The dining room’s centerpiece— a large communal dining table— juxtaposes the space’s verticality, while large monolithic concrete booths provide a more intimate dining setting.
Courtesy SOMA Workshop Kitchen + Bar, SOMA, Palm Springs, Calif.

The James Beard Foundation has selected six designs that will vie for top honors in the annual program’s Restaurant Design category this May. The 2015 nominees were announced today during a breakfast hosted by James Beard Foundation president, Susan Ungaro, at the Beard House in New York City.

“In celebration of the 25th James Beard Foundation Awards, we are delighted to announce this year’s nominees live from the Beard House,” Ungaro said in a press release. “We couldn’t imagine a more fitting place to celebrate the nominees during this exciting banner year than at Beard’s former Greenwich Village house.”

The Design Awards, which were added to JBF Awards in 1994, recognize beautiful, effective designs that seamlessly intertwine the theme and setting of a restaurant’s environment. Restaurant Design nominees are honored in two classes: Spaces designed to accommodate no more than 75 guests, and spaces designed to serve 76 guests or over. The architecture and design projects recognized must have completed work in North America no earlier than January 2012 for eligibility to participate in this year’s program. Two final awards will be bestowed at the James Beard Awards ceremony at the Lyric Opera of Chicago on May 4.

The 2015 James Beard Restaurant Design Award jury panel includes: Michael Bauer, executive Food & Wine editor of San Francisco Chronicle, Kevin Boehm; co-owner of the Boka Restaurant Group; Winka Dubbeldam, Assoc. AIA, principal at Archi-Tectonics as well as chair and professor of University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Architecture; Mark Jensen, AIA, principal at Jensen Architects and the 2014 James Beard Restaurant Design winner for the Over 76 category; and Gail Simmons, who is Food & Wine’s special projects director and a Top Chef Judge.

Last year, Lawton Stanley Architects was honored in the 75 Seats and Under category for Grace, Chicago, and Jensen Architects was recognized for its 76 Seats and Over design of SHED in Healdsburg, Calif.

This year’s nominees, below:

Outstanding Design, 75 Seats and Under

Brindille, Chicago by James Gorski and Tom Nahabedian/ Bureau of Architecture and Design

Brindille’s curved façade lends to subdued, intimate interior that complements the restaurant’s namesake tree-branch theme.
Courtesy Bureau of Architecture and Design Brindille’s curved façade lends to subdued, intimate interior that complements the restaurant’s namesake tree-branch theme.

Colonia Verde, Brooklyn, N.Y. by Matthew Maddy/ Condor Construction

The 58-seat restaurant transports diners to a traditional, Colombian farmhouse.
Courtesy Matthew Maddy The 58-seat restaurant transports diners to a traditional, Colombian farmhouse.

Fish & Game, Hudson, N.Y. by Michael R. Davis and Ronald J. Nemec/ Michael R. Davis Architects & Interiors

Fish & Game’s 19th century brick structure originally housed a blacksmith shop, which Davis and Nemec meticulously restored to preserve its rustic qualities.
Catherine Waage Fish & Game’s 19th century brick structure originally housed a blacksmith shop, which Davis and Nemec meticulously restored to preserve its rustic qualities.

Outstanding Design, 76 Seats and Over

The Grey, Savannah, Ga. by Andrew Cohen and Jeremy Levitt/ Parts and Labor Design

The Grey occupies a former Greyhound Bus station, constructed in 1938.
Emily Andrews Photo The Grey occupies a former Greyhound Bus station, constructed in 1938.

Spoon and Stable, Minneapolis by Cori Kuechenmeister and David Shea/ Shea

Designers conceptualized the restaurant’s open kitchen as a “theater” of sorts.
Courtesy Shea Designers conceptualized the restaurant’s open kitchen as a “theater” of sorts.

Workshop Kitchen + Bar, Palm Springs, Calif. by  Michel Abboud/ SOMA

The dining room’s centerpiece— a large communal dining table— juxtaposes the space’s verticality, while large monolithic concrete booths provide a more intimate dining setting.
Courtesy SOMA The dining room’s centerpiece— a large communal dining table— juxtaposes the space’s verticality, while large monolithic concrete booths provide a more intimate dining setting.

Follow the links to view the 2014 JBF Design Awards winners and nominees.