The list of finalists for the 2024 James Beard Awards was announced this morning. Out of the eight St. Louis nominees, only chef Rob Connoley of Bulrush advanced to the final round. (In 2022 and 2023, none of the six St. Louis area semifinalists were able to advance.) Connoley had been named a “Best Chef: Midwest” semifinalist in 2022 and 2023, also for Bulrush.
Connoley—a Bridgeton native who returned here from New Mexico in 2016, after selling a foraging-forward restaurant that earned him his first James Beard Award semifinalist nomination—created buzz when he announced that Bulrush (another name for Missouri’s indigenous cattail) would feature “foods rooted in Ozark cuisine, a sub-genre of Southern cooking, using traditional foraged ingredients and wild game,” a first for the city. Interest only intensified when he published his first cookbook, Acorns & Cattails: A Modern Foraging Cookbook of Forest, Farm & Field.
Find the best food in St. Louis
Subscribe to the St. Louis Dining In and Dining Out newsletters to stay up-to-date on the local restaurant and culinary scene.
When Connoley opened Bulrush, in April 2019, guests were awed by the intimacy and intricacy of the 24-seat dining area, with the kitchen at the hub. Assisted by a small team, Connoley served as chef, server, busser, dish historian, and master of ceremonies in what was—and continues to be—a unique and unforgettable dining experience. We’ve long maintained that no restaurant in the country does what Connoley and his team do at Bulrush.
SLM dining critic Dave Lowry wrote, “Chef/owner Rob Connoley’s on a mission, using the cuisine of the Ozarks, the native foods of the peoples who populated those ancient oak-forested limestone hills, as inspiration for Bulrush’s fare. It is less a re-creation of those traditional diets, more an homage—and stunningly successful.”
Reached today, while having coffee at Telva at the Ridge, Connolly says he was literally crying and never thought he would make it to a final round. “This was my fourth semifinalist nomination, and since it’s not my first time, I understand how important this is for the future of my team… I told them that if we don’t get the award, it’s not for lack of what they’ve done…because they’ve been absolutely killing it. They fully understand the adage of ‘every plate, every customer, every night.’ I can’t think of one instance in the last five months that every plate wasn’t presented exactly how we wanted it. I’ve never been able to say that in my 15 years of cooking.”
Connoley feels that with major nominations such as this, he and his team realize “they’re representing St. Louis now,” and that “more and more people will realize we’re more than the home of T-ravs, Provel cheese, and gooey butter cake. And for somebody born and raised in St. Louis, that’s very, very cool.”
The local list of 2024 semifinalists included a restaurant group, a French pastry shop, a brewery, two new restaurants, and three chefs in the “Best Chef: Midwest” category. In the national categories, the other semifinalists included Take Root Hospitality, which received its second nomination in two years for “Outstanding Restaurateur.” Mainlander and Sado were both named to the list of 20 Best New Restaurants. La Patisserie Chouquette was nominated for “Outstanding Bakery,” its second nomination in two years. And Breese, Illinois-based Scratch Brewing Company was nominated in the Outstanding Bar category. In a regional category, two other metro area chefs were semifinalists in the Best Chef: Midwest category: Loryn Nalic for Balkan Treat Box and Philip Day for Root Food + Wine in Augusta.
The 2024 winners will be revealed at a gala at the Lyric Opera of Chicago on June 10.
