Live: James Beard Awards 2016 Finalists

Today, the James Beard Foundation announces its finalist list for awards season 2016. For the first time ever, the announcement is taking place at a ceremony in San Francisco — several time zones and several thousand miles from the James Beard House in New York City, where it's been held every year since its inception. Press and food personalities are now gathered at the Presidio Officers' Club in SF and James Beard Award winning chef Traci Des Jardins (Jardinière, SF) created a menu for the announcement breakfast.

Last month, the Foundation released its long list of semifinalists in the chef and restaurant categories, and today that list gets whittled down. This is where groups of 20+ nominees get cut down to five, six, or seven names, depending upon the category.

Additionally, today the Foundation releases its finalist list in the categories of Book, Broadcast and Journalism. As in years past, three nominees are expected in each category. Follow along live, below:

A livestream of the Twitter announcement: