LYNN — Rachel Miller, the chef at Nightshade Noodle Bar, was nominated as a semifinalist for the 2024 James Beard Award for best chef in the Northeast.
The James Beard Foundation is a non-profit that celebrates and highlights those who advance cuisine and food culture throughout the country.
The foundation will present the Best Chef award to one of 20 semifinalists across New England — “A chef who sets high culinary standards and has served as a positive example for other food professionals while contributing positively to their broader community,” the James Beard Foundation wrote.
Finalists will be announced on Wednesday, April 3, and winners will be announced at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards Ceremony on Monday, June 10, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Miller opened Nightshade, a French and Vietnamese-inspired seafood restaurant, in the fall of 2019. She started her career cooking at a small restaurant on the coast of Virginia, her home state. She went on to work at some of Boston’s most highly-rated restaurants, including Lionetti’s in the South End and Clio, Ken Oringer’s flagship restaurant, where she led the kitchen as chef de cuisine.
