Barbara Lynch and Jamie Bissonnette Win James Beard Awards

Photo courtesy of Coppa/Facebook

The James Beard Awards took place on May 5 at the Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater in New York. Boston-area chefs were only nominated in two categories—Outstanding Restaurateur and Best Chef Northeast—but swept both awards.

Barbara Lynch of the Barbara Lynch Gruppo (Menton, No. 9 Park, The Butcher Shop, B&G Oysters, Drink) came up with the biggest win of her career (she also won Best Chef Northeast in 2003) in the category of Outstanding Restaurateur. She overcame stiff competition from Cindy Pawlcyn (Mustards Grill and Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen in California’s Napa Valley), Donnie Madia (Blackbird in Chicago), Phil Suarez (Wd-50 in New York), and Caroline Styne in Los Angeles. In her acceptance speech, Lynch thanked all of the chefs and employees within the Barbara Lynch Gruppo, specifically mentioning Menton executive chef Colin Lynch (no relation).

For Best Chef Northeast, Coppa’s Jamie Bissonette defeated Joanne Chang-Myers from Myers + Chang, Barry Maiden from Hungry Mother in Cambridge, Michael Leviton from Lumière in Newton, and Matthew Jennings from Farmstead Inc. in Providence.