Seattle, WA
James Beard finalists include an East African restaurant in Detroit and Seattle pho shops
By SOPHIA TAREEN (Associated Press)
CHICAGO (AP) — An East African eatery in Detroit, longtime family owned Seattle pho shops and a Palestinian chef using ancient cooking techniques in Washington, D.C., are among the dozens of finalists for this year’s prestigious James Beard Awards.
The culinary world’s equivalent of the Oscars will recognize restaurants and chefs in 22 categories at a ceremony set for Monday in Chicago.
The nominees cover a diverse range of cuisine and chef experience, a recent shift following turbulent, pandemic-era years for the James Beard Foundation. The most-anticipated categories include awards for outstanding restaurateur, chef and restaurant.
Hamissi Mamba and Nadia Nijimbere, who fled Burundi about a decade ago and now own Baobab Fare in Detroit, are among five finalists in the outstanding restaurateur category. The couple faced a difficult road as refugees opening a business in the U.S.
Their restaurant’s menu features kuku, pan-fried chicken in a tangy mustard-onion sauce that’s served with fried plantains, stewed yellow beans and coconut rice.
“We inspire a lot of refugees — refugees who are coming to this country without hope and one day thinking that they can win this kind of title,” Mamba said. “It’s a big deal for us, because we want to show people that this world can be equal.”
The James Beard Foundation has bestowed awards since 1991, except in 2020 and 2021 when the organization scrapped them as the restaurant industry was reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic. The foundation was also facing criticism over a lack of racial diversity and allegations about some nominees’ behavior. Foundation officials vowed to improve ethical standards and be more “reflective of the industry.”
Restaurants apply for the awards. Judges, who mostly remain anonymous, try the cuisine before voting. Nominees are reviewed for the food as well as for a behavioral “code of ethics,” including how employees are treated.
“We are looking at the whole plate,” said Tanya Holland, chair of the awards committee.
For restaurants, just being a finalist can bring wide recognition and boost business. Restaurant awards have become less common in recent years, giving the James Beard Awards even more weight, said Paul Freedman, a Yale University professor whose expertise includes food history.
“It really calls attention to restaurants that might not be all that well known outside their region,” he said.
A Seattle family credited with bringing the first pho shop to the city in the 1980s is also a finalist for outstanding restaurateur with a trio of pho restaurants and their chicken and rice shop called The Boat.
Yenvy Pham, whose parents opened their first restaurant after immigrating from Vietnam, calls a bowl of their pho, with its beefy bone broth and anise and clove aromatics, a “sure thing.” They make the soup fresh every day over 24 hours.
“It’s wild,” she said. “It’s a great honor.”
The other restaurateur finalists are Chris Viaud with three restaurants in New Hampshire, Hollis Wells Silverman with the Eastern Point Collective that runs several Washington, D.C., restaurants, and Erika and Kelly Whitaker for restaurants in Boulder, Colorado.
Some finalists are already lauded, including Michael Rafidi, whose Washington, D.C., restaurant Albi was awarded a coveted Michelin Star in 2022. He is among five finalists for outstanding chef.
Albi, which is Arabic for “my heart,” pays homage to Rafidi’s Palestinian roots by using Old World food preparation techniques. Everything is cooked over charcoal, including grape leaves stuffed with lamb and sfeeha, a meat pie.
“There’s a mission for me to continue to spread light and cook Palestinian food,” he said.
Another finalist for outstanding chef is David Uygur, who runs a tiny Italian restaurant in Dallas. Lucia features fresh pasta made in house and a popular cured meat board. The menu changes seasonally.
Uygur, whose father is Turkish, became interested in Italian food because of love. His high school sweetheart, now wife, loved Italian cuisine. He wanted his restaurant, with just nine tables, to feel intimate.
“I wanted the restaurant to feel like someone was coming to eat our house,” he said. “I wanted our guests in our home.”
