Maine restaurateur Dana Street wins James Beard Award - The Portland Press Herald

The founder of several long-standing, popular Portland restaurants won a James Beard Award on Monday night. Dana Street, the founder of Fore Street, Scales, Standard Baking Co. and Street and Co., all in Portland, took home the title Outstanding Restaurateur. He was among five finalists from around the country who were in the running for the award. Thomas Takashi Cooke of Izakaya Minato in Portland was one of five finalists for the Best Chef: Northeast award, which was ultimately awarded to Evan Hennessey of Stages in Dover, New Hampshire. The James Beard Award winners were announced Monday night at a glitzy ceremony in Chicago. In his acceptance speech, Street singled out the dedication of his general managers, many of whom have worked with him for decades. He added that the award was a testament to the company’s employees back home. In the past, he has described his restaurants as living organisms, “a zygote, an idea that starts from nothing and grows” as employees put their own imprints on Street’s initial vision. “Without the 340 people that work for us very hard every day, we wouldn’t be here,” Street said. “We’re here to accept the award for those 340 people.” Street said he appreciated the word being “outstanding” in the award’s title, rather than “best.” “I don’t think we beat anybody,” he said. “We’re very proud to have joined all the people in this audience who do excellent work, and we’re proud to be among you.” Like a number of other speakers at the ceremony Monday, Street also took a moment to put a spotlight on the Trump administration’s policies and rehetoric on immigration enforcement and the impact they’ve had on the restaurant industry, calling it “despicable,” to lengthy applause. He said many of his restaurants’ employees come from other countries. “These people are the best of our people,” he said. “They left, traveled here under duress to make a better life for themselves and for their people they left behind.” Street also acknowledged Victor Leon, his business partner and “oldest friend,” who died a few years ago. “He would’ve been very happy — much happier than me — to receive this,” Street said. Street was vying against Srijith Gopinathan and Ayesha Thapar and their Northern California restaurant group Cal-India Collective; Meherwan Irani and Molly Irani, of Asheville, North Carolina’s Chai Pani Restaurant Group; Donald Link and Stephen Stryjewski of the Link Restaurant Group in New Orleans; and Hugo Ortega and Tracy Vaught of H Town Restaurant Group in Houston. In 2004, founding Fore Street chef Sam Hayward, an early advocate of farm-to-table cuisine in the state, won Maine’s first ever James Beard Best Chef: Northeast Award. Street’s award on Monday is a bit of a full circle moment. Street and Co. opened in 1989, Standard Baking Co. in 1995, Fore Street in 1996 and Scales in 2016. Taken together, the businesses have shown impressive longevity in an industry that’s notorious for fast turnover. The bakery and the restaurants are all in the Old Port, within blocks of one another. In the Best Chef: Northeast category, Cooke competed against David DiStasi of Materia Ristorante in Bantam, Connecticut; Paul Trombly of Fancy’s in Burlington, Vermont; Derek Wagner of Nicks on Broadway in Providence, Rhode Island; and the eventual winner Hennessey, of Stages in Dover, New Hampshire, a three-time winner on the cooking competition show “Chopped.” Cooke and his partner and spouse Elaine Alden opened the popular Izakaya Minato in 2017. Their casual Japanese-style gastropub offers a selection of small plates often spotlighting Maine ingredients. In the summer, waits to get into the restaurant can easily stretch for an hour or two. The 2026 Beard awards had seven Maine semifinalists: Night Moves Bread of South Portland in the national category of Outstanding Bakery, as well as Jeremy Broucek of Bread & Friends, Portland; Chris Gould of Central Provisions, in Portland; Sara Jenkins of Nina June, in Rockport; and Jake Stevens of Leeward, in Portland, all vying for Best Chef: Northeast. Other Mainers who have received James Beard Awards in past years include Atsuko Fujimoto (Norimoto Bakery), Barak Olins (ZUBakery), Rob Evans (Hugo’s), Melissa Kelly (Primo), Rob Tod (Allagash Brewing), Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier (Arrows), and Mike Wiley and Andrew Taylor (Eventide, Honey Paw). Tim Cebula has been a food writer and editor for 23 years. A former correspondent for The Boston Globe food section, his work has appeared in Time, Health, Food & Wine, CNN.com, and Boston magazine,... More by Tim Cebula Drew is the night reporter for the Portland Press Herald. He previously covered South Portland, Scarborough and Cape Elizabeth for the Sentry, Leader and Southern Forecaster. Though he is from Massachusetts,... More by Drew Johnson Peggy Grodinsky has been the food editor at the Portland Press Herald since 2014. Previously, she was executive editor of Cook’s Country, a now-defunct national magazine that was published by America’s... More by Peggy Grodinsky