Providence’s Loma, Portland restaurateur Dana Street, and Dover chef Evan Hennessey took home major honors at the 2026 James Beard Awards in Chicago, delivering a rare sweep for New England across bars, restaurateurs, and top chef awards.
The night belonged to New England at the 2026 James Beard Awards in Chicago, where Providence, Maine, and New Hampshire each claimed a major piece of the spotlight.
Less than two years after opening in Providence’s Federal Hill neighborhood. Loma—a Latin-American influenced bar and lounge near Depasquale Plaza off Atwells Avenue—won the award for Best New Bar. In a post on Instagram, the bar’s team tied the recognition to the risks that come with starting out. “We come from immigrant and working class families and were raised by people who taught us the value of hard work. but also understood how dangerous it can feel to take a chance on yourself when failure isn’t just disappointing. ” the post said.
In Maine, Portland restaurateur Dana Street won the Outstanding Restaurateur award. Street oversees several well-known establishments, including Street and Co., Standard Baking Co., Fore Street, and Scales.
And in New Hampshire, Evan Hennessey, chef-owner of Stages in Dover, received the Best Chef: Northeast award. After the ceremony, Hennessey celebrated the achievement on Instagram, describing it as the culmination of years of effort. “This isn’t just something that happened overnight,” he wrote. “This is years and years of choices. trying. crying. believing. and creating a life that I was proud of and that I knew I was in the right place.”.
He added that the award represents “years of growing a dream that constantly evolved,” noting that the dream is still evolving today.
The three wins landed in categories that reflect different sides of the restaurant world—where a bar’s early momentum can be celebrated fast, where a restaurateur’s consistency across multiple concepts earns top recognition, and where a chef’s long pursuit shows up in a regional top honor.
James Beard Awards 2026 Loma Providence Dana Street Portland Evan Hennessey Stages Best New Bar Outstanding Restaurateur Best Chef: Northeast
Wait so James Beard is like a cooking contest? New England really always wins somehow lol
Loma winning Best New Bar is kinda shocking to me, I feel like I’ve never even heard of it. But if it’s in Providence then my cousin probably knows the place already.
Dana Street got Outstanding Restaurateur and like… that sounds made up? Isn’t that just “best owner” basically. I’m not saying it’s not deserved, I just don’t get how one person can run all those spots and still be the winner.
So the chef in Dover (Evan Hennessey) won Best Chef: Northeast, right? I saw someone online say it was rigged because Chicago has “connections” or whatever, but then again awards are always like that. Anyway congrats to them, even if I wish the article explained what the criteria is.