These top chefs nominated for the 2019 James Beard Award Semifinalists all have something in common — they’re friends of the flock. That’s right. Of the 12 Floridian chefs and restaurants nominated this year for a James Beard Award,  four have been featured in past Flamingo articles. Here’s our roundup:

Chef Clay Conley was a James Beard semifinalist in 2012, 2013, 2017, 2018 and 2019. Photography by Libby Volgyes

BEST OF SOUTH

Chef Clay Conley, Buccan
Palm Beach

Credited with sparking Palm Beach’s roaring culinary scene with his stable of award-winning restaurants, Clay Conley reveals that the secret is just making food that he wants to eat.

READ MORE ABOUT CHEF CONLEY

BEST OF SOUTH

Chef Brad Kilgore, Alter
Miami

Wielding Florida-fresh ingredients like a painter’s brush, Chef Brad Kilgore creates culinary masterpieces, drawing national acclaim and foodies to his Alter restaurant in Miami’s artsy Wynwood District.

READ MORE ABOUT CHEF BRAD KILGORE

Chef Norman Van Aken; Photography by Debi Harbin

OUTSTANDING RESTAURANT

Norman’s, Chef Norman Van Aken
Orlando

With incredible knowledge of multicultural cuisines, Chef Norman Van Aken combines midcentury art and modern Florida fare at 1921, his standout restaurant in Mt. Dora.

READ MORE ABOUT CHEF VAN AKEN

Upscale elegance at Winter Park’s Ravenous Pig; Photography by Michelle Reed

OUTSTANDING RESTAURATEUR

Julie Petrakis and James Petrakis, Swine Family Restaurant Group, Orlando
(The Ravenous Pig, Cask & Larder, The Polite Pig, and others)

James and Julie Petrakis opened their first restaurant, The Ravenous Pig, ten years ago, in the hope of bringing the gastropub movement (think: casual atmosphere, excellent food) to Central Florida. Fast forward to today, and it’s clear the multiple-time James Beard nominees were on to something with their seasonal, ever-changing menu.

READ MORE ABOUT THE RAVENOUS PIG