Photo by Bob Hallinen /Anchorage Daily News
Ginger, a downtown restaurant (425 West 5th Ave.) specializing in Pacific Rim cuisine, announced that head chef, Guy Conley, was nominated as a semifinalist in the 2010 Best Chef Northwest category of the James Beard Foundation Awards.

“We’re very excited and happy for Guy,” said Ginger owner and operations manager Matt Gill. “It’s wonderful to see that he’s receiving such high-profile recognition for his extraordinary talent.”

This year the James Beard Foundation received over 21,000 entries from all over the country for categories spanning cookbooks to food journalism to culinary design and graphics. The entries were chopped down to a list of 20 professionals and establishments per category. The semifinalists, including Conley, will be judged by volunteer panels comprised of leading culinary critics, editors, educators and past James Beard Foundation winners. Five finalists and overall winners will be selected in each category and announced during the awards ceremony May 3 in New York City.

Ginger’s Conley will be competing directly with top chefs from Portland, Seattle, and elsewhere in the Northwest. The full list of semifinalists and further information about the awards can be found at Jamesbeard.org.

--Gretchen Weiss