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This morning, the James Beard Foundation announced the nominees for its 2025 chef and restaurant awards.
This year, the local nominee that will represent Milwaukee at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards Ceremony on June 16 is Agency, Milwaukee's first hybrid bar.
In January, Agency was named a semifinalist in the category of Best New Bar. This category honors bars that demonstrate excellence in beverages, show promise in terms of making a significant impact in years to come and demonstrate consistent excellence in the preparation of drinks, sourcing, service, hospitality, atmosphere, and operations.
Agency will go up against four other national bars, including Bar Colette (Dallas, TX); Identidad Cocktail Bar (San Juan, PR); Merai (Brookline, MA) and ViceVersa (Miami, FL).
About Agency
Located inside the historic Dubbel Dutch Hotel, Agency has done all of those things. In fact, it has quickly made a name for itself by creating immersive beverage experiences for its guests, through a creative menu of both full-proof and zero-proof cocktails.
Agency's mission is to create a social movement of conscious drinking, empowered by choice, and it has done so by creating a welcoming haven that equally serves both the alcohol-free consumer and discerning cocktail aficionado.
Behind Agency is Ryan Castelaz, the drink-smith, author and entrepreneur who also founded Discourse and Kat Doughty who has fueled the creative work behind the concept and menu. Both their work – and that of their talented team – challenges the pre-conceptions of what coffee, tea and cocktails can be, making it more than qualified for the nomination.
Other Wisconsin semi-finalists
Nine other Wisconsin chefs, restaurants and bars made the long list of semi-finalists for this year's awards, with some garnering honors in national categories. However, none of the other Wisconsin semi-finalists earned nominations in 2025.
Chefs honored as nominees in the category of Best Chef Midwest for 2025 are: Shigeyuki Furukawa of Kado no Mise (Minneapolis, MN); Diane Moua of Diane's Place (Minneapolis, MN); Loryn Nalic of Balkan Treat Box (Webster Groves, MO); Karyn Tomlinson of Myriel (St. Paul, MN); and David Utterback of Ota and Yoshitomo (Omaha, NE).
View the full list of nominees here.
The winners will be celebrated at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards Ceremony on Monday, June 16, 2025 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
As a passionate champion of the local dining scene, Lori has reimagined the restaurant critic's role into that of a trusted dining concierge, guiding food lovers to delightful culinary discoveries and memorable experiences.
Lori is an avid cook whose accrual of condiments and spices is rivaled only by her cookbook collection. Her passion for the culinary industry was birthed while balancing A&W root beer mugs as a teenage carhop, fed by insatiable curiosity and fueled by the people whose stories entwine with every dish. Lori is the author of two books: the "Wisconsin Field to Fork" cookbook and "Milwaukee Food". Her work has garnered journalism awards from entities including the Milwaukee Press Club. In 2024, Lori was honored with a "Top 20 Women in Hospitality to Watch" award by the Wisconsin Restaurant Association.
When she’s not eating, photographing food, writing or planning for TV and radio spots, you’ll find Lori seeking out adventures with her husband Paul, traveling, cooking, reading, learning, snuggling with her cats and looking for ways to make a difference.
