LA’s James Beard Surge, Fine Dining on Trial, and Brian Bornemann on 5 Years of Crudo e Nudo

Los Angeles shows out in a big way as the 2026 James Beard finalists are announced—and for once, it actually feels like the city is getting its due. We break down the biggest headlines, who got snubbed, and whether the Beards still mean what they used to for LA and fine dining at large.

Then, we dive into the growing backlash against fine dining, sparked by Khushbu Shah’s viral Substack and a New York Times piece on kitchen culture. Is the model broken, or just overdue for evolution?

In Chef’s Kiss / Big Miss, we react to Bill Esparza’s “bagels are just bread” take, a new South Asian hand roll concept in Lomita, and the case for “middle-aged restaurants”—the spots that have outlasted the hype and might actually be at their peak.

In Part 2, Chef Brian Bornemann of Crudo e Nudo joins to talk about building one of LA’s most compelling restaurants from a pandemic pop-up, why the traditional restaurant model doesn’t work, and how local seafood—and smaller fish like sardines and mackerel—fits into the future of dining.

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