Vicia Selected as 2026 James Beard Awards Semifinalist for Outstanding Restaurant

Four chefs and three restaurants are among the St. Louis-area honorees named Wednesday as semifinalists for the 2026 James Beard Foundation Awards.

All four chefs are named in the Best Chef Midwest category, while the restaurants were spread across three different categories, Outstanding Hospitality, Best New Restaurant and Outstanding Restaurant.

Tara and Michael Gallina opened Vicia in the Cortex Innovation Diistrict in 2017, and the restaurant has received numerous national and regional accolades since it opened in 2017. 

The finalists will be announced Tuesday, March 31, and the winners will be named at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony on Monday, June 15, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.