Willamette Valley restaurant, chef named semifinalists for 2024 James Beard Awards

The 2024 James Beard Foundation Award semifinalists were announced Wednesday and a Willamette Valley restaurant and chef made the list.

To be nominated and win is one of the highest achievements in the food industry.

While many of the semifinalists are from the Portland area, two from McMinnville made the list: Hayward and chef Matthew Lightner from ōkta.

Finalists will be announced on April 3 and the winners will be announced on June 10.

Hayward

Hayward restaurant is led by chef Kari Kihara and is a semifinalist for best new restaurant. Originally from Massachusetts, she has worked in the food industry since she was 14, with her experience spanning kitchens throughout the West Coast, particularly throughout the Bay Area. She moved to Oregon to lead the kitchen at Mac Market, where Hayward is located.

When the pandemic began, Kihara helped the kitchen evolve the dining program into serving meal kits, then a shared plate program through Collab Kitchen to today's Hayward restaurant.

"We are down a gravel road, in the back of an amazing food centric market, and I'm so glad you came and found us," the restaurant wrote on Instagram after the nomination.

"The coolest thing about best new restaurant, is it's the whole team getting to carry this one with them wherever they go," the post continued.

Kihara runs the restaurant with executive sous chef Jon Inonueri and sous chef Søren Kalbfleisch.

The effort was three years in the making, but the restaurant and concepts before emphasize working with the bounty of the Willamette Valley. The menu is "hyper seasonal" and subject to change, according to the restaurant's website.

The restaurant offers "Little Lunch" which includes a small, rotating menu of salad, focaccia and cookie, plus dinner service.

To stay up to date on events and happenings with Hayward, check out the website, hayward-restaurant.com and Instagram page, @haywardrestaurant.

Chef Matthew Lightner, ōkta

Chef Matthew Lightner is the executive chef and partner of ōkta at Tributary Hotel in McMinnville and is a semifinalist in the Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific category.

The restaurant concept revolves around capturing the quality ingredients of the Willamette Valley and showcasing them.

"Even though this is an individual award, it's a team nomination since it's taken the full team here to buy into the dream and vision and push what gastronomy is in Oregon," Lightner said. "This nomination is greater than one person."

The restaurant supplies its food from its farm, which adds depth to the phrase "farm to table"; it's the connection of human, animal, and earth that "are the true story of the Pacific Northwest," Lightner said.

Lightner is originally from Omaha, Nebraska, and attended Portland's Western Culinary Institute. He then worked at Portland's Castagna, gaining national attention during his tenure. In 2012 he relocated to New York to work as executive chef at Atera. Under his leadership, the restaurant earned two Michelin stars among other accolades.

Lightner left Atera in 2015, and said he knew he would always return to the Willamette Valley.

"It's a humbling experience to be recognized and brings out the youthful cook back to me," Lightner said. "It's super important to me since when I started my career in Oregon, I would see these nominations and think, 'wow, I could never cook at this level'... so it feels good that this hard work is paying off."

Prior to this year's nomination, Lightner earned a spot on Food & Wine's 2010 Best New Chefs list and was nominated by the James Beard Foundation Award for Rising Star Chef in 2010 and 2011.

Since opening, ōkta has earned mentions on national lists and was also nominated by the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant in 2023 and named one of Esquire's Best New Restaurants in 2022.

For more from ōkta, check out the website, oktaoregon.com and Instagram page, @oktaoregon.

Other James Beard Awards semifinalists from Oregon

The other semifinalists are mainly from Portland, and include Sarah Minnick of Lovely's Fifty Fifty for Outstanding Chef; Langbaan for Outstanding Restaurant; JinJu Patisserie for Outstanding Bakery; Han Oak for Outstanding Hospitality; OK Omens for Outstanding Wine and other beverage programs; chef Josh Dorcak, MÄS (Ashland), chef Gregory Gourdet of kann, Ryan Roadhouse of Nodoguro and Peter Vuong of Ha VL for Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific.

For more on the James Beard Foundation Award and other semifinalists, check out the website, jamesbeard.org.

Em Chan covers food and dining at the Statesman Journal. You can reach her at echan@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter @catchuptoemily.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon's Hayward, ōkta chef semifinalists for 2024 James Beard Awards