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3 Pittsburgh chefs, 1 new restaurant named James Beard Award semifinalists

Fet Fisk Pittsburgh business named to New York Times list of 50 best restaurants in America (WPXI/WPXI)

PITTSBURGH — A new Pittsburgh restaurant and three local chefs are semifinalists in the prestigious James Beard Awards.

Fet-Fisk, located in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood, is nominated for Best New Restaurant. The restaurant began hosting pop-up events all across the city in 2019, then opened a brick-and-mortar location in 2024. The dishes they serve, according to Fet-Fisk’s website, highlight seasonal regional produce and sustainably sourced meat and seafood. They also have a wine and spirit program that focuses on growers using natural and biodynamic practices.

Fet-Fisk was named by the New York Times as one of 50 best restaurants in America in 2024.

Three Pittsburgh chefs are nominated for the Best Chef in the Mid-Atlantic region.

The first two chefs, Kate Lasky and Tomasz Skowronski, the co-owners and co-chefs at Apteka, a vegan restaurant in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood that first opened in 2016. The pair have been up for this award several times before and were named finalists in 2023. The restaurant’s menu focuses on Central & Eastern European cuisine, and was named one of America’s 50 best restaurants in 2022.

The final Pittsburgh nominee is Wei Zhu, of Chengdu Gourmet in Squirrel Hill. The restaurant has multiple menus, one with standardized American-Chinese foods and another with hundreds of Sichuan specialties.

Zhu is the chef and owner of Chengdu Gourmet. He moved to Pittsburgh from China after spending some time working in New York.

“If you’re unfamiliar with Sichuan cuisine, it likely will take you a few visits to get a sense of what’s going on. This ongoing exposure to new flavors and textures is why I love Chengdu Gourmet so much,” the restaurant’s about us page states.

Five of the other best chef nominations in the Mid-Atlantic region come from the Philadelphia area.

The James Beard Awards recognize “exceptional talent in the culinary and food media industries” and “excellence across all types of dining experiences.”

Award finalists will be announced in April, and winners named in June.

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