024.
Nalic was previously nominated in this category in 2020, 2023, 2024, and 2025. She was named a finalist in 2025. When she was named a semifinalist for the 2026 awards, she told SLM, “We’re honored to receive a James Beard nomination. None of this happens without our incredible team, our restaurant community, and the city of St. Louis. We are incredibly grateful that people keep showing up and supporting what we do.”
When later named a finalist, Nalic expressed her gratitude and sense of being overwhelmed: “You feel so much gratitude. We all work so hard, and it’s never not shocking, because there are so many talented and amazing human beings out there doing this work. To be somebody that is recognized for their work is overwhelming.”
Nick Bognar, Sado and Pavilion
After honing his culinary skills at the acclaimed Uchiko in Austin, Texas, as well as at a sushi restaurant in Cincinnati, Ohio, Bognar returned to St. Louis in 2017. Back in town, he helped his parents breathe new life into their longtime Japanese mainstay, the former Nippon Tei, where he quickly set the standard for sushi excellence in the area. In 2019, he opened the acclaimed Indo in Botanical Heights, where he merged his passion for Japanese cuisine with his Thai heritage. Following Indo’s success, Bognar and his family closed Nippon Tei and opened the critical darling Sado on the Hill in 2023 as a celebration of fresh fish, sushi and Japanese cuisine. Last year, they added the omakase concept Pavilion on site, where Bognar continues to up the ante on Japanese food and sushi in St. Louis.
Bognar’s previous James Beard awards include a “Rising Star Chef” nomination in 2019 and 2020. Bognar’s flagship restaurant, indo, also received a semifinal nod for “Best New Restaurant.” Reached for comment when he was named a semifinalist for the 2026 awards, he said, “It’s amazing to see STL represented so well. We have such an incredible and unique food scene. I’m always thankful to be listed, so we can continue to make the food we are passionate about. It’s so important for us to receive recognition for all of the work the teams do at all three spots. I always feel extra motivation to keep pushing our food forward and continuing to make our workplace better each year.”
Robin for “Best New Restaurant“
Prior to opening Robin, chef-owner Alec Schingel worked at several prominent restaurants in St. Louis and beyond, including The Chase Park Plaza, Niche, McCready’s, and The MacIntosh in Charleston, South Carolina. He took his culinary journey internationally to Belgium’s In de Wulf before returning to the States to hone his skills at New York’s Blue Hill at Stone Barns, where he worked alongside Vicia’s Michael and Tara Gallina. Schingel returned home and helped the Gallinas open Vicia as their chef de cuisine. Later, he became executive chef at Winslow’s Table before launching The Robin Project, which ultimately led to the creation of Robin Restaurant.
The Maplewood prix fixe concept opened last March was nominated for “Best New Restaurant,” a national recognition that celebrates restaurants that opened between October 1, 2024 and September 30, 2025. This is Schingel’s first James Beard Award nomination, though the nod comes on the heels of Robin’s placement on this year’s New York Times restaurant list of the 50 best places to eat in America right now. “We’re feeling very honored,” Schingel said earlier. “I’m very happy for the whole team and happy for the other St. Louis nominees.”
Louie for “Outstanding Hospitality“
Owner Matt McGuire is a longtime hospitality veteran in St. Louis, respected for his former restaurant, the late King Louie’s, which was one of the most formative restaurants in the area’s modern dining scene. He’s also held prominent positions at other top restaurants, including Monarch, Niche Food Group, and Central Table Food Hall before opening Louie in 2017. In addition to Louie, McGuire also operates Wright’s Tavern, Box Hill Grocer and the forthcoming Gigi, which is slated to open later this year.
A first-time James Beard Award nominee, Louie was recognized in the “Outstanding Hospitality” category, a national nod which recognizes “a restaurant, bar, or other food and drinking establishment that fosters a sense of hospitality among its customers and staff that serves as a beacon for the community and demonstrates consistent excellence in food, atmosphere, hospitality, and operations.”
Reached for comment when Louie was named a semifinalist, McGuire emphasized the team effort that goes into such recognition. “We are just really grateful for the recognition,” McGuire said. “What Jordan, Coco, Alex and Sean all do there, every single night…showing up with so much empathy and care for our guests is really impressive. This way of being has rubbed off on everyone there. It’s a part of the place’s DNA now.”
Vicia for “Outstanding Restaurant“
Michael and Tara Gallina honed their craft and passion for the hospitality industry at the acclaimed Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York, which won the James Beard Award for “Outstanding Restaurant” in 2015, when Michael was its chef de cuisine and Tara was its dining room’s senior captain.
Wanting to open a restaurant of their own, the Gallinas returned to St. Louis and opened Vicia in 2017. The restaurant garnered instant acclaim for its fiercely farm-to-table ethos and insistence that vegetables should receive equal billing to other components of a restaurant menu. Over the years, the Gallinas and Martinez have built upon their success through their restaurant group, Take Root Hospitality, which now includes the neighborhood spot Winslow’s Table.
This is Vicia’s first nomination in the prestigious “Outstanding Restaurant” category, which represents the best of the best in the nation’s dining scene. The Gallinas and their restaurant group, Take Root Hospitality, are no stranger to the James Beard Awards, having been nominated eight prior times: a 2025 “Emerging Chef” finalist nod for chef de cuisine Jane Sacro Chatham, a 2024 semifinalist nomination for “Outstanding Restaurateur,” a 2018 semifinalist nomination for “Best New Restaurant” (for Vicia), a 2022 semifinalist nod for “Best Wine Program” and “Best Bar Program” (for Vicia), and a semifinalist nod for “Best Chef: Midwest” in 2019 and 2020 (for Michael Gallina).
“What can we say? This is the ultimate recognition for the hard work of our entire team,” Tara said earlier, when Vicia was named a semifinalist. “When Michael and I set out to open Vicia, we wanted to create something unique, inspiring, and truly reflective of not only our creative spirits but the hard work and passions of those in our community—the farmers, the growers, the artisans, and the talented team that works with us. We feel proud not only to have accomplished that but to be doing it for almost a decade! I’ve known in my heart that Vicia is an exceptional restaurant in this country. I’ve traveled all over and always walk away from other cities with a stronger appreciation for St. Louis and what Vicia creates every day. But to see it recognized on a national scale by the Beard Foundation is special beyond words. Michael and I had the pleasure of being on the stage back in 2015 with chef Dan [Barber] and the Blue Hill at Stone Barns team when we won the award for ‘Outstanding Restaurant.’ It’s surreal to see our own place on the same list!”
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