Lorn is the chef at the noodle house Mawn in South Philly and won the accolade for Emerging Chef in this year's James Beard Awards. Credit: Mawn Facebook
Winning chefs and restaurants were announced Monday night at the 2025 James Beard Awards, one of the United States’ most prestigious culinary awards.
Outstanding restaurants and top chefs are recognized in several categories, including regional and establishment types.
This year, Phila Lorn from South Philadelphia won the award for “Emerging Chef,” succeeding over four other finalists from across the nation. Other finalists included RJ Yoakum from Dallas and Kaitlin Guerin from New Orleans.
The award recognizes a “chef who displays exceptional talent, character and leadership ability, and who is likely to make a significant impact in years to come,” and this year’s winner demonstrated exactly that.
Lorn is the head chef at Mawn, a noodle house on South Ninth Street, and he and his wife Rachel have worked in the Philly food scene for over 20 years. Originally named after the city of Philadelphia, Lorn is s first-generation Cambodian-American chef.
At the award ceremony, Lorn dedicated the win to having confidence and pride in one’s craft, CBS News reported.
"I do want to dedicate this award also to assumptions, the assumption that Mawn was just another restaurant, it was too small, it wasn't focused enough," he said. "The assumption that the food wasn't gonna be good enough or authentic enough, I wasn't popular enough, also the assumption that this little Cambodian boy wasn't gonna come out where they put him. When I found out I was nominated for this award, the assumption was, I was gonna win it."
Other Philadelphia finalists included Jesse Ito of Royal Sushi & Izakaya in Queens Village and Amanda Shulman of Her Place Supper Club in Center City, both nominated for Best Chef in the Mid-Atlantic Region, but did not earn first place.
The Lovers Bar at Friday Saturday Sunday in Center City was nominated for Outstanding Bar, but was bested by Chicago’s Kumiko.
In January of 2025, 14 chefs and restaurateurs from Philadelphia were named semi-finalists in 10 different categories of the 2025 James Beard Award—an exciting prospect after the city had no winners in 2024.
Now, four finalists, including one winner, have once again confirmed Philadelphia’s culinary strength and made the city proud.
