6
QUEENS WEEKLY, MARCH 10, 2019
Five Queens restaurants and chefs
are James Beard Award semifi nalists
ASTORIA TIMES ■ BAYSIDE TIMES
FLUSHING TIMES ■ FOREST HILLS LEDGER
FRESH MEADOWS TIMES
JACKSON HEIGHTS TIMES ■ JAMAICA TIMES
LAURELTON TIMES ■ LITTLE NECK LEDGER
QUEENS VILLAGE TIMES ■ RIDGEWOOD LEDGER
WHITESTONE TIMES
38-15 Bell Boulevard
Bayside, New York 11361
Advertising: (718) 260-4537
Classifieds: (718) 260-4590
Editorial: (718) 260-4539
www.TimesLedger.com
PROUD MEMBER OF NEW YORK PRESS ASSOCIATION
BRIAN RICE
Publisher
ZACH GEWELB
Editor
RALPH D’ONOFRIO
V.P. of Advertising
ADVERTISING
Senior Account Executive:
Kathy Wenk
Account Executives:
David Strauss
Sherri Rossi
CIRCULATION
Roberto Palacios
CLASSIFIED
Classified Director:
Amanda Tarley
Classified Sales
Manager:
Eugena Pechenaya
EDITORIAL STAFF
Reporters: Bill Parry, Mark Hallum,
Carlotta Mohamed, Jenna Bagcal,
Emily Davenport
Photographers: Nat Valentine,
Ellis Kaplan, Robert Cole
Copy Editors: Stephen Lepore,
Katrina Medoff
Contributing Writers/Columnists:
Robert Cole, Robert Pozarycki,
Tammy Scileppi
ART & PRODUCTION
Art Director: Leah Mitch
Designer: Connie Sulsenti
Layout: Zach Gewelb
Cartoonist: Tip Sempliner
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Thirty-seven restaurants
and chefs across New
York City have been chosen
as semifinalists to win
the coveted James Beard
Award, and this year, five
of them are from Queens.
On Feb. 27, the James
Beard Foundation announced
the nominees for
the 2019 Restaurant and
Chef Awards, which included
Adda Indian Canteen and
Casa Enrique in Long Island
City, SriPraPhai in Woodside,
Dumpling Galaxy in
Flushing and Xi’an Famous
foods (multiple locations).
There are 21 categories
for the 29th annual Restaurant
and Chef Awards,
including Best New Restaurant,
Outstanding Chef,
Outstanding Restaurant
and Rising Star Chef of the
Year. Hundreds of chefs
and restaurants across the
country were nominated
for the awards affectionately
called “the Oscars of the
food world.”
Cosme Aguilar from
Casa Enrique (5-48 49th
Ave.) and Helen You of
Dumpling Galaxy (42-35
Main St.) were nominated
for the Outstanding Chef:
New York City category
alongside 18 other culinary
heavy-hitters in Manhattan
and Brooklyn.
Chef Aguilar from the
Michelin-star rated Casa
Enrique came from Chiapas,
Mexico and learned to cook
his mother’s traditional recipes
from his sister. He came
to New York in 1998 and got
his start in the restaurant industry
as a porter at a French
restaurant before opening
Casa Enrique in 2012. The
Mexican restaurant has been
awarded multiple Michelin
stars since its opening and
was the only Queens restaurant
to get one in 2019.
Tianjin Dumpling owner
You opened Dumpling Galaxy
at Flushing’s Arcadia
Mall in 2014. In her Dumpling
Galaxy cookbook, You
credits dumplings with the
successes that she’s experienced
throughout her life.
“Everything I have today I
owe to dumplings, and they
have always meant more
than just a good meal,” You
said. Her mom taught her
how to roll dumplings in
her hometown of Tianjin,
China and she brought the
skill with her when she
came to the United States.
In the Best New Restaurant
category is Adda
Indian Canteen (31-31
Thomson Ave.) which has
been serving up its “unapologetic”
Indian cuisine
since last September. Owner
Roni Mazumdar and
Chef Chintan Pandya are
the culinary duo behind
Adda as well as Rahi in
Greenwich Village.
The pair crafted the
menu based on foods that
they had while growing up
in India and intended for the
restaurant to be a departure
from the upscale Indian eateries
on the market. Chef
Pandya has been profiled in
the Michelin Guide and was
also awarded the StarChefs
Rising Star Award for 2019.
SriPraPhai (64-13 39th
Ave.) is also among the acclaimed
Queens establishments
on the nomination
list. The Thai restaurant
in Woodside is among the
nominees for Outstanding
Restaurant and was started
by Sripraphai Tipmanee in
the 1990s. The restaurateur
also has another location
on Long Island.
Xi’an Famous Foods
CEO and president Jason
Wang is up for Outstanding
Restaurateur. Wang
first opened the fast-casual
chain in 2005 and based the
recipes off of dishes from
his family’s hometown of
Xi’an in China. The first
Xi’an Famous Foods was
located in the basement
of the basement of the
Golden Mall in Flushing
but has since expanded to
Manhattan and Brooklyn.
On Instagram, the owner
said that he was “honored
to be included as a Best
Restaurateur semifinalist
of James Beard Foundation
2019 Awards.”
According to the James
Beard website, the final
nominees will be announced
in Houston on March 27 and
the official gala will be on
May 6 at the Lyric Opera
of Chicago.
Adda is among the five Queens restaurants and chefs nominated for a James Beard Award. Courtesy of Adda Indian Canteen
/www.TimesLedger.com
/www.TimesLedger.com
