Regional Semifinalists
Best Chef Northwest and Pacific is the tightest race among familiar names. Kann chef Gregory Gourdet is just off last year’s Best New Restaurant win and a 2022 Media Award for his cookbook Everyone’s Table. Matthew Lightner’s thrilling new McMinnville restaurant Okta, the most refined restaurant currently operating in Oregon, might stand in the way of Gourdet’s hat trick. Ryan Roadhouse, of long-time omakase pop-up-turned-restaurant Nodoguro, has more than a chance, too. (They’re in their post-COVID new digs off Sandy Boulevard.) We’re also thrilled to see Peter Vuong of Vietnamese soup haven Ha VL—your favorite chef’s favorite restaurant—on the list. His family’s soup empire recently expanded into its third location, Annam VL, on Southeast Belmont Street. And chef Josh Dorcak of the foraging-focused restaurant Mas, one of the New York Times’ 50 Best Restaurants in America, could take home Best Chef Northwest.
