Longtime Oregon chef wins James Beard Award, state’s third regional win in a row

Timothy Wastell, a former Portland chef who now serves “

a very nice lunch

” at the Amity winery Antica Terra, took home the Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific award at the 2025 James Beard Foundation’s annual ceremony Monday in Chicago.

The chef has been with Antica Terra for nearly a decade. He previously worked at Northeast Portland restaurants including DOC, Old Salt Marketplace and Firehouse.

The win marks Oregon’s third in a row in the regional chef category, which also includes nominees from Alaska, Hawaii and Washington, after two Southeast Portland chefs,

Vince Nguyen

of

Berlu

in 2023 and

Gregory Gourdet

of

Kann

in 2024.

Oregon previously won two consecutive awards in 2001 and 2002, when Philippe Boulot of the Heathman Hotel and his predecessor, Greg Higgins of Higgins, went back-to-back.

And it comes on a night when Portland took home its third national award in as many years, with North Portland’s

Jinju being named America’s most “Outstanding Bakery.”

— Michael Russell;

mrussell@oregonian.com

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Michael Russell

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