Jake Howell
Monday evening on the 2025 James Beard Awards, the nonprofit award committee introduced they know what Nashvillians have been saying since 2017: Jake Howell is the most effective.
Howell, chef and co-owner of East Nashville’s Peninsula, was named Finest Chef: Southeast on the Beard ceremony in Chicago. Howell is the primary Nashvillian to obtain this honor in almost a decade — Tandy Wilson of Metropolis Home was named Finest Chef: Southeast in 2016. However Nashville has had many Beard Award semifinalists and finalists through the years. This 12 months, Nashville semifinalists included East Nashville’s Dangerous Concept, Dung “Junior” Vo of Noko, Julio Hernandez of Maiz de la Vida, and Benjamin Goldberg, Max Goldberg, and Josh Habiger of Strategic Hospitality. Howell was a semifinalist in 2022.
With Howell’s win, the remainder of the nation learns what locals have recognized for years. Peninsula is one thing and a few place particular. The East Nashville restaurant is owned by Howell, Craig Schoen and Yuriko Say, who all labored collectively in Seattle earlier than opening Peninsula in 2017. (It was quickly reviewed by the Scene‘s personal Dana Kopp Franklin, who known as Peninsula “phenomenal.”)
Julio Hernández, Jake Howell and Dung ‘Junior’ Vo earn Finest Chef: Southeast nods
They serve meals impressed by the Iberian Peninsula — which means Spanish, Portuguese and Basque dishes, utilizing French strategies. Howell interprets these cuisines to create a menu of his personal. He’s not copying what he’d style if he popped in on trip. Howell, who received the Scene’s Iron Fork competitors in 2019, creates menus that listing components. So that you by no means know precisely what you are going to get, however you already know it should be attention-grabbing and in contrast to something you’ve got had previously.
The neighborhood restaurant has simply 38 seats, so by definition it’s an intimate expertise. The menu is equally small, with a couple of dishes that change usually. (Solely about 20 p.c of the menu stays static over time.) In 2021, Scene author Ashley Brantley known as the group “witches” as the one clarification for a way they make their wealthy, flavorful strawberry broth vegan. That very same 12 months, Nancy Floyd lauded the intensive gin-and-tonic menu, created by Schoen.
Peninsula is open for dinner simply three nights every week. On condition that, this award and the dimensions of the restaurant, on-line reservations are the way in which to go.