Other outstanding chef finalists include Sarah Minnick for Lovely’s Fifty Fifty in Portland, Oregon, Dean Neff of Seabird in Wilmington, North Carolina, and Renee Touponce for The Port of Call in Mystic, Connecticut.
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Associated Press writer Mike Householder in Detroit contributed to this story.
Seattle, WA
Seattle weather: Dry day Tuesday, showers return tonight
SEATTLE – We start off dry on Tuesday, then the chance of showers returns this evening. We have been dry for 14 days now with zero measurable rainfall at SEA Airport. Late Tuesday into Wednesday we could see potential freezing rain at the passes. Winds will be gusty at times Tuesday from the east, then switch to more westerly winds by Wednesday.
We start off dry on Tuesday, then the chance of showers returns this evening.
What’s next:
We will see mostly cloudy skies Tuesday with highs in the upper 40s to low 50s, with showers returning by the late evening hours.
We will see mostly cloudy skies Tuesday with highs in the upper 40s to low 50s.
A few showers will start to move in later Tuesday, with snowflakes or freezing rain into early Wednesday.
A few showers will start to move in later Tuesday, with snowflakes or freezing rain into early Wednesday.
Winds are forecasted to pick up Wednesday as our next system starts to roll through. Strongest winds will be along the coast and north interior.
Winds are forecasted to pick up Wednesday as our next system starts to roll through. (FOX 13 Seattle)
Shower chances continue through the rest of the week with milder afternoon temperatures. Snow levels will also be high through Friday, reaching 6000 to 7000ft. Forecast is looking a little drier for the weekend, with a few sprinkles still in the forecast for now.
Shower chances continue through the rest of the week with milder afternoon temperatures.
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Seattle, WA
Walker ‘set a tone’ for Seattle Seahawks’ NFC title win
Over the past month, Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III has seemingly struck the right balance between attacking downhill and taking the yardage in front of him, while still mixing in the tantalizing elusiveness and explosion that makes him such a dangerous home-run threat.
It’s resulted in the best stretch of his career.
Report details Seahawks WR Kupp’s turmoil with Rams
And it was on display again in Sunday night’s NFC Championship, as Walker totaled 111 yards from scrimmage to help Seattle advance to the Super Bowl with a 31-27 win over the Los Angeles Rams.
Walker rushed for 62 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries, while adding four catches for 49 yards. And he did so while taking on the bulk of the workload in the Seahawks’ first game since second-leading rusher Zach Charbonnet went down with a season-ending torn ACL.
“I thought Ken Walker was outstanding last night, considering he was being hit in the backfield (on some plays) almost as soon as he was handed the ball,” Bob Stelton said Monday on Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob. “He was driving the pile. The legs were churning.
“It just really felt like he set a tone,” Stelton added. “He ran with an attitude. And it was really cool to see that, because they needed it.”
Kenneth Walker III TOUCHDOWN. Seattle starts fast.
LARvsSEA on FOX/FOX One
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/iH8SOGpK5o— NFL (@NFL) January 25, 2026
Walker set that tone on the Seahawks’ opening drive, turning a potential loss of yardage into a hard-fought 4-yard gain while bulldozing his way to the Rams’ 2-yard line. Then, on the ensuing third-and-goal play, Walker showcased his spectacular explosion by bouncing outside and racing around the edge for a 2-yard TD to put Seattle on the board.
Walker really dazzled on the next possession, when he led the Seahawks on a field-goal drive with an impressive three-play sequence. It began with Walker bursting through a hole for an 8-yard gain. On the next play, he unleashed a jaw-dropping juke on linebacker Omar Speights for another 8-yard gain. And he followed that by taking a screen pass for 14 more yards.
“That juke he put on Omar Speights, that was amazing,” Stelton said. “… He had the defender grabbing at air.”
