Thirteen Colorado Chefs and Restaurants Are Named 2023 James Beard Award Semifinalists

On January 25, the James Beard Foundation announced the semifinalists for its 2023 awards, with thirteen Colorado chefs and restaurants making the cut.

Like last year, Colorado is well represented in the Best Chef: Mountain category, which also includes Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming. In 2022, Annette’s Caroline Glover took home the top honor.

This year, Jose Avila, who was a 2022 semifinalist for his Sunday-only El Borrego Negro series, again makes the list — but this time for his RiNo eatery, La Diabla Pozole y Mezcal. Three other Denver chefs are semifinalists as well, along with C. Barclay Dodge of Bosq in Aspen: Cindhura Reddy, co-owner of Spuntino; Penelope Wong, who owns the popular food truck Yuan Wonton (and was one of our top people to watch in 2023); and Michael Diaz…