James Beard Awards Put Montana’s Food Scene In The Spotlight

Montana Is Missing

I would not call myself a foodie by any stretch. I am way too picky of an eater to wear that badge.

That said, I do appreciate a good meal, and every year Yelp puts out its "Top 100 Restaurants" in America list. Once again, Montana did not get a single spot on it.

Yelp Keeps Skipping Montana Restaurants

Honestly, that is nothing new. Yelp has been releasing this list since 2014, and as far as I can tell, Montana has never cracked it. Apparently, Yelp is not losing sleep over what we are cooking up under the Big Sky.

But here is the thing. While Yelp keeps skipping over Montana, the James Beard Foundation clearly is not. And if you are not familiar with the James Beard Awards, think of them as the Oscars of the food world.

So who were the nominees from Montana this year?

Montana Restaurateurs Earn National Recognition

In the Outstanding Restaurateur category, Brett Evje and Michael Ochsner earned a nomination for Plonk in Bozeman and Missoula, along with J.W. Heist Steakhouse in Bozeman.

Blackbird Kitchen in Bozeman picked up a nomination in the Outstanding Restaurant category.

The Wild Crumb, also in Bozeman, was nominated for Outstanding Bakery.

Red Lodge’s One Legged Magpie landed a nomination for Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program.

And in the Best Chef category for the Mountain region, Montana was well represented. The nominees include Brandon Cunningham from Pangea in Missoula, Brandon Dearden from Ember in Hamilton, Earl James Reynolds from Herb and Omni in Whitefish, and Jarrett Wrisley from Shan in Bozeman.

So maybe Yelp is not impressed, but the James Beard folks clearly are. And honestly, I will trust them on this one.