James Beard Nominations + Boston's Coffee Scene Praised: MA Food Week

MASSACHUSETTS — Welcome to Patch's weekly round up of food and restaurant news in Massachusetts, where we review openings, closings and more in the state's dining scene.

This week, awards, nominations and list placements rolled in for Massachusetts, including three James Beard Award nominations.

In Massachusetts, the following restaurants and chefs were named finalists this year:

Outstanding Chef, presented by Hilton: Cassie Piuma, Sarma, 249 Pearl St., Somerville

Best New Bar: Merai, 14 Harvard St., Brookline

Best Chef in the Northeast: Erin Miller, Urban Hearth, 2263 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge

Food & Wine also named Boston a top-10 city in the country for both coffee and pastries.

Woburn Restaurant Owners Sentenced

Father and son owners of two Woburn, Mass. restaurants, Taste of Brazil—Tudo Na Brasa and The Dog House Bar and Grill, were sentenced in federal court in Boston for conspiring to smuggle migrants into the United States from Brazil. One defendant was also sentenced for money laundering conspiracy.

Jesse James Moraes, 67, and Hugo Giovanni Moraes, 45, both of Woburn, were sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs. Jesse Moraes was sentenced to eight months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release.

Hugo Moraes was sentenced to five months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, with the first five months in home confinement, and ordered to pay a $15,000 fine.

The conspiracy involved recruiting undocumented migrants in Brazil to come to the United States through Mexico without authorization in exchange for fees of between $12,000 and $22,000 per person, officials said.

Read more: Woburn Men Sentenced to Prison for Migrant Smuggling Conspiracy [U.S. Attorney's Office]

Here's what else was cooking this week in Massachusetts:

• Boston A Top City For Coffee, Pastry: Food & Wine
• 3 MA Restaurants And Chefs Are James Beard Awards Nominees
• 3 MA Eateries Named As ‘Restaurants Of The Year’
• Martha's Vineyard Mexican Restaurant To Pop Up In Boston This Spring
• Taqueria, Deli Replaces Waltham's Tap Tap Station Cafe
• Hooters Restaurant Chain Files Bankruptcy: What It Means In MA
• Mexican Restaurant Coming To Former Ken's Steakhouse: Report
• Somerville Whole Foods Worker Charged With Assault On The Job: Report
• CambridgeSide Celebrating Historic Diner Through Photo Exhibit
• Danvers Steakhouse To Close After 5 Decades
• Popular Chocolate Bars Recalled After Reports Of "Small Stones," Manufacturer Says