Sean P. MeansTwo Salt Lake City chefs have risen to the final round in the James Beard Awards, considered the most prestigious honor for restaurants and bars in the United States.
Travis Herbert at Felt Bar & Eatery, at 341 S. Main St., and Nick Zocco at Urban Hill, in the Post District at 510 S. 300 West, were chosen among the five finalists for best chef in the Mountain region, covering Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.
Their regional competitors are two Denver chefs — Johnny Curiel at Alma Fonda Fina and Penelope Wong at Yuan Wonton — along with Eric James Reynolds at Herb & Omni in Whitefish, Montana.
The James Beard Foundation announced the finalists Tuesday. The award winners will be announced at a ceremony in Chicago on June 15.
For Zocco, it’s a repeat honor. He was named a regional finalist in 2024 and a semifinalist last year.
(Carla Boecklin) Chef Nick Zocco, of Urban Hill in Salt Lake City, was named a finalist Tuesday in the 2026 James Beard Awards. It's the second time in three years he's has been a finalist in the Best Chef: Mountain category.
Three Utah food and beverage businesses were named semifinalists in national categories but didn’t advance to the finals:
• Junah, the Italian-Japanese fusion restaurant at 916 S. Jefferson St., in Salt Lake City, was a semifinalist in the Best New Restaurant category.
• Post Office Place, at 16 W. Market St. in Salt Lake City, was a semifinalist in the Outstanding Bar category.
• Sara Sergent, the CEO and botanical master distiller at Alpine Distilling in Park City, was a semifinalist in the Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service category.
[Read more: How Alpine Distilling’s Sara Sergent built award-winning gin career in Park City]
Three other Utah chefs — Milo Carrier at Arlo, Andrew Fuller at Oquirrh and Tommy Nguyen at The Pearl — were among the 20 semifinalists in the Best Chef category for the Mountain region.
