Jake Howell is officially on the shortlist of five chefs up for the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southeast.

Rachel Iacovone WPLN News

Cucumber with sarsaparilla and walnut at Peninsula

Howell is chef and co-owner of the East Nashville Iberian restaurant aptly named Peninsula. And it’s not his first rodeo. Chef Howell was up for the same award, in the same category, in 2022. He ended as a semi-finalist that time.

The menu at his restaurant changes consistently but always includes staples of the cuisine like octopus, Spanish tortillas (which are closer to a quiche than a wrap), and regional wines.

The space itself is cozy — with more of a Brooklyn cafe vibe than the white tablecloth perhaps expected in Nashville with dishes of this caliber. Though less buzzy — you’re not as likely to see a Peninsula plate in your suggested Instagram Reels — the restaurant is more established in the neighborhood, having opened in 2017. And the fans are longtime lovers who spread the Peninsula gospel more commonly by word-of-mouth. So, a walk-in dinner on a weekend here was not unheard of, until now. (I wish you luck attempting that after this finalist announcement. Reservations are going to be hard to get, to put it lightly.)

If you’re not a foodie, it may be hard to grasp what an honor a James Beard Award, or even nomination, is. But put simply, the chef-specific awards honor the artist themself. Best Chef: Southeast will go to the best culinary artist in that region, not the restaurant. So, these awards have been something modern diners keep as close an eye on, if not more so, than other accolades, like Michelin stars.

Nashville’s semi-finalists

The finalists, including Howell, were announced Wednesday. But the list of semi-finalists that came out in January included a handful of other Nashville names:

Rachel Iacovone WPLN News

A spread of food from the Maiz de la Vida truck at Chopper in 2021

Julio Hernandez, Maiz de la Vida (Best Chef: Southeast)

You’re familiar with Hernandez’s work if you’ve grabbed tacos from the truck outside Chopper anytime in the last five years. (Yes, they started all this in the pandemic!) In the last year, Maiz de la Vida — which means the “corn of life” — expanded the brand with the opening of its brick-and-mortar restaurant in The Gulch.

The physical location is one of the best-kept secrets for a good lunch in this city. It’s never crowded. The prices are fair. And sometimes, you need a stick-to-your-ribs birria burrito on a Friday to close out the work week, you know?

This was not Chef Hernandez’s first recognition on a James Beard “long list.” In 2023, he was nominated in the Emerging Chef category, where he also ended as a semi-finalist.

Rachel Iacovone WPLN News

Noko’s lobster bao

Dung “Junior” Vo, Noko (Best Chef: Southeast)

Noko has become one of the hardest reservations to get in town — especially after the recent addition of sister sushi concept, kase x noko.

It comes as little surprise to see Chef Dung “Junior” Vo nominated after dishes like Noko’s tomahawk ribeye, wagyu brisket, and fried lobster bao have filled locals’ social media feeds every day since the restaurant’s opening. (I can say that confidently as someone who was there opening night in 2023.)

I’m partial to the crispy brussels and grilled edamame, and I’m not just saying that because I’d given up meat for Lent the first time I visited. Promise.

Rachel Iacovone WPLN News

Bad Idea’s golden curry corndog and fried bologna sandwich with potato chip aioli off the restaurant’s late-night menu

Bad Idea (Best New Restaurant)

What a bright spotlight on Bad Idea in the last year. I’ve talked about this spot before, after it was featured in The New York Times’ much-anticipated, annual restaurant list of 2024.

Now, it was a semi-finalist for the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant.

Sommelier and restaurateur Alex Burch and Colby Rasavong started Bad Idea via a series of pop-ups at other local beloved restaurants, like Bastion in Wedgewood-Houston, Urban Cowboy in East Nashville and St. Vito in the Gulch. Since then, the menu has firmed up to become much more distinctly Lao-inspired; the wine list has gotten significantly longer; and the space inside a former church now hosts its own late-night takeovers by local chefs who may one day do the same as Bad Idea (and open a brick-and-mortar).

Rachel Iacovone WPLN News

The ice cream helmet at The Band Box concession stand in the Nashville Sounds’ stadium

Benjamin Goldberg, Max Goldberg, and Josh Habiger, Strategic Hospitality (Outstanding Restaurateur)

I’ll start listing Strategic Hospitality’s restaurants, and you can tell me when you get the point about why these three were up for the Outstanding Restaurateur award: there’s Bastion, Locust, Kisser, Patterson House, The Catbird Seat, Henrietta Red, etc.

There are many examples I could give of great meals I’ve had at these establishments, but I’m actually going to point out the new menu at The Band Box, their fancy concession stand at the Nashville Sounds’ First Horizon Park. We all love ice cream in a plastic helmet, but the Band Box’s is a brown butter soft serve with caramel and a funnel cake. I mean, come on, it tastes how it sounds. And that’s thanks to the stroke of genius in hiring Chef Andy Little, formerly of Josephine (RIP).

What’s next?

The winners in each category of the James Beard Awards will find out the results at the annual ceremony on June 16 in Chicago. Howell faces four other chefs from Kentucky, North and South Carolina.

Whether Chef Howell wins, he is in good company. Just last year, Kisser was the only Nashville name to make the list of finalists, and the restaurant ultimately lost in the Best New Restaurant category. Still, have you ever managed to get in at Kisser without waiting at least an hour?

Howell, and Peninsula, will have a great summer either way.