These Atlanta Restaurants & Chefs Have Been Named James Beard Award Finalists

ATLANTA, GA -- Several Atlanta-area chefs and restaurants have made the cut as 2017 James Beard Award nominees, the group announced this week.

Whittled from an exhaustive list, the local finalists have a chance to take home the top prize and cement Atlanta's place on the map as a bona fide cultural mecca with top-notch restaurants with diverse cuisine.

Atlanta's Miller Union eatery on Brady Avenue in Midtown Atlanta is up for Outstanding Wine Program.

For Best Chef: Southeast, Ryan Smith of Staplehouse and Steven Satterfield of Miller Union are in the running for the elite title.

Read more: These Atlanta eateries and chefs are James Beard Award semifinalists

The firm Meyer Davis is a finalist for best Restaurant Design for transforming the architecture of the old Bluepointe space in Lenox (with designers Will Meyer, Gray Davis, Katie McPherson) into the European-inspired St. Cecilia.

The grand prize will be announced May 1 at the James Beard Foundation Awards Gala at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

In the book category, Atlanta chef, author and entrepreneur Asha Gomez’s "My Two Souths" is a finalist for the American Cooking award.

Other Atlanta-linked book finalists include "Victuals" by Southern chronicler Ronni Lundy and North Carolina native Vivian Howard's "Deep Run Roots." The grand prize for books will be announced April 25.

The James Beard Awards have been around since 1990, honoring the nation's top chefs and recognizing culinary excellence. The full list of finalists has been posted online.

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