Phila Lorn, chef at Mawn in Philadelphia, wins James Beard Award
A Philadelphia chef won a prestigious James Beard Award Monday night.
Phila Lorn, the chef at Mawn in Philadelphia, won the Emerging Chef Award at the ceremony in Chicago.
Mawn is a noodle house with "no rules," according to its website. Lorn and his wife, Rachel, have about 20 years of experience in Philadelphia's restaurant scene.
In his speech after receiving the award, Lorn said he wanted to dedicate the award to "having confidence and owning what you do as a craft."
"I do want to dedicate this award also to assumptions, the assumption that Mawn was just another restaurant, it was too small, it wasn't focused enough. The assumption that the food wasn't gonna be good enough or authentic enough, I wasn't popular enough, also the assumption that this little Cambodian boy wasn't gonna come out where they put him," he said. "When I found out I was nominated for this award, the assumption was, I was gonna win it."
Lorn, a first-generation Cambodian-American chef, was named after the city of Philadelphia.
Jesse Ito, of Royal Sushi & Izakaya in Queen Village, and Amanda Shulman, of Her Place Supper Club in Center City, were both nominated for the Best Chef in the Mid-Atlantic region but did not win. The Lovers Bar at Friday Saturday Sunday in Center City was nominated for the Outstanding Bar award but did not win.
The Philadelphia Inquirer's Craig LaBan won the Craig Claiborne Distinguished Criticism Award from the James Beard Foundation last week.
Eater has the full list of winners and a video of the ceremony.
