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A post shared by James Beard Foundation (@beardfoundation) on May 6, 2019 at 6:24pm PDT

MANILA – A Filipino-American has been hailed as one of best chefs in the United States in this year’s James Beard Awards.

Tom Cunanan was named Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic for Bad Saint, his restaurant in Washington DC.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be up here,” said Cunanan during his acceptance speech, as quoted by Washingtonian.

Other best chef winners include Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark of Parachute in Chicago (Best Chef: Great Lakes), Ann Kim of Young Joni in Minneapolis (Best Chef: Midwest), Jody Williams and Rita Sodi of Via Carota in New York (Best Chef: New York City), Tony Mesina of Uni in Boston (Best Chef: Northeast), Brady Williams of Canlis in Seattle (Best Chef: Northwest), Vishwesh Bhatt of Snackbar in Oxford (Best Chef: South), Mashama Bailey of The Grey in Savannah (Best Chef: Southeast); Charleen Badman of FnB in Scottsdale (Best Chef: Southwest), and Michael Cimarusti of Providence in Los Angeles (Best Chef: West).

Check out the full list of winners in the 2019 James Beard Awards here.

A three-time best chef nominee, Cunanan opened Bad Saint in 2015 along with Genevieve Villamora and Nick Pimentel.

Bad Saint, which serves Filipino favorites like kinilaw and okoy, was named second best new restaurant in the United States by Bon Appetit Magazine in 2016.