Highlands Bar and Grill leads Alabama James Beard 2016 semifinalists
Highlands Bar and Grill was named a semifinalist for the eighth year in a row by the James Beard Foundation. (Phil Free/Alabama NewsCenter)
Maybe eight is enough.
For the eighth year in a row, Highlands Bar and Grill in Birmingham is a semifinalist in the prestigious James Beard Foundation awards for Outstanding Restaurant. The first seven years, Highlands was chosen a finalist in the category but has not yet won.
The foundation on Wednesday, Feb. 17, announced semifinalists for the 2016 Restaurant and Chef Awards. Highlands led a list of five nominees from Alabama.
Chef Rob McDaniel of SpringHouse near Lake Martin is a James Beard semifinalist for the third straight year. (file)
Also selected as semifinalists are Dolester Miles of Highlands for Outstanding Pastry Chef and three nominees for Best Chef: South. They are David Bancroft of Acre in Auburn, Bill Briand of Fisher’s Upstairs in Orange Beach, and Rob McDaniel of SpringHouse near Lake Martin. Miles is semifinalist for the third year in a row while McDaniel was selected for the fourth year running. Bancroft and Briand made the semifinalist cut for the first time.
Each category of semifinalist includes 20 nominees. The nominees were chosen from 20,000 submissions by the Beard Foundation’s Restaurant and Chef Awards Committee, which includes critics, writers and editors, according to the foundation’s website. Next, a voting body of former Beard Awards winners, the committee members and other regional panelists will cast their votes and the five semifinalists with the highest number of votes in each category advance to become award nominees.
Those nominees will be announced March 15, with winners chosen May 2 at the 2016 James Beard Awards Gala.
