Oregon’s 2025 James Beard Award Winners Are Here

at the 35th annual James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards, James Beard Foundation CEO Clare Reichenbach opened the event with a speech highlighting the crucial roles immigrants play in American dining. Minutes after she finished her speech, Portland picked up its first (and only) award of the night, when JinJu Patisserie, owned by Seoul-born pastry stars Jin Caldwell and Kyurim “Q” Lee, won for Outstanding Bakery. 

JinJu was one of two Oregon-based finalists to win James Beard Awards at Monday’s ceremony in Chicago, joined by Antica Terra’s Timothy Wastell for the Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific category. A total of six Oregon nominees made it to the finals, including four from Portland.

Founded in 2019, JinJu quickly turned heads for its shatteringly crisp croissants, elaborate entremets, and gem-like chocolates, as well as Caldwell and Lee’s Las Vegas patisserie showmanship. Both chefs worked in the exacting world of Sin City restaurants and hospitality: Lee at Joël Robuchon Las Vegas, Caldwell at the Bellagio and Wynn-Las Vegas. At JinJu, they take that technical foundation and give their pastries a personal touch, incorporating flavors like yuzu and matcha and using Oregon flours for mousse cakes. 

Last year, the bakery was a finalist in the same category. Standing onstage Monday, flanked by Caldwell, Lee thanked the “amazing, amazing Portland community,” dedicating the award to the city and even shouting out Portland Monthly’s Karen Brooks. 

Wastell, on the other hand, was a first-time semifinalist in 2025, and a somewhat unusual one at that: Unlike many in the best chef categories, Wastell does not work at a restaurant, instead plating a tasting menu to pair with the nationally celebrated winery’s tasting flights. Before he began cooking in Amity, the chef previously worked at now-closed Portland restaurants such as Old Salt Marketplace and DOC, as well as local farms like Groundworks. Wastell’s win speaks the evolving culinary scene of Willamette Valley wine country, as well as his ability to transform the flora of the region into a set of dishes that balance sophistication with unpretentious charm. The chef took the medallion over Ryan Roadhouse of Portland’s omakase sensation Nodoguro and Joshua Dorcak of Ashland fine dining spot MÄS, both previous finalists in the category.  

While Scotch Lodge was a finalist for Outstanding Bar, the sultry whisky lounge lost its first nomination to Chicago’s Japanese-inspired tasting menu bar Kumiko. Similarly, Outstanding Restaurant nominee Coquine, which Brooks once called the “everyman’s Michelin spot,” did not take home the hardware that night.

The media portion of the awards was presented Sunday, and Portland had a modest showing there. New York transplant and bartender extraordinaire Jim Meehan won a Book Award for his home bartending book The Bartender’s Pantry: A Beverage Handbook for the Universal Bar. He shares the award with journalist and editor Emma Janzen, who coauthored the text, and artist Bart Sasso. In addition, the podcast team behind Loading Dock Talks, Copper & Heat, won the Audio Programming award alongside host and co-creator Preeti Mistry.

Immigration was a constant theme running throughout the ceremony. Many of the award winners had come to the United States as immigrants; they spoke of their own experiences, as well as the experiences and sacrifices of their parents and grandparents. A speaker accepting the award for Best Chef Great Lakes on behalf of Noah Sandoval of Chicago’s Oriole, who was absent, ended his brief speech with a simple “And fuck ICE,” to serious applause.