Three Greater Cincinnati chefs have graduated from semifinalists to finalists for the 2026 James Beard Awards. The restaurant and chef award nominees were announced Tuesday morning on the James Beard Foundation's website and Instagram page. They include two finalist nods for Best Chef: Great Lakes, which includes Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Among them are Sarah Dworak, owner and chef of Sudova, and Jeff Harris, the owner and chef of Nolia Kitchen, in Over-the-Rhine. In Northern Kentucky, David Willocks, the chef and owner of Baker's Table, in Newport, was named a finalist in the category of Best Chef: Southeast, which includes Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia. Each has given Greater Cincinnati something it never had before. In the case of Dworak, the Youngstown native introduced the city to Eastern European food, first at Babushka Pierogis, followed by Wodka Bar and then Sudova – while Harris introduced the refined tastes of his na...