St. John’s Chef Rebecca Barron lands a James Beard semifinalist nomination

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) – Chattanooga can boast of having a Best Chef semi-finalist in the 2019 James Beard competition.

Rebecca Barron is the executive chef at the St. John’s Restaurant.

The James Beard Awards are the premiere dining accolades in the United States.

They separate the Best Chef awards into regions, eventually picking just one winner in the southeast.  The finalists will be named in Houston in a few weeks.

Chef Barron was born in Milwaukee but has gotten all of her practical training in Chattanooga restaurants.

Her career began at The Walden Club in 2002.  She has worked at Hiroshi’s and Table 2, before coming to St. John’s.

She credits working under Chef Daniel Lindley (himself a James Beard semi-finalist) at St. John’s with stepping up her game.  She would eventually take over for him.

Watch our segment with Rebecca last fall on Let’s Chatt.