For the first time ever, a Delaware chef is a finalist for the biggest prize in food

For the first time ever, a Delaware chef is a "best chef" finalist in the prestigious James Beard Awards — the biggest and most prominent awards in the American restaurant world, often called the "Oscars of food."

Matthew Kern, the chef and co-owner of Fenwick Island's One Coastal, will be the first-ever Delaware chef in the James Beard Awards' 34-year history to be named a finalist in any culinary category. He will be among five chefs competing for the title of best chef in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Reached just minutes after the Beard finalists were announced, Kern still couldn't believe he'd become the first Delaware chef to receive such an honor.

"I'm just in awe," he said, after a couple of unprintable exclamations. "I still don't have any words."

Kern had received two previous Beard nominations, but never a finalist nod, at his previous restaurant Heirloom, which Delaware Online/The News Journal food writer Patricia Talorico called maybe the best restaurant in the state when Kern was at the helm. 

Kern and his wife, Karen, bought farm-to-table spot One Coastal in 2022, devoting it to the bounty of Sussex County agriculture that he now worries may be endangered by the region's own popularity. The Beard nominations followed him to One Coastal, just a year later.

"I'm just so proud of my team," Kern said. "Even when I didn't believe in myself, they did. My wife totally did, and that's why she forced me to find a restaurant."

He stops, laughing at the unlikely path that led him here.

Delaware has had a sometimes distant relationship to the James Beard Awards

Kern's restaurant, One Coastal, is a farm-to-table outpost on the barrier spit of Fenwick Island, just a thousand feet from the Maryland border and about the same distance from the sea.

He acknowledges that coastal and southern Delaware might not be on the destination list for most James Beard judges, unless they happen to like the beach.

"We are really out of the way," he said, "and not considered a culinary destination by most people's standards."

This isn't to say Delaware hasn't had some success at the awards.

Talorico has been nominated for multiple James Beard Awards for writing. Sam Calagione, of craft beer pioneer Dogfish Head, was nominated for seven years straight before winning the prize as best Wine, Spirits, or Beer Professionall in 2017. And the late Matt Haley, of SoDel Concepts, won a humanitarian prize in 2014 for his work in both Delaware and Nepal.

But finalist slots for the big culinary prizes have long eluded Delaware chefs, long off the beaten path for nation-hopping food hounds. No previous Delaware chef has been a finalist in the Mid-Atlantic chef competition, nor any of the big national culinary categories.

That is, until this year.

More:Medal or not, a James Beard nomination is still a win for Delaware chefs and culinary pros

Kern credits One Coastal's commitment to Eastern Shore farms for the restaurant's success

But that distance from the beaten path, and proximity to the farms that grow the food he serves, is precisely why Kern believes his restaurant has been successful.

Kern devotes himself to the farm bounty of the Eastern Shore and beyond: farms like East View Farms in nearby Frankford, and Chesterfield Heirlooms in Maryland across the border.

"The idea is to support responsible local agriculture, get more restaurants buying from local farms, and to showcase the seasons," Kern told Delaware Online/The News Journal in January, when he received his semifinalist nod. His devotion to those farms, and the quality of those ingredients, is what gives his food its flavor but also makes him a better chef, Kern said.

"It would be 100% honest to say that I think it makes you a better chef to use less," he said. "To think, 'Well, this is what's on offer, and what can I do with it?' as opposed to ordering whatever you want and shaving truffles all over it."

For now, this means he's taking in crops of kale and young Swiss chard, edible flowers and some early spring carrots. He's wondering what else he can figure out to do with turnips.

"I love turnips, but there's only so much you can do with them," he says. But figuring this out is what will make the restaurant better. The result at Heirloom, for Delaware Online food writer Patricia Talorico, was nothing short of revelatory during a stop-in last year, leading her to call Kern “easily one of the state's most talented chefs.” She highlighted in particular an inventive beet and blueberry salad topped with pecan crumble and whipped mascarpone.

"A humble approach to food can never be a bad one," Kern said.

He's eagerly looking forward to flying out with his wife to the awards in Chicago on June 10, where winners will be announced. He hopes he'll be among them.

But the most important thing, he said, is the attention this might bring to the Delaware farmers whose land he fears is endangered by the rapid growth that has caused Sussex County's population to skyrocket in recent years.

"Somebody has to stick up for the farms," said Kern, who said he's heartened to see more and more southern Delaware restaurants embracing slow food, and local farms.

"If we don't protect the farms that we have left, we will have nothing special left here to protect, and to come here for," Kern said. "The beaches are beautiful, but the charm of Delaware is being an agricultural state."

Here's the rest of the regional James Beard nominees

Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA)

Tony Conte, Inferno Pizzeria Napoletana, Darnestown, MD

Jesse Ito, Royal Sushi & Izakaya, Philadelphia, PA

Matt Kern, One Coastal, Fenwick Island, DE

Harley Peet, Bas Rouge, Easton, MD

Kevin Tien, Moon Rabbit, Washington, D.C.

In addition, Philadelphia's Muhammed Abdul-Hadi, of North Philly's Down North Pizza, will receive a leadership award. West Philly's Vietnam Restaurant received an America's Classics prize. Clavel Mezcaleria in Baltimore was nominated for Outstanding Bar.

Matthew Korfhage is business and features reporter in the Delaware region covering all the things that touch land and money, and often also food. Send tips and insults to mkorfhage@gannett.com.