Portlanders took some of the culinary world’s highest honors Monday night at the 36th annual James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards in Chicago.

Nodoguro’s Ryan Roadhouse won Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific, a category he was first nominated for in 2015, shortly after the pop-up-turned-restaurant started. Roadhouse is no stranger to the James Beard Awards garnering a staggering nine semifinalist nominations in the category over the last decade.

Roadhouse started his acceptance speech recounting his first restaurant job working as a bus boy at 17 and ended by thanking the mentors “that came before” including Vitaly Paley and Toshi Kizaki saying, “This medal belongs to you — without you, I would be nowhere [near where] I am today.”

Roadhouse was one of two Portland chefs, along with Thomas Pisha-Duffly of Gado Gado, who made it as a finalist in this year’s category which includes chefs in Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii.

Portland’s ‘cocktail bar for whiskey lovers’, Scotch Lodge, also brought home a win for Outstanding Bar, a category that has nominees from around the country. This is the second year in a row the bar has been nominated.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/06/16/portland-james-beard-awards-nogoduro-ryan-roadhouse-scotch-lodge/