Nashville’s James Beard history splits into two eras: the long-running American Classics recognition for places like Arnold’s Country Kitchen, and the post-2018 wave of chef-driven restaurants that have put Nashville in serious competition for the national dining conversation.
The American Classics Award
Arnold’s Country Kitchen (605 8th Ave S, The Gulch) received the James Beard American Classics Award in 2009. This award recognizes restaurants of long-standing quality that reflect the character of their communities. Arnold’s, a cafeteria-line meat-and-three that has operated since 1982, earned it on the strength of its roast beef, its turnip greens, and its chess pie. The award was not ironic. It was accurate.
Strategic Hospitality: Nashville’s James Beard Incubator
The Goldberg brothers, Benjamin and Max, who founded Strategic Hospitality in 2006, have been nominated as Outstanding Restaurateur by the James Beard Foundation in 2015, 2016, 2018 through 2020, and again in 2025. Their portfolio includes The Catbird Seat (Michelin one star, 2025), Bastion, Locust, Kisser, Henrietta Red, and others. More significantly, the chefs who have cycled through their restaurants have generated their own nominations.
2025 James Beard Semifinalists
Best New Restaurant: Bad Idea (East Nashville, Lao-inspired cuisine). Also named to the New York Times Top 50 Restaurants in 2024.
Best Chef: Southeast: Dung “Junior” Vo of Noko (701 Porter Rd, East Nashville), and Julio Hernandez of Maiz de la Vida (606 8th Ave S). Vo is a two-year consecutive semifinalist (2024 and 2025). Hernandez, a Colombian-born chef who started his restaurant with pandemic stimulus funds, was semifinalist again in 2025.
Best Chef: Southeast: Jake Howell of Peninsula.
Outstanding Restaurateur: Strategic Hospitality, including partner Josh Habiger (Bastion).
2024 James Beard Semifinalists
Best New Restaurant: Kisser (East Nashville, Japanese comfort food from chef duo Leina Horii and Brian Lea). Kisser also appeared on the New York Times 50 Best Restaurants list for 2023.
Best Chef: Southeast: Trevor Moran of Locust (12 South area), Dung “Junior” Vo of Noko. Moran received significant New York Times coverage in connection with his nomination.
Outstanding Bakery: D’Andrews Bakery and Cafe.
Best Chef: Southeast: Arnold Myint of International Market (Pan-Asian cuisine).
2023 Nominees
Josh Habiger (Bastion), Julio Hernandez (Maiz de la Vida). Bastion is a 24-seat, six-course rotating tasting menu restaurant in Wedgewood-Houston.
The Pattern
Nashville’s current James Beard cycle reflects a specific generation of chefs working in a city that is now capable of supporting serious restaurant ambition. Noko, Locust, Kisser, Bastion, and Bad Idea are all operating within a few miles of each other, and all have received sustained national attention. The city is no longer being included in national food conversations as a surprise or a curiosity. It is there on its own merits.
For the visitor, this translates to practical information: Noko (East Nashville) and Locust (12 South) are the two most nationally recognized restaurants in the city outside of The Catbird Seat’s tasting menu format. Getting into either requires advance planning. Noko’s tasting menu and a la carte are available by reservation. Locust opens its first-of-month reservation window for dinner, with limited walk-in availability.
Sources
- Visit Nashville, “The Catbird Seat Reopens in its New Home,” visitmusiccity.com
- Strategic Hospitality, strategichospitality.com
- James Beard Foundation, jamesbeard.org (2024 and 2025 semifinalist announcements)
- Nashville Lifestyles, “Arnold’s Country Kitchen,” nashvillelifestyles.com
- Arnold’s Country Kitchen, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org
- OpenTable, Catbird Seat listing, opentable.com