D.C. Chef Wins James Beard 'Best Chef Mid-Atlantic' Award

WASHINGTON, DC — A Washington, D.C., chef took home the 2018 James Beard Award for "Best Chef" in the Mid-Atlantic at the Tuesday night ceremony in Chicago. Chef Jeremiah Langhorne, who founded The Dabney in Shaw, was honored with the prestigious award.

Langhorne beat out chefs in D.C., Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia for the prestigious industry award.

Langhorne is the chef/owner of The Dabney, located at 122 Blagden Alley NW. He is originally from Charlottesville, Virginia, and previously worked at the renowned Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark, before he took over as sous chef at McCrady's in Charleston, South Carolina.

He was promoted to chef de cuisine in spring 2011 before heading to D.C. to open The Dabney. Langhorne's venue is known for sourcing food from farms and purveyors in the Mid-Atlantic region. Popular dishes include the foie gras biscuit, sweet potato rolls and fried sugar toads.

Other D.C. finalists included Tom Cunanan of Bad Saint and Amy Brandwein of Centrolina.

Also honored at Monday's award ceremony was DC and Bethesda Chef José Andrés, who was presented with the 2018 Humanitarian of the Year award for his work in Puerto Rico.

Andrés, along with an army of volunteers, took food around the island since the September storm left the American territory without power or running water.

Andrés, the owner of ThinkFoodGroup and high-end restaurants in the area like Jaleo and his flagship "minibar," was chosen as the James Beard Foundation announces this year's theme, "RISE," which celebrates the community of chefs and industry leaders who "rise to the occasion" of feeding those in need or supporting their local communities, according to a statement.

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"Andrés is a committed advocate of food and hunger issues and is known for championing the role of chefs in the national debate on food policy," the statement reads. "In 2012, Andrés formed World Central Kitchen, a non-profit that provides smart solutions to hunger and poverty by using the power of food to empower communities and strengthen economies. Together with World Central Kitchen and #ChefsforPuertoRico, Andrés served over 3.3 million meals in Puerto Rico following the devastation of Hurricane Maria in 2017."

Jaleo, located at 7271 Woodmont Ave. in Bethesda, is run by Andrés, who immigrated from Spain and later became a U.S. citizen. He now lives in Bethesda and has 27 restaurants worldwide.