Two local spots make Beard Award Semifinalist list

[Robin Garr]

The 2026 James Beard Award Semifinalists just dropped, with two local spots making the cut. Congratulations to:

Semifinalist in Best Chef: Southeast - Noam Bilitzer, MeeshMeesh, Louisville

Semifinalist in Outstanding Bar - Watch Hill Proper, Prospect

https://www.jamesbeard.org/stories/jame ... lists-2026

[Robin Garr]

Also in the region, Best Chef - Great Lakes:
Michael Bowe, Red Yeti, Jeffersonville, IN

Meesh Meesh seems to be making quite a name for themselves!

[Robin Garr]

Yes it does! I was pretty impressed when we went not too long after it opened. I understant that Chef Bilitzer is a genuinely decent person to work for. That said, I do feel a little tension between my sense that it's a very nice place with good food vs the kind of high-level buzz and long reservation wait times that it seems to generate. Maybe I'm getting jaded?

It would sure be great to finally see an area nominee get out of the long list and into the semifinals and maybe someday take home a Beard Award.

[Robin Garr]

Wouldn't it be nice? I go back and forth between fretting that we get overlooked and wondering if our scene is really on par with some peer cities, but I haven't done enough dining travel in recent years to be a good judge of that.