Holy crap, has it been a year already? The finalists for this year’s James Beard Awards have been announced so once again I thought I’d take time out from my busy evening of puree-ing chicken stew for the little guy and replacing the brake pads on my commuter and toss a few kudos around. High time for that stuff as well, as the kid needs his protein and metal on metal is never a good way to stop a bike.

So here, in no particular order, are a couple of whisky-related nominees followed by a few personal faves I’m excited to see on the list:

St. George Spirits, Alameda, CA

Clear Creek Distillery, Portland, OR

Mission Chinese Food’s Danny Bowien, San Francisco, CA

Incanto’s Chris Cosentino, San Francisco, CA

Sanford’s Justin Aprahamian, Milwaukee, WI

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, DE

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, CA

Bar Agricole, San Francisco, CA

NOPA, San Francisco, CA

Congratulations, people!