This was nasty by Kenneth Walker III
LARvsSEA on FOX/FOX One
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/9V7pJ3DQCd— NFL (@NFL) January 26, 2026
During a third-quarter touchdown drive, Walker had another tough, physical run where he pushed the pile an extra 5 yards for an 11-yard gain.
And in the game’s closing minutes, Walker kickstarted a pivotal clock-chewing drive by catching a short pass in the flat and eluding three defenders on his way to a 15-yard gain.
“He had a lot of great runs,” Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said during his Monday afternoon press conference. “He really did. And talk about hidden yardage within that game, he’s responsible for a lot of those hidden yards.
“I mean, we’d like to block him a little bit better at points. But when you have a guy like K9, he can make it right for you, so that was awesome.”
More on the Seattle Seahawks
• Seattle Seahawks Injury Updates: The latest on Thomas, Ouzts and more
• Seattle Seahawks had a brilliant way to get JSN open in NFC title win
• Seattle Seahawks’ Emmanwori ‘stood out all game’ in NFC Championship
• Brock and Salk: Seattle Seahawks have embraced Macdonald’s message
• Facing former team, Kupp helps propel Seattle Seahawks to Super Bowl
Seattle, WA
Riq Woolen’s taunting foul highlights inconsistency
Every few years, the NFL makes taunting a “point of emphasis” for the coming season. That’s a kind way of saying to the officials, “You haven’t been doing your jobs properly. Please start doing so.”
And even with taunting and sportsmanship a point of emphasis again in 2025, the game officials still call taunting far too inconsistently. That fact is proven almost every week, when the league imposes fines for taunting fouls that weren’t flagged in real time.
On Sunday, in a key moment of the NFC Championship, the officials flagged Seattle cornerback Riq Woolen for taunting. His conduct was aimed not at any one opponent, but at the Rams’ sideline. Which conjured a memory of the ridiculous taunting call on former Bears defensive end Cassius Marsh for mean-mugging the Steelers’ sideline during a 2021 Monday night game, the last time taunting was a “point of emphasis.”
The 15-yard foul and automatic first down saved the Rams from having to punt while down 11 points with 17:20 to play.
While Woolen crossed the line, the problem is no one truly knows where the line is — and when or if the officials will be policing it in real time. Taunting doesn’t get called on a regular basis. Which sends mixed signals to players and teams about what is and isn’t acceptable. Which sets the stage for a player to surrender to a human moment without realizing that they’re setting themselves up for a foul.
Complicating matters for Woolen was the fact that (if you watch the broadcast closely) his generalized taunt eventually put him in the vicinity of Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford. And Stafford was not pleased. Which worked against Woolen on the very next play, when he was covering Rams receiver Puka Nacua. Stafford targeted Woolen and the eleven-point lead shrunk to four in a flash.
It’s impressive that the Seahawks were able to keep things from snowballing, especially after Woolen and defensive back Nick Emmanwori were jawing on the sideline in the aftermath of the drive. The point for now is that inconsistency in officiating creates plenty of issues, including confusing players, coaches, viewers who don’t know what will, and won’t, spark a flag.
The situation justifies a conversation on whether the whole get-off-my-lawn approach to taunting should be revisited. The league’s thinking is that taunting creates hard feelings that will prompt the tauntee to look for a way to get back at the taunter later in the game, possibly by inflicting a big hit (legal or otherwise).
They say it’s rooted in sportsmanship. The truth is that it comes from the broader concern about player safety. And if one player isn’t looking for a way to take a free shot at another player, the chances of an extra concussion or two landing on the total annual number of head injuries are minimized — which contributes to a valuable P.R. mechanism for arguing that the game is “safer than ever.”
And which in turn justifies the ongoing obsession for an 18th regular-season game.
At some point, however, the league may need to admit that the officials simply can’t (or won’t) pull the trigger on every taunt that happens. And if the league isn’t willing to abandon the no-taunting position, maybe the better approach is to treat taunting like the hip-drop tackle, which is rarely if ever flagged and which is addressed after the fact with fines.
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