Natalia Vallejo (lalucianatalia) made hometown history at the 2023 James Beard Awards presented by capitalone, winning the Best Chef: South award. Vallejo is the first Puerto Rican woman winner in the awards' history, and, during her speech, shared that she sees this award "as vindicating the work of women in kitchens...beyond being a chef, I consider myself part of a tradition of cooks, women who face the fire: mothers, aunts, grandmothers who made dishes from intuition, tradition, memory, and affection." Cheers to more Hometown Heroes — we're excited to welcome the class of 2024 soon!