The three Hawaii chefs named semifinalists for 2015 James Beard Awards did not make the final cut, according to the list of finalists announced this morning.

Michelle Karr-Ueoka of MW Restaurant was among the semifinalists in the Outstanding Pastry Chef Category, while Ed Kenney of Town restaurant and Andrew Le of The Pig & The Lady were semifinalists for Best Chef: West.

Hawaii chefs once were nominated in the Northwest division, running against chefs in states such as Washington and Oregon, but in the West division, any Hawaii chefs who make the list compete against chefs in Nevada and California which is home to a great concentration of highly rated restaurants with well-known celebrity chefs.

Best Chef: West finalists this year are San Francisco chefs Matthew Accarrino of SPQR, Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski of State Bird Provisions, and Corey Lee of Benu, and Los Angeles chefs Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo, of Animal restaurant, and Michael Cimarusti of Providence restaurant.

Award nominees in 59 categories including Restaurant and Chef, Restaurant Design, and Book, Broadcast and Journalism, were announced Tuesday morning. Winners will be announced at a gala in Chicago May 4.

James Beard Award finalists: http://808ne.ws/1NbwhtD