Rhode Island Chef Wins James Beard Award for Best Chef: Northeast

Gift Horse chef Sky Haneul Kim took home the 2025 James Beard Foundation Best Chef: Northeast title. Photo by Angel Tucker.

For the first time in forever (actually, ever), four Rhode Island chefs and restaurants made the short list for the James Beard Foundation Awards. Each year, we are lucky to have one nominee that makes it to the Finalists, but this year four out of eight Semifinalists advanced to the next round. And in even more exciting news, one took home the big win.

The chefs and restaurants that made it to the Finalists included first-timer Nikhil Naiker of Providence’s Nimki, Oberlin in Providence, Sky Haneul Kim of Gift Horse and Derek Wagner of Nicks on Broadway. On Monday, June 16, Kim was officially named Best Chef: Northeast at the Foundation’s annual awards ceremony. 

Our April 2024 cover. Portrait by Angel Tucker

This isn’t the chef’s first brush with James Beard notoriety: Last year, Kim earned Semifinalist recognition in the Emerging Chef category. She also was Rhode Island Monthly’s cover star in April 2024. Gift Horse highlights the culinary talent of the Korean chef in a casual counter setting with several tables and a raw bar, and a menu that merges Asian cuisine with New England-sourced ingredients. The menu amplifies Rhode Island seafood through co-owner and chef proprietor Benjamin Sukle’s own specialties coupled with Kim’s family heritage cooking, from housemade banchun served with a whole fish, peanut sauce, sticky rice and lettuce wraps to my favorite — raw scallops with shio kombu and sesame. 

“I still can’t still believe it. Ten years ago, JB was an unreachable dream, but I am standing on the dream I have been wishing for,” said Kim about this year’s nomination. “Even more exciting, we are doing it as whole team.” The JBF recognition is shared with the Gift Horse staff, acknowledging the hospitality of Gift Horse general manager Ben Beirne, who helps curate the guest experience, and bar manager Rachel Stone, who created the exquisite beverage program.

Keep reading to learn more about the other restaurants and chefs who were recognized in the Foundation’s finalist categories.

Derek Wagner, chef-owner of Nicks on Broadway, fillets a whole fish that was landed in Rhode Island. Photography by Angel Tucker.

This was an exciting Best Chef: Northeast acknowledgement for Derek Wagner, who has earned Semifinalist recognition in 2016, 2017 and 2020, but never progressed to the Finalist round. Nicks on Broadway recently celebrated twenty-three years in business in Providence. The restaurant is beloved in the community for Wagner’s steadfastness in using local farm produce and Rhode Island seafood since day one. “I signed the first lease in August of 2001, and opened the doors in late February of 2002,” he says.

“It feels really wonderful. I’m so happy for the team and our farmers and our guests, and my family. It’s a proud moment for sure. We’ve been working so hard day in and day out, trying to execute at a very high level, while trying to be authentic and genuinely taking care of our guests and doing right by our farmers and community and team,” Wagner says. “This feels like an acknowledgment of that. I’m am very thankful, grateful and inspired to keep doing good through and with food and hospitality.”

Oberlin’s interior. Photo by Angel Tucker

Oberlin was also recognized as a finalist in the “Outstanding Restaurant Category.” Chef de cuisine Christopher Pfail leads the kitchen team at Oberlin along with co-owner Benjamin Sukle and sous chef Mina Bahadory. Oberlin co-owner and head of wine and operations Bethany Caliaro and general manager Evan Little both play integral roles in the team culture, guest experience and vibe at the restaurant. Bar Manager Parker Luthman makes every cocktail a showstopper, devoting care and attention to each guest’s beverage selection at the start of the meal and throughout. The contemporary space is truly fitting of its ambitious menu that highlights the highest quality raw fish, fresh pasta, wood-fired breads and seafood, and all the best Rhode Island foraged, farmed and fished ingredients.

The lasagna at Oberlin with Rhode Island shellfish, ribbons of shaved summer squash and a dusting of pecorino. Photo by Jamie Coelho.

For Nikhil Naiker, this was his first nomination for the “Emerging Chef” category for Nimki, based out of Courtland Club in Providence. Courtland Club also earned a JBF semifinalist acknowledgement for “Outstanding Bar” in 2024. Naiker gained valuable experience working in the kitchen at Oberlin and the co-op-owned wine bar called Fortnight, where he first showcased his native cuisine to guests. The chef started out doing pop-ups at Courtland Club in 2019, featuring “New England tropical” cuisine inspired by his Fijian Indian heritage. Now serving daily in the kitchen at Courtland Club, his menu highlights local produce, seafood, chicken and lamb, influenced by his family’s home cooking.

Naiker is grateful to be included in first round of semifinalists during the first year for Nimki out of Courtland Club. “We were just so excited to get going and to have a home at Courtland Club where we can cook food on a weekly basis,” he says. “Things like James Beard are something that I think most chefs want, but we certainly weren’t expecting anything like this, especially for the first year of Nimki.”

Nikhil Naiker’s crispy kale and onion saina, which are vegetable and lentil fritters served with tamarind chutney, and bigeye tuna tartare with mouse melon and crispy rice with charred tomato and leek dressing. Photo by Jamie Coelho.

Naiker says the semifinalist nod helped folks find out about Nimki for the first time. “Moving forward as a finalist and being included in a national list alongside so many other Providence folks, it made us feel like we are on the right path and that we are truly doing something worthwhile,” Naiker says. “I feel so incredibly thankful to have the support of our sous chef Ricardo and the team at Courtland. The team really stepped up in January to help us get here and I will never take that for granted. James Beard would not be a possibility for us without them, and them caring about the food coming out of our tiny kitchen.”

Nimki’s crisp raw and roasted snap peas from @foggynotionfarm with a peanut and curry leaf dressing, lemon and mint.