This isn’t the year for Florida chefs. Again.

The list of finalists for the 2014 James Beard Foundation were released Tuesday morning and Central Florida was once again passed over. Florida is part of the South region, which also includes Louisiana (read: New Orleans). The five finalists for the South region are: Vishwesh Bhatt, Snackbar, Oxford, Miss.; Justin Devillier, La Petite Grocery, New Orleans; Ryan Prewitt, Peche Seafood Grill, New Orleans; Alon Shaya, Domenica, New Orleans; Sue Zemanic, Gautreau’s. New Orleans had the same odds last year with four of the five final nominees. Tony McPhail of Commander’s Palace was the winner. This is Devillier’s second year as a finalist.

The nominees were announced at an event inside Chicago’s Publican restaurant.

Central Florida had four semifinalists this year, including Henry Salgado, Spanish River Seafood Grill, New Smyrna Beach; Hari Pulapaka, Cress, Deland; and James and Julie Petrakis, The Ravenous Pig, Winter Park. The Petrakises were nominated together on the same ballot. All were previous semifinalists. Central Florida has never had a finalist for the awards, let alone a winner, although Norman Van Aken of Norman’s at the Ritz is a past winner. (His award was for his now-closed Norman’s in South Florida.)

The semifinalists were announced at a ceremony at Orlando’s East End Market in February, a first for the area — and a first for the Beard Foundation; it had not made the announcements outside of Manhattan before.

The panel of judges, comprised of restaurant critics and food writers from around the country, will make their selections from the list of finalists. The winners of the 2014 Beard Foundation Awards will be announced at a black-tie gala at New York’s Lincoln Center on May 5.

Here is a link to the full list of chef and restaurant award finalists.

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