Will this Idaho chef win a James Beard Award? In rare honor, he just got named a finalist
Despite the Boise area’s growing culinary scene, Idaho has tasted a James Beard Award just once.
But the table is set for a potential second helping.
Salvador Alamilla, co-owner of Amano in Caldwell, was named a finalist Wednesday for “Best Chef: Mountain” during a live ceremony at the Conrad Los Angeles. He’s one of five chefs who earned the distinction in the region, which includes Idaho, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Montana.
Established in 1990, the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards are considered the Oscars of the restaurant world. Being nominated is potentially a career-altering honor.
Prior to 2023, no Idaho chef had gotten this far. Alamilla was a finalist that year, as was Kris Komori of Kin — who ended up winning. It was a groundbreaking moment for the state’s restaurant industry.
Now with a second opportunity, Alamilla is tantalizingly close to becoming Idaho’s second James Beard Award-winning chef. Winners will be crowned June 16 during a ceremony at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Born in Mexico and raised in Santa Ana, California, Alamilla has been a James Beard semifinalist or better four years in a row. Since opening Amano in a former bank lobby in 2019 with his wife, Becca, Alamilla has earned a devoted following with reverent, from-scratch Mexican cuisine. In 2023, Amano was named to The New York Times’ third annual “The Restaurant List,” a guide to “the 50 places in the United States that we’re most excited about right now.”
Earlier this month, Amano temporarily closed. The restaurant is moving to a new space one block away at 802 Arthur St. “We are so excited,” the restaurant wrote on social media, “as it will provide additional seating, a new kitchen, in-ground birria and barbacoa pits, as well as a patio and parking.”
Competing with Alamilla for the distinction of “Best Chef: Mountain” are Joshua Adams of Campione in Livingston, Montana; Brandon Cunningham of The Social Haus in Greenough, Montana; David Wells of The Tasting Room at Chico Hot Springs Resort & Day Spa in Pray, Montana; and Penelope Wong of Yuan Wonton of Denver.
