Immigrant chefs dominate James Beards culinary awards, change how America eats

Enlarge this image

"Dumplings are my obsession," says chef "Nok" Chutatip Suntaranon of Kalaya, a Thai restaurant in Philadelphia. Joel Rose/NPR hide caption

"Dumplings are my obsession," says chef "Nok" Chutatip Suntaranon of Kalaya, a Thai restaurant in Philadelphia.

Chef "Nok" Chutatip Suntaranon can trace the flavors on her menu all the way back to her childhood, in the city of Trang in southern Thailand.

"I grew up helping my mom making curry paste to sell in her little shop in the market," Suntaranon says. "So I knew all that recipe by heart."

What Suntaranon did not know was how diners in Philadelphia would react when she opened her restaurant Kalaya four years ago, with an uncompromising approach to the flavors and the heat of southern Thai cooking.

But Kalaya has thrived, moving from its original location with 35 seats to an airy, sun-dappled space that holds up to 300. And Suntaranon has been nominated three times for an award from the James Beard Foundation — the so-called "Oscars of the food world," which are widely considered the top prize in the U.S. culinary industry.

"I know my food is good," Suntaranon says. "Once we present it with authenticity — just like being true to yourself and the flavors, I think people would feel the honesty about it."

Immigrants have long been the backbone of restaurant kitchens. Now they're winning recognition at the highest levels of the industry.

The James Beard Foundation awards for restaurants are set for Monday in Chicago, with roughly 75 finalists vying for the chef and baker awards. More than half are immigrants or children of immigrants from all over the globe.

To some extent, that reflects how the awards themselves are changingin response to questions about diversity. But it also points to a broader shift in what chefs want to cook — and what diners want to eat.

In Kalaya's kitchen, Suntaranon shows off the newest item on the menu: dumplings shaped like little birds. The beaks are made with a sliver of red paper. The pungent fillingstarts with steamed cod fish that's pounded into a paste with palm sugar, garlic, shallot, radish and cilantro.

Even Suntaranon's own mother was surprised at how enthusiastically American diners responded to her food.

"I make what we eat at home," Suntaranon explains to her mother. "And she sometimes asked me, 'did farang like it?,' " using the Thai word that translates roughly as foreigner. " 'Can farang eat spicy?' And I said, 'you will be surprised!' "

Enlarge this image

Chef "Nok" Chutatip Suntaranon with her Pomeranian, Titi, in the dining room at her restaurant Kalaya in Philadelphia. Joel Rose hide caption

Chef "Nok" Chutatip Suntaranon with her Pomeranian, Titi, in the dining room at her restaurant Kalaya in Philadelphia.

Immigrants have always been well-represented in the James Beard awards, but not to this extent.

The James Beard Foundation canceled its annual awards in 2020, citing the COVID-19 pandemic as the official reason. But reportedly, there were also concerns about a lack of diversity among the top vote-getters.

When the awards returned last year after an internal audit, they looked very different.

"We've refocused on what is the purpose of these awards," says Dawn Padmore, the vice president of awards at the James Beard Foundation. "It's to award excellence. And excellence can look like anything, right?"

The mission of the awards has shifted, Padmore says, to align more closely with the foundation's mantra of "good food for good." The awards have added a focus on racial and gender equity and sustainability. And the voting process has changed too, Padmore says, with a broader mix of voices.