Which Top Chef Alums Are Nominated for This Year's James Beard Awards?

Season 13 of Top Chef may be winding down, but another culinary competition is just about to heat up. The James Beard Foundation announced the nominees for its prestigious awards Tuesday, and many familiar faces from Top Chef  made the cut this year.

This season of Top Chef is well represented in the 2016 James Beard Awards with cheftestants Karen Akunowicz and Isaac Toups snagging nominations. Karen is nominated for Best Chef: Northeast for her work at Boston's Myers + Chang, the same award she was nominated for last year but that we sadly didn't see her win earlier this season of Top Chef. Isaac has been nominated for Best Chef: South representing his restaurant Toups' Meatery in New Orleans. 

Isaac will be competing in the same category as Season 11 cheftestant Justin Devillier, who is nominated for his work at New Orleans' La Petite Grocery. Fellow Top Chef alums Kevin Gillespie (Season 6) and Edward Lee (Season 9) are also nominated for Best Chef: Southeast for their work at Atlanta's Gunshow and Louisville, Kentucky's Magnolia, respectively. 

The rest of the nominees feature many other famous faces we've seen on Top Chef guest judges and Top Chef Masters contestants in the past, including Anita Lo and Jonathan Waxman, who are both nominated for Best Chef: New York City for restaurants Annisa and Barbuto, respectively. Marcus Samuelsson is also being honored as a 2016 James Beard Foundation Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America inductee. 

These awards will be given out during the James Beard Awards Gala at the Lyric Opera in Chicago on Monday, May 2. 

Head over to the James Beard Foundation's website for the full list of nominees. 

Find out who will be crowned the winner of Top Chef 13 during the season finale on Thursday, March 17 at 9/8c.

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