by Kristen Wile

Two Charlotte chefs were named on the 2025 James Beard Awards semifinalists list, as well as a mixologist.

In the Best Chef: Southeast category, chef Sam Diminich of Restaurant Constance and chef Chayil Johnson of Community Matters Café were named semifinalists.

As the owner of Restaurant Constance, Diminich has focused on supporting local farms as well as the community with Your Farms Your Table. Read our review of the restaurant here.

At Community Matters Cafe, Johnson leads a nonprofit kitchen training adults in recovery from addiction in foodservice skills through Charlotte Rescue Mission. Read our review of Community Matters Cafe here.

“Unexpected,” Johnson says of the award. “Even though it’s my name that they see, it’s so much of a team effort of everything, all the work that me and my team and the rest of management have put in this year, and I’m just really proud to show that with everything that we do and focusing on the students that other people still recognize the product of what we give out, and it’s also more than just the food. I’m so happy for all the students that will get to say — past present and future — they worked at a James Beard Award-nominated restaurant. I’m just so thankful.”

Both chefs are active in the hospitality community and supporting other Charlotte communities in need. Diminich leads the local Ben’s Friends chapter, supporting hospitality professionals in their journeys to maintain sobriety. The Foundation has shifted in recent years to look at a chef’s holistic involvement in their cities, not just their cooking skills. Chefs nominated in the regional best chef categories are “chefs who set high standards in their culinary skills and leadership abilities and who are making efforts to help create a sustainable work culture in their respective regions,” according to the category announcement.

“This nomination is not a singular achievement but a reflection of the collective efforts of the exceptional team at Your Farms Your Table,” Diminich said in a statement. “It highlights the shared belief that together — with our talented chefs, dedicated farmers, and incredible industry partners — we can create something far greater than any one chef could accomplish alone — a belief perfectly embodied by the success of Restaurant Constance.”

Mixologist Colleen Hughes was nominated in a new category for Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service: “A service professional who creates and serves cocktails or other offerings such as low- and non-alcoholic beverages. Candidate has set high standards; demonstrates creativity and consistency in excellence, innovation, hospitality; is making efforts to create a sustainable work culture; and has served as an exceptional example or mentor for other beverage
professionals.”

“I’m thrilled,” Hughes says. “This is a brand new category this year so I’m really excited. Between Stefan [Huebner, my partner and fellow Charlotte mixologist] and I, we know a lot of the people on that list so that makes it even more flattering.”

Out of the 20 Best Chef: Southeast finalists, 6 are from North Carolina. The category includes chefs from Georgia, Kentucky, the Carolinas, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

Last year brought a joint nomination for Jimmy Pearls chefs Oscar Johnson and Daryl Cooper. Past Charlotte semifinalists in the category include chefs Joe Kindred of Kindred Restaurant, Greg Collier of Leah & Louise, Sam Hart of Counter-, and Paul Verica of now-closed The Stanley. (Verica no longer lives in Charlotte.) Collier and Hart have both advanced to the Finalist round, but Charlotte has not yet had a James Beard Award winner. Salud in NoDa was recognized last year as a semifinalist in the Outstanding Bar category. The Stanley has been nominated as a semifinalist in the Best New Restaurant category in the past; Collier’s past nominations include a semifinalist recognition in the Outstanding Chef category.

Surprisingly left off the list was L’Ostrica, a restaurant we believe incredibly deserving of the recognition. See the full list of James Beard Award semifinalists here. Finalists will be named on April 2.