A New Castle County chef has made the elite list of semifinalists for a prestigious award in the culinary world.
Bryan Sikora, owner and chef of the Wilmington eatery La Fia, is up for James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef in the Mid Atlantic region. It’s his first nomination.
Often referred to as the Academy Awards of cooking, the national awards are handed out in New York City in May. The finalists in each category will be announced next month.
Sikora spent several years as a rising star in the Philadelphia restaurant world before opening his downtown Wilmington restaurant last July.
Sikora opened his restaurant last July in a historic building in Wilmington’s Lower Market Street or LOMA district downtown. He says local establishments like La Fia are important when it comes to creating a vibrant downtown district in Wilmington.
"The development of a good solid city community is like that. You have to have the businesses on the street for the walking crowd and eventually it seems like the local population builds. The people fill the apartments and that’s what I’m kind of looking forward to," said Sikora.
The chef says Delaware foodies have embraced La Fia and he hopes this nomination helps shine a light on Wilmington’s burgeoning dining scene.
"I think that’s why James Beard kind of finds places in different communities to not just make it about the big city chefs and stuff like that because at the end of the day it doesn’t matter where you’re from - it’s just about what you produce. You don’t just have to be in New York anymore to make a name for yourself," said Sikora.
Sikora is joined in the James Beard honors by Dogfish Head Craft Brewery founder Sam Calagione who earned a nomination in the Outstanding Wine, Beer, and Spirits category.
Another Delawarean, Sussex County restaurateur Matt Haley, has already been announced as the recipient of the James Beard Foundation’s Humanitarian of the Year Award.
