TOMASZ SKOWRONSKI & KATE LASKY | PHOTOS BY LAURA PETRILLA

It’s awards season and Pittsburgh restaurants are racking up honors. Three locals were named semifinalists for the 2024 James Beard Foundation’s Restaurant and Chef Awards.

Kate Lasky and Tomasz Skowronski, owners of Bloomfield’s Apteka, and Bootsaba Tongdee of Pusadee’s Garden in Lawrenceville are nominated for the Best Chef Mid-Atlantic award, which covers Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia.

(L-R) BOOTSABA TONGDEE, PUSADEE TONGEE

It’s the third straight year the Apteka team — they specialize in cuisine from Eastern and Central Europe — has been nominated in the category. Both restaurants also are perennial favorites on Pittsburgh Magazine’s Best Restaurants list. 

Established in 1990 and first awarded in 1991, the Restaurant and Chef Awards are one of five separate recognition programs of the James Beard Awards. The awards recognize exceptional talent and achievement in the culinary arts, hospitality, media, and broader food system, as well as a demonstrated commitment to racial and gender equity, community, sustainability and a culture where all can thrive.

Finalist nominees will be announced on April 3 and winners will be announced at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards Ceremony on June 10 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

If you show your support by having a meal at these two establishments, you’ll be the winner.