The James Beard Foundation has released their 2019 list of semifinalists for the James Beard Awards, and one Kentuckian has made the list.  While non of our state’s fine chefs are on the list this year, one distiller is.

Drew Kulsveen, a fifth-generation distiller at Willett Distillery in Bardstown, KY, made the list under the category “Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer Producer.”

You can see the entire list here.

The James Beard Foundation announcement stated online, ”

We’ll announce the final Restaurant and Chef Award nominees, as well as the nominees for our Media and Restaurant Design Awards, in Houston on Wednesday, March 27. The nominee announcement will begin at 10:00 A.M. ET and will be streamed live (check back soon for details). Nominees will also be announced in real time via our Twitter feed.

“The 2019 James Beard Awards Gala will take place on Monday, May 6, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The 2019 Leadership Awards will be held on Sunday, May 5 in Chicago, and the 2019 Media Awards will take place on Friday, April 26, at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers in New York City. Tickets to both the Awards Gala and the Media Awards will be on sale beginning March 27 at jamesbeard.org/awards.”