“Close, but no cigar”; James Beard Award eludes Hackney chef – Washington Daily News

Jamie Davis, executive chef at The Hackney restaurant, waited with bated breath as the James Beard Foundation Awards announcers announced the 2024 Top Chef in the Southeast on Monday night at the Chicago Opera House in Chicago, Illinois. among five nominees from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and West Virginia.

He didn’t hear his name called, but rather that of 1010 Bridge chef Paul Smith from West Virginia.

Davis considers the nomination an honor. He hopes the nomination will highlight chefs from eastern North Carolina and encourage them to work in the region.

“And now it looks like we’re going to get more talent in Washington. Before, they were like, ‘Oh, they have a good restaurant there,'” Davis said of Hackney in a previous interview with the Daily News, “but now it’s like, ‘They have a James Beard semifinalist there. OK, I want to work there.”

He added that he hopes the nomination will show younger chefs from small towns that they don’t have to work in a big city to be successful. Success can be achieved anywhere. “It can be motivating for younger people in smaller markets who always feel like they have to live in a bigger city to be successful, but that’s really not the case. Hopefully this will change someone’s opinion,” Davis said in a previous interview.

In an email sent Monday, The Hackney staff wrote that they are “very proud and grateful to Chef Jamie Davis and excited about the future of The Hackney, our beautiful small town of Washington, NC, and our OUTSTANDING vendors who continually raise their standards to give us the best products!”

Hackney will be closed on Tuesday, June 11 and Wednesday, June 12, as Davis and Hackney staff return to WA. The Hackney venue will reopen on Thursday, June 13 at 5.15pm. It is located at 192 West Main Street. Reservation inquiries can be sent by email to [email protected].