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 – MAY 24: Awa Fam #11 of the Seattle Storm handles the ball during the game against the Washington Mystics on May 24, 2026 at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington. (Scott Eklund / NBAE / Getty Images)
SEATTLE – Natisha Hiedeman tied her career high with 24 points, rookie Flau’jae Johnson scored a season-best 17, and the Seattle Storm beat the Washington Mystics 97-85 on Sunday in a game that featured 75 total free throws, including 52 in the second half.
Seattle’s Awa Fam, the No. 3 overall draft pick, made her WNBA debut and finished with 10 points in 20 minutes. The 6-foot-4 center, who turns 20 on June 17, joined the Storm on Friday after helping Valencia win the Spanish League title. She scored her first WNBA points with a layup off a pick-and-roll with Johnson late in the second quarter.
Seattle made a season-high 13 3-pointers on 28 attempts and hit 32 of 34 (94%) shots from the line.
The Mystics hit 35 of 41 (85%) from the foul line, and shot just 20% (4 of 20) from beyond the arc.
Stefanie Dolson scored 16 points with perfect shooting. She went 3 of 3 from the field, 2 of 2 from 3-point range, and 8 of 8 from the line for the Storm (3-4). Zia Cooke added 10 points.
Dominique Malonga, who leads the Storm in scoring (16.0 points per game) and rebounds (7.3), missed her fourth consecutive game due to the concussion protocol.
Sonia Citron led the Mystics (2-3) with 16 points. Kiki Iriafen, Georgia Amoore and Angela Dugalic added 13 points apiece, and Shakira Austin had 12.
Hiedeman hit a 3-pointer that gave Seattle the lead for good early in the second quarter, and her long floater with 1.8 seconds left in the period made it 49-37. The Mystics trailed by double figures throughout the second half.
Johnson made 7 of 12 from the field and finished with seven rebounds and five assists.
Seattle beat Connecticut 77-59 on Friday to snap a three-game skid.
Up next
The teams play again Wednesday in Seattle.
The Source: Information in this story came from The Associated Press.
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Seattle, WA
Where to watch Washington Mystics vs Seattle Storm on May 24: TV channel, start time and streaming
The WNBA has returned with a brand new collective bargaining agreement and a league full of loaded rosters as the 2026 season tips off.
A rookie class headlined by Dallas Wings top pick Azzi Fudd, Minnesota’s Olivia Miles and Washington’s Lauren Betts is ready to make a mark in the pros while the defending champion Las Vegas Aces look to keep their dynasty alive with a fourth title in five years.
As the the season gets going under a new media rights deal, it can be tough to figure out which channel each team is playing on every night. Here’s everything you need to know to tune in when the Seattle Storm host the Washington Mystics on Sunday.
What time is Washington Mystics vs Seattle Storm?
Tip off between the Seattle Storm and Washington Mystics is scheduled for 6 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, May 24.
How to watch Washington Mystics vs Seattle Storm on Sunday
All times Eastern and accurate as of Sunday, May 24, 2026, at 6:08 a.m.
Watch the WNBA all season on Fubo
WNBA scores and results
See scores, results for all of today’s games .
See WNBA scores, results from May 23
Odds for WNBA games today
The latest WNBA odds can be found below from the best sports betting apps . Some odds may include games scheduled on future dates.
After a promising start to his Seattle Seahawks career, injuries plagued veteran edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu for two seasons.
Bump has his eye on 2 players as Seattle Seahawks begin OTAs
Nwosu played just six games apiece during the 2023 and 2024 campaigns. But this past season, the Seahawks finally got a healthy version of the USC product again.
The 29-year-old Nwosu returned from offseason knee surgery in Week 2 and didn’t miss a game the rest of the way through their run to a Super Bowl title. He finished the regular season with seven sacks, seven tackles for loss and 46 total pressures in 16 games. And in the Super Bowl, he got to cap his bounce-back year with a moment he’ll never forget, returning a interception 45 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to put an exclamation point on Seattle’s 29-13 victory over the New England Patriots.
Nwosu’s year was a positive sign after two lost seasons, but former NFL wide receiver Michael Bumpus is hoping to see even more from the veteran in 2026.
“With the departure of Boye Mafe (in free agency), you need a guy like Uchenna Nwosu just to get back to who he is,” Bumpus said Friday during his Four Down Territory segment on Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy. “He didn’t have a bad season at all, not at all. But I didn’t feel the impact that we’re used to having with Uchenna Nwosu. So I’m looking at Uchenna and just that defensive line, that box in general. If you can get a veteran like Uchenna and Dante (Fowler Jr.) to step it up one more notch and hold things down, I like where this defense is going to go.”
What Bumpus is hoping to see from Nwosu is something closer to his breakout first year with Seattle in 2022. In 17 games that season, Nwosu produced 12 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. His 61 pressures were also the 16th most of any defender league-wide, per Pro Football Focus.
“He has it in him,” Bumpus said. “… That’s the guy that we need. He’s 29 years old, he’s still young. I think he’s capable. If he has a good offseason (and) comes back healthy, I think Uchenna is primed for a good year. “
Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Listen to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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