The shortlist of nominees for this year's James Beard Awards is out, and while San Francisco has been largely snubbed once again, there are a handful of Bay Area honorees.

The days of having a half dozen or more SF chefs and restaurants included in the James Beard Award nominations are no more, as the awards' nominating committee continues its efforts to broaden its scope and get more geographically diverse in its nominees. But that is good news for several Bay Area chefs whose work is being recognized for the first time this year.

At the top of the list is Geoff Davis of Oakland's barely eight-month-old Burdell, who is nominated in the Best Chef: California category. This is a first nomination for Davis, an alum of the kitchens of Fifth Floor and Cyrus, who was featured in 2019 at the James Beard House in the Iconoclast Dinner Experience series.

Also nominated in the Best Chef: California category is another Cyrus alum and Top Chef Season 15 contestant Rogelio Garcia, executive chef at Auro, the restaurant at the Four Seasons Resort in Calistoga. Before opening Auro, Garcia was executive chef at Luce at San Francisco's InterContinental Hotel, and he is also an alum of the kitchens at Spruce and The French Laundry.

Sacramento Japanese restaurant Kru and its chef Buu "Billy" Ngo also got a nod in this category. And Chez Noir, down in Carmel, got a nod for Best New Restaurant.

San Francisco's The Morris is nominated this year in the category of Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program. And Pacific Cocktail Haven received a nomination for Outstanding Bar Program.

See the full list of national nominees here.

A couple of San Francisco spots that were on this year's "long list" of semifinalists, Hayes Valley's Kiln (which was a semifinalist for Best New Restaurant), Dabao Singapore (chef Emily Lim appeared in the Emerging Chef category), and Rintaro (chef Sylvan Mishima Brackett was a semifinalist for Outstanding Chef), did not make the cut as finalists.

San Francisco was similarly not too well represented in last year's nominees, but perhaps we were too spoiled with recognition in the last decade. It was not uncommon in the 2010s to have San Francisco restaurants appear regularly in the Outstanding Restaurant and Best New Restaurant categories, and SF chefs mostly dominated in the previously named Best Chef: West/Best Chef: Pacific category. It was also standard procedure at the James Beard Awards to renominate notable chefs year after year until they won.

That does not seem to be the case anymore, as one of last year's Bay Area nominees for Best Chef: California, the team of Kyle and Katina Connaughton at Healdsburg's Michelin three-starred SingleThread, did not get a re-nomination. Reem Assil of SF's Reem's, similarly, was nominated for Outstanding Chef in the country in 2022, but has not reappeared in that category, so this renomination practice appears to be finished — and maybe the idea is that it's an honor just to be nominated once and they're trying to spread the love.

The last San Francisco chefs to win Best Chef: California were Brandon Jew of Mister Jiu's, in 2022, and Dominque Crenn of Atelier Crenn in 2018 — when the award was still called Best Chef: West.

After San Francisco was broadly snubbed in the James Beard nominations in 2023, a number of local chefs and restaurateurs told the Chronicle that while it may be a nice insider-y honor, the Beard Awards don't really matter that much anyway — unlike the Michelin Guide's stars and Bib Gourmand honors, which come with immediate boosts to business.

Other SF restaurants that have been honored by the James Beard Awards include Quince (Chef Michael Tusk, Best Chef: Pacific in 2011), Benu (Chef Corey Lee, Best Chef: West, 2017; Outstanding Wine Program, 2019), Boulevard (Outstanding Restaurant, 2012), Zuni Cafe (Outstanding Service, 2019), State Bird Provisions (Best New Restaurant, 2013; Best Chef: West for Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski, 2017), Delfina (Craig Stoll, Best Chef: Pacific, 2008), A16 (Outstanding Wine Program James Beard Award, 2015), Bar Agricole (Outstanding Bar Program, 2019), b. patisserie (Belinda Leong and Michel Suas, Best Baker, 2018), La Taqueria (America's Classic Award, 2017), Yank Sing (America's Classic Award, 2009).

The Slanted Door, which remains closed but is supposed to reopen someday, also won Outstanding Restaurant in 2014.

Previously: James Beard Award Semifinalists Include Hayes Valley's Kiln and Rintaro Chef Sylvan Mishima Brackett

Top image: The Morris, photo via Instagram