Several of the nominations were withdrawn because the chefs were no longer working. That seems careless of the JBF.
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Weâre hearing good reports about De Laposta, practically next door. Havenât tried yet.
What is the basis to say that the James Beard Foundation isnât qualified to assemble such a list? The procedure they use and the identity and qualification as industry participants of the judges is posted on their website.
I find it highly inappropriate to make statements that any chef out there is âsleeping withâ anyone to get into the list.
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Wasnât wowed by a small sample of takeout from De Laposta, but I would like to try dine-in. It seems like the kind of pizza that doesnât travel well.
The chef/owner was at Babbo Enoteca in Fort Point. We loved the fried smelts we had there and we were looking forward to trying the fritto misto that was on the opening menu (isnât on the menu currently on the web site). Hoping he might bring that back.
For pizza, it will take a heroic effort to dislodge our affection for Jinnyâs in Newton Center. Did you try any of the pasta dishes?
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I quit bye everyone
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And here I thought HO was less melodramatic than CH and FB WFD 
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Been lurking at HO since launch & in my experience outbursts like these are very few & far between. Itâs pretty much a classy joint!
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Finalists: https://www.boston.com/food/food/2022/03/16/2022-james-beard-foundation-awards-finalists-new-england/
Portland, ME is lapping the field.
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Portland again punching above its weight! So much exciting food for a city its size. I have not been back since before the first pandemic restaurant lockdown, and I have not been to any of these places! I need to schedule a field trip soon. Saap, the Thai restaurant in Randolph, VT, also looks really interesting.
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I didnât realize that the finalists were out, and tried to make a reservation for Leeward in Portland a month from now - not exactly high season in Portland! Weâre eating at 5 pm 
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We went back in for dine-in last night, and as I suspected, it (the pizza at least) was much better in person. They have a fancy tiled oven and were churning out nicely bubbled and charred examples all night. Also had a good octopus appetizer, pasta carbonara, and a hazelnut chocolate torte. Everything was at least solid, the pizzas and dessert were great, and the cocktails were also well done. It seemed a bit expensive ($180+tip for 2 pizzas, 1 entree, 1 app, 2 desserts and 3 cocktails), but I think thatâs basically where weâre at with similar restaurants given the current market conditions.
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Saying that is just a bit expensive is gracious of you.
I mean, two years ago if we had been charged that much for a meal like that, I would have written the place off. And even now itâs more than we personally are willing to spend regularly, but unfortunately it doesnât seem wildly out of line with prices in general among similar restaurants. Even formerly cheap eats like Chinese and Indian are into the teens and $20s for entrees.
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