And then there was one. Well, two, technically. Chefs Jennifer Blakeslee and Eric Patterson of the Cooks' House in Traverse City are the only representatives from Michigan's culinary and hospitality scene that are up for a James Beard Award this year. During the next phase of the national awards, they will compete against chefs in Chicago and Cincinnati for the regional Best Chef: Great Lakes award, which is open to culinary professionals in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. The Cooks' House is a very small, 26-seat restaurant in Traverse City with no dress code and a high staff-to-guest ratio. The restaurant offers an a la carte menu of Michigan-centric dishes as well as 5- and 7-course tasting menus that start at $105 per person. James Beard Award-nominated chefs Blakeslee and Patterson had worked in Michelin-starred kitchens in Las Vegas before opening the Cooks' House. Ten Michigan chefs and restaurants were longlisted as semifinalists for the prestigious food award in January. Along with Blakeslee and Patterson, the semifinalist list for the Best Chef: Great Lakes category also included Javier Bardauil of Barda in Detroit; John Yelinek of Ladder 4 Wine Bar in Detroit; Ji Hye Kim of Miss Kim in Ann Arbor; and Missy Corey of Pennyroyal Cafe and Provisions in Saugatuck. Additional semifinalists who were not named as final nominees are Detroit restaurants Vecino (Best New Restaurant), Selden Standard (Outstanding Restaurant) and Baobab Fare (Outstanding Hospitality), plus Secret Bakery in Ferndale (Best Bakery) and Spencer in Ann Arbor (Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program). The chefs at Cooks' House will find out if they won the James Beard Award when the restaurant and chef honors are given out in person June 16 at a ceremony in Chicago. It is expected to be livestreamed online. The awards are determined by regional subcommittees of restaurant journalists and industry members after a period of open call from experts and the general public that is free to enter. Expect the next period of open call to start this fall for the 2026 James Beard Awards. More: Detroit’s pastry scene, Shinola’s Evening Bar get props from Food & Wine In 2024, Clawson sushi chef Hajime Sato of Sozai restaurant won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Great Lakes. His win was the first time a sushi restaurant had taken this category and also marked the first time a Clawson business had won any James Beard Award. It was also the first time a Michigan chef triumphed in this category since 2011. In 2022, chef Warda Bouguettaya of Midtown's Warda Pâtisserie took home the medal for Outstanding Pastry Chef, a national award that is open to culinary professionals across the country. Other James Beard Award winners from Michigan include chef Alex Young (Best Chef Great Lakes 2011), chef Takashi Yagihashi (Best Chef Midwest 2003) and chef Jimmy Schmidt (Best Chef Midwest 1993). First given out in 1991, the James Beard Awards are considered one of the country's top culinary honors. Named after the late chef and cookbook author, the awards aim to celebrate and support those behind America's food culture. Learn more at jamesbeard.org. Melody Baetens is The Detroit News restaurant critic mbaetens@detroitnews.com More: These Michigan businesses and chefs are named as semifinalists for 2025 James Beard Awards This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Chefs from just one Michigan restaurant remain on the road to a 2025 James Beard Award