June 16, 2026
Michaela Althouse/PhillyVoice
Kalaya, the Thai restaurant in Fishtown, won the 2026 James Beard Award for outstanding restaurant. Jesse Ito, of Royal Sushi & Izakaya in Queen Village, earned best chef in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Of the seven Philadelphia restaurants and chefs up for James Beard Awards on Monday, two were named winners.
Kalaya was named the national winner for outstanding restaurant, an honor awarded to restaurants that excel in food, atmosphere, hospitality and operations. Jesse Ito, the chef behind Royal Sushi & Izakaya and Dancerobot, was named best chef in the Mid-Atlantic region.
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Kalaya, the acclaimed Thai kitchen on West Palmer Street, has received a number of accolades over the years. In 2022, chef Nok Suntaranon won the James Beard award for best chef in the Mid-Atlantic. Suntaranon also was named as North America's best female chef in the 2025 list of North America's 50 Best Restaurants by 50 Best and was included in the Time100 list last spring.
Ito beat out chefs from Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C. for his award, which he won after receiving nominations for the past two years. He's known for Royal Sushi, a pub fare and sushi restaurant in Queen Village, but also opened Dancerobot in Rittenhouse in September. Earlier that year, Bon Appétit named the Japanese comfort food spot as one of the most-anticipated restaurant openings in the country.
The other semifinalists from Philly were the Lovers Bar at Friday Saturday Sunday, Emmett, Fiore's Justine MacNeil, Her Place Supper Club's Amanda Shulman and Honeysuckle's Omar Tate and Cybille St. Aude-Tate.
