Local chefs named semifinalists for James Beard Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic

Left, Chef Matt Kern. Right, Chef Harley Peet.

DELMARVA – Two local chefs are semi-finalists for a top honor in the culinary world. Chef Matt Kern of One Coastal in Fenwick Island, Del., and Chef Harley Peet of Bluepoint Hospitality Group in Easton, Md., are semifinalists for the James Beard Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic award.

Chef Matt Kern

As noted on Foodie Friday, Chef Kern is on a personal mission to turn environmental conservation into a tasty feat. Many of the dishes found on the menu at One Coastal are centered around ingredients found in the Chesapeake region.

Chef Kern says a perfect example of that mission was their corn fried Chesapeake catfish.

“The Chesapeake Blue Catfish is an invasive species. It’s eating up over 60% of the indigenous wildlife, just kind of wreaking havoc on the Cheasapeake, and it’s going unchecked as it has no predators,” said Chef Kern when the Foodie Friday team visited. “If we want to protect the things that we love so much, why not eat the thing that’s trying to beat us to it?”

Chef Harley Peet

And with Bluepoint Hospitality, Chef Peet showed the Foodie Friday team his chops behind two different counters.

At Sunflowers & Greens, it’s a seasonally-driven affair, focused on freshness and quality. “We try to source as locally as we can, seasonality driven,” said Chef Peet during the visit. “Just kind of whatever is the best available.”

Just down the street is Bas Rouge, featuring fine European dining with a Delmarva twist. “We’re just trying to come up with clever ways to take a local, beautiful product, and spin it into something that nobody in the area probably has seen or tasted,” said Chef Peet during the Foodie Friday visit.

Nominee, Winner Announcements

Nominees for the award will be announced on April 3rd. The James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony will take place on Monday, June 10th in Chicago, Illinois.