Kansas City restaurant falls short of coveted James Beard Award
The team behind Anjin, a Japanese izakaya that was Kansas City’s only James Beard Award finalist during this year’s award season, went home empty-handed from a gala in Chicago on Monday.
The KC restaurant from husband-and-wife Nick Goellner and Leslie Newsam Goellner and business partner Drew Little lost in the Best New Restaurant category to Lei, a restaurant in New York. Anjin faced fierce competition from nine new restaurants in top-notch food cities like Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and even a restaurant in KC’s neighboring St. Louis.
The gala for the James Beard Award — essentially the Oscars of the restaurant industry — was held in Chicago on the evening of June 15, the culmination of a months-long season that started with six KC-area restaurants, chefs, bars and bartenders as 2026 semifinalists.
But in March, Anjin was the only KC restaurant to make it as a James Beard finalist. The Goellners closed the restaurant Sunday and Monday so that staff could celebrate the James Beard weekend.
The Crossroads restaurant opened last year at 1708 Oak St. with only 20 seats, inspired by the intimacy and communal nature of Japanese bars. The menu changes seasonally and includes food like yakitori (Japanese skewers), a tempura-fried soft shell crab sandwich and seared summer eel.
Anjin’s bar program offers cocktails that use Japanese ingredients like a togarashi negroni and a highball with green tea-infused Toki whiskey. Beer, wine, sake and mocktails are also available.
This year wasn’t the Goellners’ first time in the James Beard spotlight. Nick was nominated for Best Chef: Midwest three times — in 2019, 2020 and 2023 — for his work at The Antler Room, which the couple also owns.
A Missouri chef went home with a James Beard medallion on Monday in the Best Chef: Midwest category. Loryn Nalic of Balkan Treat Box, a St. Louis-area restaurant specializing in Balkan cuisine, won the regional James Beard award.
