In a field dominated by San Francisco and Los Angeles chefs, Sonoma’s Emma Lipp and Stephanie Reagor of Valley Bar + Bottle earned Sonoma County’s only chef semifinalist nomination for the 2026 James Beard Awards.
The partners behind Valley Bar + Bottle in Sonoma were named semifinalists Wednesday morning in the “Best Chef: California” category. Other semifinalists include San Francisco chefs Kim Alter of Nightbird, Harrison Cheney of Sons & Daughters, and Kosuke Tada of Mijoté, as well as Sarah Cooper and Alan Hsu of Oakland’s Sun Moon Studio.
Derek Stevenson, beverage director of Calistoga’s two-Michelin-starred Auro, was also recognized as a semifinalist in the Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service Category.
Often described as the Oscars of the food world, the James Beard Awards will announce finalists March 31, with winners revealed June 15 at a ceremony in Chicago.
For Valley Bar + Bottle, the recognition is notable, if not entirely unexpected. The 52-seat restaurant has earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand for three consecutive years, recognizing quality and value, though it has never received a star. Since opening in 2020, it has built a devoted following and a national profile. Esquire named it one of the “Best Bars in America” in 2021, followed by coverage from The New York Times in 2023.
“We are excited for our team to be acknowledged for all the hard work they do stewarding local produce and telling culinary stories – ancestral, historic and present,” said Lipp, speaking from London. “Our goal is to be in partnership with the land, our team and our community, and sometimes that feels like a successful vision and it’s nice when that vision translates to others.”
Valley Bar + Bottle is known for its ingredient-driven cuisine, a natural-wine-focused bottle shop, and a wine list curated with the same care as the menu. Lipp and Regor co-own the restaurant with Lauren Feldman and Tanner Walle. The four also operate Valley Swim Club in Sonoma.
That’s it?
Still, Wednesday’s James Beard Awards announcement raises a familiar question in Wine Country: Why does James Beard recognition remain so elusive?
Since 2000, only six Wine Country chefs or restaurants have won James Beard medals, three of them connected to The French Laundry in Yountville. The restaurant won Outstanding Restaurant in 2006, while its then chef de cuisine, Corey Lee, was named Rising Star Chef of the Year. Thomas Keller followed with Outstanding Restaurateur honors in 2007.
The remaining wins came from Douglas Keane of Cyrus, who won Best Chef: Pacific in 2009, under a broader regional category; Christopher Kostow of St. Helena’s Restaurant at Meadowood won Best Chef: West in 2013, and SingleThread restaurant in Healdsburg won “Best Restaurant Design (75 Seats and Under)” in 2017.
[cq comment=”Even Healdsburg’s SingleThread, named one of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants and a three-Michelin-star holder since 2019, has never won a James Beard Award in the restaurant or chef competition categories” ]
But Single Thread, which has held three Michelin stars since 2019 and appears regularly on global “best restaurant” lists, has never won a James Beard Award in the chef or restaurant categories.
Part of the disparity lies in how the awards are determined.
What’s in an award?
Michelin stars are awarded by anonymous inspectors who pay for meals and evaluate restaurants almost exclusively on the quality and consistency of the food, often favoring formal tasting menus at the highest end of the market. Stars apply to restaurants, not individual chefs, and can be gained or lost year to year.
The James Beard Awards, by contrast, are judged by a large panel of industry professionals and journalists organized by region. Criteria extend beyond the plate, weighing factors such as community engagement, equity, integrity and leadership. The awards have faced scrutiny in recent years, particularly over diversity. In 2020, after no Black winners were named in major chef and restaurant categories, the foundation canceled the awards and overhauled the judging process.
The Michelin awards have also faced criticism for a lack of diversity, particularly in their selection of chefs of color and women for star recommendations.
Who will win?
Predicting James Beard Award winners remains difficult.
In 2025, none of Sonoma County’s semifinalists won an award. Today, the broader Wine Country region has nine Michelin-starred restaurants. These include SingleThread and The French Laundry (three stars), Enclos in Sonoma and Harbor House in Elk (two stars), and Auberge du Soleil in Rutherford, Auro in Calistoga, Cyrus in Geyserville, Kenzo in Napa and Press in St. Helena (one star each).
For now, Valley Bar + Bottle’s semifinalist nod stands as a bright spot for Sonoma County and a reminder that James Beard recognition has long been harder to secure north of the Golden Gate.