9 Wisconsin Chefs In Running For James Beard Awards

Nine Wisconsin chefs are semifinalists for one of the top awards in the fine dining world.

The James Beard Awards are often likened to the Oscars for chefs, beverage directors and restaurants.

This year, there are chefs in the running for Best Chef in the Midwest from Milwaukee, Madison, Sheboygan, La Crosse and Bay City.

Jay Sparks is the chef behind Lovechild in La Crosse. He describes his food as contemporary Mediterranean with an emphasis on fresh pasta.

Sparks is a Florida native but he was working in Minneapolis when he first became familiar with Wisconsin’s farms across the border.

“The produce that comes out of this area is just spectacular and there was a pull from that alone,” said Sparks describing his decision to move, adding the La Crosse landscape is another plus.

Sparks has been in the industry for more than 30 years but opened the farm-to-table restaurant about a year ago. This is his first James Beard nomination.

In Milwaukee, Dan Jacobs and Dan Van Rite are co-owners of EsterEv where they serve modern dishes partly inspired by life experiences — Jacobs says the steak tartar is inspired by a tradition of his father making meatloaf.

Jacobs is originally from Chicago and moved to Milwaukee with Van Rite seven years ago. The move was supposed to be temporary but like Sparks in La Crosse, he says access to Wisconsin’s dairy and produce made them stay.

“We have access to vegetables year round,” Jacobs said. “I still get vegetables from our farmers that have been cellared. So I’m still getting turnips, carrots rutabagas, you know and stuff like that. It’s a great little ecosystem that keeps creating awesome food.”

Milwaukee has three other chefs also in the running.

Other Nominees For Best Chef Include:

• Karen Bell, Bavette La Boucherie in Milwaukee
• Justin Carlisle, Ardent in Milwaukee
• Lisa Carlson, Chef Shack in Bay City
• Thomas Hauck, c.1880 in Milwaukee
• Jonny Hunter, Forequarter in Madison
• Stefano Viglietti, Trattoria Stefano in Sheboygan

The Best Chef category isn’t the only category with Wisconsin representation.

L’Etoile in Madison is nominated for Outstanding Restaurant. Paul Bartolotta and Joe Bartolotta of The Bartolotta Restaurants are nominated for Outstanding Restaurateur.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 11:03 a.m. Monday, Feb. 19, 2018 with information on the Outstanding Restaurant and Outstanding Restaurateur categories.