An exciting morning for the industry as The James Beard Foundation has announced the final nominees for the 2015 James Beard Foundation Awards presented by Lexus. The nominees were announced today during a breakfast at the James Beard House in New York City, hosted by Susan Ungaro, James Beard Foundation president; executive vice-president, Mitchell Davis; Emily Luchetti, chair of the Foundation’s board of trustees; and John Washko, trustee and chair of the Awards committee.

“In celebration of the 25th James Beard Foundation Awards we are delighted to announce this year’s nominees live from the Beard House,” says Susan Ungaro, president of the James Beard Foundation. “We couldn’t imagine a more fitting place to celebrate the nominees during this exciting banner year than at Beard’s former Greenwich Village house.”

Nominees in 59 categories were announced in the Foundation’s various awards programs, including Restaurant and Chef, Restaurant Design, and Book, Broadcast and Journalism. In addition, previously announced special achievement award honorees were highlighted, including Lifetime Achievement, Humanitarian of the Year, Who’s Who, and the America’s Classics. A complete list of nominees can be found jamesbeard.org/awards.